13th Street Field Adjacent to Railroad Tracks

13th Street Field Adjacent to Railroad Tracks
January 17, 2017 sdcpm

RAVELLO DEVELOPMENT—NOT OPPOSE

PCPOA does not oppose the Ravello project, but watching very closely. However, plans are preliminary and support will depend on the final version.

Background: This project encompasses the large field by the tracks on 13th Street. Ravello proposes a development well within the General Plan guidelines. At ultimate build-out, Ravello is proposing roughly 450 units, but that number is contingent on having a second access to the property and subject to change. Their present proposal is more modest based on current access.

For more than a decade, the field property has been a matter of contention. Casden LLC, an earlier developer, proposed building 1,500 or more condominiums on the site. Residents vehemently opposed such high density and incursion into the flood plain. We prevailed on that project and the developer went into bankruptcy on the site.

While the city was developing a new General Plan, two major developments on this side of the tracks were proposed: the subject property and the high density multi-use Compass Project near the Newhall Metro station. PCPOA was able to work with the City and get a maximum total number of units on the two parcels of 775 units.

Over the years, other developers have considered the site, but have been unable to propose plans with sufficient density to be profitable. Ultimately, the property was acquired by Cerberus Development, a large conglomeration that includes Newhall Land and Ravello Development.

The land was acquired for roughly $80 million. Ravello is the first operator to realize that the purchase price is a sunk cost and has proposed a more modest project somewhat fitting with PCPOA’s stated mission statement of being a “rural equestrian neighborhood,” as well as acknowledging the environmental limitations of the parcel.