Update: Il Villaggio Toscano Project

A controversial housing and retail project proposed for an empty lot north of the Sherman Oaks Galleria has been scaled back a bit to help address community concerns, the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce was told at its monthly luncheon Wednesday.

Paul Krueger, representing chamber member and developer M. David Paul who was invited to provide an informal project update to the chamber, said the changes came about as the developer worked with the Land Use Committee of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.

Il Villaggio Toscano, slated for five acres at Sepulveda Boulevard and Camarillo Street, originally called for 500 rental units in eight stories that included 55,000 square feet of ground floor, neighborhood retail space. It has been reworked along Sepulveda Boulevard, Krueger said, so that the complex will now be only four stories high above a 26-foot-high podium containing the retail level.

Thus, the complex along Sepulveda will reach only six stories in height, in line with nearby four-story apartments, he said. The changes will reduce the number of units to 431. Meanwhile, landscaping along Sepulveda Boulevard will help soften the complex’s profile and the height will be reduced from 100 feet to 75 feet.

The changes are among those still be to discussed with the Land Use Committee, Krueger said, followed by at least five other public hearings as the project wends its way through the formal, approval process and before Sherman Oaks community groups and the City Council. 

“We’re not in the business of surprises,” Krueger said. “Part of the challenge we have is to make sure the community knows what we’re doing.

“We really want to know your opinion,” he added. “And just saying ‘no’ doesn’t help me.”

Yet, those who have continually said “no” to the project dismissed the changes as “a bargaining strategy to shoe in an oversize project,” according to Gerald A. Silver of the Coalition to Stop Il Villaggio, who was contacted after the meeting by the Patch.

The coalition—consisting of the Encino Property Owners Association, Homeowners of Encino and the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association—has opposed the project from its very beginning, arguing that most of the site is currently zoned for single-family homes. The coalition contends that the project would require exemptions from the area specific plan to create an inappropriately high-density project that would worsen traffic along an already busy intersection of Sepulveda and Ventura boulevards.

Krueger admitted that the development’s biggest issue is traffic but said the project sought to reduce the impact on street parking by having three levels of underground parking for residents, guest parking for those visiting the apartments and a separate parking area for the retail space.

“We’re trying to create a live-work environment for Sherman Oaks,” Krueger said, adding that 6.5 million square feet of office space exist within walking distance of the property and that it is close to bus routes and public transit.

In response to audience questions, he said developers would pursue the approval process over the next six months. Once approved, construction would take up to 24 months and would create 850 temporary jobs and more than 200 long-term jobs, he said.

Il Villaggio Toscano would also seek to obtain a LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for environmentally sound construction and operation. Another M. David Paul rental complex, the 51-unit Serrano complex in Encino, was the first multi-family residential building in the San Fernando Valley to receive that rating, Krueger said. That building included water-conserving fixtures, energy-efficient appliances, integration of water-heating and apartment-heating systems, rainwater collection and other measures.

At the end of his presentation, Krueger passed out postcards that the developer plans to distribute, promoting the project. Meanwhile, project opponents have created their own postcards and plan to distribute them in areas surrounding the proposed complex.