Traci Muldoon

Muldoon 1

Mel Opotowsky
Communications 334
6 May 2015
Culver City 405 Gate Way Project
Matthew Harris starts off his morning by driving the 405 before parking in the
YouTube employee lot in Playa Vista, Los Angeles. Desperate for that morning coffee to
wake him up, he parks and rushes to the nearest coffee place near Playa Vista to avoid
long lines.
Off of South Sepulveda Boulevard, customers stand in a line for coffee, after
struggling nearly 20 minutes to find parking. 10 minutes north, customers walk away
from a smaller less crowded Starbucks on Jefferson Boulevard in Culver City.
You know, Ive driven past it everyday during the week and I never once knew
how close it was to Culver. I would have actually visited if I would have known, states
Harris, 23.
Playa Vista, a city now flourishing with
offices for Facebook, Yahoo, YouTube and
Microsoft, is just on the border of Jefferson
Boulevard near Culver City. Just off the 405,
Culver City sits there, a small, quiet town, with one
of the most famous entertainment studios.
Current view of Jefferson Boulevard near
the 405. Photo Courtesy of Traci Muldoon

Two cities, flourishing economically through the use of tech offices, yet somehow
seem so far away or disconnected from each other. But thats about to all change.
With Playa Vista expanding day by day with more offices Culver City to wants
to step up its game.
Just this month, A Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Impact
Report (EIR) was issued by City of Los Angeles for a large mixed-use transit oriented
development projects on the border of Jefferson Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard in
Culver City. Jefferson Boulevard is just north of the 405 and La Cienega Boulevard is
just south of the 405, both in Culver City.
These developments will take place at the
border of Culver City and is known as the
proposed 405 Gateway to Culver City. This
project plans to serve as a gateway of
hospitality and entertainment for drivers entering
Culver City. The idea was proposed at a City
Plan for Hospitality and Entertainment sub
area on Sepulveda and Jefferson
Boulevard, Culver City. Map shows
potential opportunities and constraints for
the region. Photo Courtesy of
CulverCity.org

Council meeting in July 2014 and hopes to

invite freeway travelers and Playa Vista
workers & residents, improve underutilized
land and enhance economic vitality.

This project could really help our business and ad a more modern feel to our
city, states resident Jose Gara, 24.
However, in a project so big, there comes some drawbacks.

The Carlyle Group, an investment firm, plans on adding this gateway by adding
billboards to advertise. The project includes ten sign faces; five electronic and five static.
All faces, with the exception of the static face on a hotel building, are planned to have a
height of 14 feet high and measure 48 feet in length.
As a city that currently bans billboards, this new plan has stirred up quiet a bit of
conflict among Culver City residents, who believe that once there is an ordinance for
Culver City to allow billboards in Fox Hills, it opens up the rest of Culver City to more
digital billboards or lawsuits for violating the
first amendment if the city were to reject a
sign due to its content or language.
But members active on the 405
gateway project are in favor of the billboard
plan. Culver City Chamber of Commerce
President Steven Rose confirms that the

Proposed designs for Culver City Billboards

designed by The Carlyle Group. Photo Courtesy of
CulverCity.org

Chamber's support for the revitalization plan

and that the money is going to the citys cost of construction, not billboard companies
themselves, "My understanding is that [advertising revenue from the billboards] will
help to pay for public infrastructure," he states. In addition, according to the proposed
plan from the Carlyle Group, the project will be funded by the project stakeholders,
including Four Points Sheraton, Courtyard by Marriot, and Doubletree Hilton Hotel, and
each stakeholder will $25,000.
With the billboards or without, the city still plans to go through with their plan to
reconstruct the 405 gateway.

The project includes podium-style buildings, which are buildings that have
columns in the front of the building, that form at the foot, much like pillars. The
buildings will vary in height and size, up to approximately 300 feet to attract peoples
attention. According to developer Carmel Partners, the project is proposing to add more
than 1,200 dwelling units and 300,000 square feet of commercial floor area on the ground
floors. The projects commercial space includes 200,000 square feet of office space,
50,000 square feet of grocery store space, 20,000 square feet of restaurant space, and
30,000 square feet of general retail.
Currently, the 405 Gateway consists of hospitality facilities, the Double Tree
Hilton, Marriott and Four Seasons Sheraton, as well as Westfield Mall, all facing the
regional center off the 405. Sidewalks, curbs, and gutters of the facilities are currently
paved in concrete with no decorative or aesthetic treatment, and plan to be torn down at
the start of the construction.
For one of its features, the gateway plans to have stations set up in the Rotunda
Room at Vet's Auditorium where residents could look at maps, diagrams, and renderings
and also talk with development representatives. These would be promoted with the
"creative signage" of billboards.
Despite its controversy with its creative signage, the gateway has been voted on
by Culver City Council to began building and hopefully
works to thrive economically as Playa Vista grows.
Maybe even Matthew Harris will see Culver Citys
shorter lines and stop by for coffee.

Current view of the end of the 405

and Courtyard Marriott parking lot.
Photo Courtesy of Traci Muldoon

Sources
Chad McWhorter Director of Carmel Partners, 38,
Phone: (415) 231-0189
Email: cmcwhorter@carmelpartners.com
Irvine Location:
2151 Michelson Dr # 180, Irvine, CA 92612
Irvine Office Number: (949) 250-5960

Matthew Harris, temporary intern at YoutTube, 23 years old

Personal cell Phone Number (951) 227-0908

Jose Gara, Culver City Resident. 24 years old.

Personal Cell Phone Number: (310) 870-9887

Steven Rose, Culver City Chamber of Commerce President

(310) 287-3850