Construction is moving forward on the Summit at Calabasas, a 70,000 square foot retail center located at Lost Hills Road and the Ventura (101) Freeway, and tenants are expected to start moving-in during 2010. Leasing agent, Cypress Retail Group, has already inked deals with Pacific Coast Greens natural foods store, Wolf Creek Restaurant & Brewing Co., Señor Fred restaurant, and a variety of other tenants. Redwood City-based Dollinger Properties is the developer. The City of Calabasas re-zoned the 7.2-acre parcel of land from commercial business park to retail, in order to better serve the needs of local residents. And, Summit is the first private development to be built in accordance with the city’s non-residential green building ordinance. “This is one of very few new commercial projects under construction right now,” said Bob Haas, partner at Cypress Retail Group. “And the end game is to do something that’s green.” But overseeing the first commercial green development in Calabasas is proving to be no small undertaking, according to city officials, architects, and others involved in the project. “There are many learning curves,” said Glenn Michitsch, senior planner and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accredited professional for the City of Calabasas. The Calabasas city council adopted its green building ordinance in 2004. All new privately-owned and city-owned non-residential developments up to 5,000 square feet must be built to the equivalent of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED “certified” level. Buildings larger than 5,000 square feet must be constructed to the equivalent of the USGBC’s Silver rating. The “Calabasas-LEED” rating system is nearly identical to the USGBC’s, but the city is the certifying agency. The latter is an effort to speed-up the green certification process for commercial developments, said Calabasas city planner, Tom Bartlett. The city also wants to avoid potential logistical and legal problems related to outsourcing the task to a non-governmental organization. The new Calabasas city hall and public library are LEED Gold certified by the USGBC. But the Summit at Calabasas is the first commercial project to use the city’s system. “Everybody says, ‘Thou shalt be green,’ but we’ve needed to go through the process of learning how to implement this program,” said Michitsch. “Now we basically have a full LEED review process in-house.” Beginning last summer, the city educated its staff about green building and assembled a review team to look at engineering, public works and construction issues related to the Summit at Calabasas project, he said. Since construction began, the city has also had to bridge communication gaps with builders to make sure all of the proper inspections are completed. The city will not issue a certificate of occupancy until the project has been thoroughly reviewed to make sure it adheres to the city’s LEED standards. “It’s a whole new process,” said Michitsch. The development includes five one-story buildings, two outdoor plazas, landscaping with oak trees, vines and shrubs, water features, and parking. Buildings are designed to take advantage of natural light, use low volatile organic compound interior finishes, and use a portion of locally sourced construction materials, among other sustainable elements. Tenant improvements are also required to be done to the city’s LEED standards. “The project is kind of a guinea pig, being the first to match the city’s LEED standards,” said Francisco Behr, design principal of Behr Browers Architects in Westlake Village. “The process is being defined as we go through.” Calabasas is one of the only cities in the Valley to adopt a mandatory green building ordinance for commercial construction. But the City of Los Angeles also adopted one in 2008. L.A.’s “Standard of Sustainability” program requires all new construction of 50,000 square feet and more to meet the intent of the USGBC’s LEED certified level and work with a LEED accredited professional. The city’s Standard of Sustainable Excellence program allows developers who voluntarily pursue LEED Silver certification to receive expedited processing of discretionary entitlements. And Los Angeles has pursued LEED certification for many of its new municipal buildings, such as fires stations, police departments, and libraries. “There are about 28 Standard of Sustainability projects filed and about 16 Excellence cases, and some overlap,” said Deborah Kahen, planner with the City of Los Angeles. “Projects are coming through.”
First Commercial Green Project Underway In Calabasas
