Agoura Hills ‘Citizens’ Fund Fight Against Home Depot Real Estate – Shelly Garcia In March, Agoura Hills residents will go to the polls to decide whether the city should limit all large retail buildings, no matter what kind or where they are situated. The unusual ballot initiative seeks to usurp the duties of the city’s planning commission, a body that in most municipalities is charged with evaluating development proposals on a case-by-case basis with input from the community it serves. No one has ever accused city officials in Agoura Hills, of taking their responsibilities lightly where development is concerne. So why does Agoura Hills need a law with so rigid a cap on development? In a nutshell, it’s because a group of local businesses calling itself Citizens for Responsible Growth is worried about the competition from a proposed Home Depot-anchored shopping center next to the Ventura (101) Freeway. According to documents it filed with Los Angeles County, the group has managed to collect $59,489 so far to fund its campaign, most of it ($32,719) coming from California Do It Center, which also has a store in Agoura. The other major contributors are Agoura Equipment Rental, in for $13,359, and Roadside Lumber & Hardware Inc., which anted up another $13,359. Not exactly your garden-variety, tree-hugger, grassroots effort. About a month ago, the “Citizens” submitted enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot, and last week the City Council moved to put it on the ballot this spring. Never mind that the proposed development is next to the freeway, a good distance from any homes and on land earmarked for commercial development. Never mind that Agoura Hills needs to raise cash for road and freeway interchange improvements (sales tax revenue a big retailer could supply) and homeowners don’t want to give up another penny in taxes. If it passes, no one will be able to build a retail store larger than 60,000 square feet anywhere in Agoura Hills, not now, and, given the difficulty of repealing such a law, pretty much not ever. What if the good citizens of Agoura Hills decide down the road they desperately need a Nordstrom? What if some new retailer comes to town with some badly needed service? What if Agoura Hills wants to raise money for a new library, a hospital, an adult day care center? Will it have to go directly to homeowners for the cash instead of relying on tax revenues? And will it be able to raise enough? “The only thing they could vote to do is repeal the measure, and that would require an EIR (environmental impact report) under California law,” said Agoura Hills City Councilman and former Mayor Ed Corridori. “That takes six months to a year. Who would buy property to do a project if those were the constraints they had to work with?” The developer, Dan Selleck, president of Selleck Development Group, says he always figured the measure would land on the ballot. He’s been preparing to go out and educate the community on the project because, he says, “there is so much misinformation out there.” Me, I worry that next time, if some genuine environmentalists with the best interests of the community at heart come knocking, folks will think they are a flimflam act. And I worry about any law that takes the discretion out of a process that thrives on thoughtful consideration and analysis. A Rise Over Rent Grosvenor, the new landlord at 21300 Victory Blvd., is making some local brokers nervous. With a 25-percent vacancy rate in the building, Grosvenor has been making some pretty aggressive offers to attract tenants. “They made a deal with some people who were looking at my stuff, and we can’t compete,” said one broker. “Let’s put it this way, most landlords aren’t willing to compete.” Grosvenor, which acquired the building in July, is quoting $2.30 to $2.50 per square foot, rates in line with the Warner Center market. But, “If somebody comes to us wanting to lease space, we’re working to see if we can come up with some ideal that works,” said Fiona Fenton, asset manager for Grosvenor. “Just depending on the overall economic package, there have been some incidences where we have offered some free rent,” she added. That’s the part that’s sticking in the throats of other brokers, who have not seen free rent added to lease packages since the early ’90s. “Everybody in the area is saying, ‘What are they doing?'” this broker said. (In the interest of full disclosure, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s offices are at 21300 Victory Blvd. And we’re not getting free rent.) Grosvenor officials point out that, with a 25-percent vacancy rate, and some 300,000 square feet soon to become available at Warner Center Properties when Health Net moves out, it’s simply prudent to market aggressively. Warner Center Sale The sale of Warner Center Properties is apparently sailing along despite the economic slowdown.Sources report that the owners of the property, a 2.3-million-square-foot complex have received numerous bids, and brokers are whittling down the offers to a select few. Brokers at Secured Capital Corp., which is marketing the project for the owners, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. and Harvard University’s endowment fund, did not return phone calls. But word on the street is that some 20 offers have been received on the property. Senior reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 676-1750, ext. 14, or by e-mail at [email protected].