VICA: A Business Voice for S. F. Valley Economic Prosperity

VICA is one of the major business organizations in metropolitan Los Angeles. You always have your membership involved in a number of land use, housing, and government organization matters. Let's start at the top of the agenda. What are your three primary objectives or organizational priorities with respect to land use, housing, and government organization today?

Mainly, VICA is interested in maintaining a healthy job-housing balance and preserving our predominant job sectors, particularly manufacturing and entertainment. There are a lot of different initiatives being proposed and moving forward at City Hall, Sacramento, and within the regulatory agencies that govern housing and land use. So, it's always a challenge to keep up with all these moving pieces and recognize the impacts.

Here in the Valley, a lot of interesting things are happening, starting in North Hollywood, where we're finally seeing the renaissance many of us were hoping for a long time ago. Mixed-use housing, affordable housing, the revitalization of Lankershim Blvd., and the success of the Red and Orange lines are bringing in people from other parts of the city to enjoy terrific entertainment, the theater, and restaurants-that is significantly improving our economy.

Another exciting aspect of the East Valley is the proposal at NBC Universal to do some reconfiguration of their property and construct workforce housing at the site and create more entertainment sector jobs. And don't overlook the continued economic contributions of The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Brothers. But there's another studio in town, and that's CBS, which is shifting many of their operations to Studio City. So you have four major studios within three or four miles of each other and in close proximity to a uniquely skilled workforce.

There are also some challenges. The city also needs work on maintaining, if not growing, an economic base to generate more tax revenues and provide the services that everybody wants and needs, including more police, fire fighters, and parks.

So, there are a lot of interesting projects being brought forward with reference to VICA. We're also seeing the influence of the neighborhood councils play a prominent role. That is happening if you look at Providence Mission Hills Hospital and the proposed Home Depot in Tujunga to replace K-Mart; both projects have met with resistance from the councils.

How did your members screen the plans of NBC Universal in terms of both the project's economic opportunities and livability issues? What are your criteria for deciding whether to support or not support such a project?

NBC Universal and Thomas Properties have done a good job in inviting Valley residents and business leaders to see the proposal. Here at VICA, they made an excellent presentation to our Land Use Committee. This week, they'll present to our transportation committee and talk about some of the traffic mitigations that are also included in the vision plan. VICA has adopted guiding principles about the type of projects we'd like to see more of in the Valley, and those principles generally follow the smart-growth model with emphasis on the jobs-housing balance.

A million and a half of new square footage on the top of that hill has to cause some anxiety as well as euphoria in the Valley. What was the reaction when the first presentation was made to your committee?

The first presentation was received very warmly. That is a part of the Valley where, I think most VICA members would say, the infrastructure is able to accommodate growth. Yes, the Cahuenga Pass is congested on the 101, but there are different public transportation options on the Orange Line and the Red Line, as well as Metrolink, which can connect Universal City and Burbank. Some of the concerns from homeowners are legitimate and should be raised. But what we're concerned about is that some of the local homeowners might be intent on stopping the entire project, instead of working with the project managers and city planners on making it work.

How does VICA approach the housing element when making a recommendation?

I was invited to be on the housing element task force, and I went to the first meeting last week. Gail Goldberg and the housing department deserve a lot of credit for inviting such a diverse group of leaders on the housing issue to the table. It's very well organized; it set up several sub-committees to look at a variety of issues, including conservation, the market for housing. The challenge is that, because the group is diverse and housing has unfortunately been such a polarizing issue at City Hall in recent years, it leads to a question of whether we can build any sort of consensus on a direction that the city should be going as far as housing, especially affordable housing and workforce housing. VICA is cautiously optimistic that some good ideas will come out of the task force. The question is whether opinionated people will be willing to compromise some of their principles in the spirit of cooperation and what will truly generate more housing in neighborhoods that need it most.

What does VICA see in the way of a vision for the Valley right now, given the economics of the region and the demand for housing and affordability? What's the Valley going to be like in ten years' time?

We're still catching up to the dramatic growth that I think a lot of traditional opinion leaders in the Valley were not expecting. Therefore, there wasn't a lot of planning done as far as affordable housing, schools, parks, and infrastructure. But we are catching up, and I think the Orange Line and Red Line provide a great opportunity to revisit the issue of establishing affordable housing. We also need to discuss the preservation of industrial lands.

While the City Council should be commended for being visionary on the L.A. River Revitalization Master Plan, VICA would like to be assured that the plan wouldn't take jobs and a tax base away to create a 40-mile park through the city. In the coming months, I think your readers will see VICA make a series of visionary recommendations for helping the Valley grow in ways that preserve neighborhoods with a balanced approach to jobs, traffic, parks, schools, and quality of life.

MIR interviewed the president of newly formed SEIU 721, Annelle Grajeda, this month. Clearly, metropolitan Los Angeles has become increasingly favorable to labor than in the past. You represent a significant business group-what is the dynamic between business, labor, and politics in L.A. today, and what will it be in ten years' time?

Labor is clearly a force to be reckoned within city politics. They've done a fantastic job of organizing, raising money to invest in the legislative races, as well as independent expenditures, and I think the current makeup of the city council shows how influential labor is in local elections.

Here in the Valley, labor has not made a major push to unionize any of the privately owned companies out here, but I think that's going to start changing soon. I think, because the Valley is a little bit more affordable for middle-class families, that you're going to see more union families living or moving to the Valley, raising their kids here, and probably participating more in the political process. So, I think it's important for the business community to improve the communications with labor, identify where we agree-actually, before we do that, identify the problems, and try to stake out some common ground. I think there are a lot of areas where business and labor should be working very closely; the passage of the state infrastructure bonds last year was a good example of us accomplishing something that's beneficial to both parties. Now, the challenge is, how do we secure our fair share of the state bonds and how do we put it to good use?

Back to housing for a minute, we're a little concerned when we read in the paper that the city of L.A. is not tapping into the state and federal housing resources that have been made available, which impacts the quality of life and our ability to provide housing for our workforce.

The mayor has spoken repeatedly about elegant density; he's putting together an urban design coalition to begin looking at Downtown L.A. from private enterprise's perspective. What is the nexus between planning density and livability from the perspective of VICA?

I think the Valley looks at a lot of the development in Downtown L.A. with skepticism. But I think the younger generation of Valley residents is a little envious about what's happening in Downtown L.A. and would like to bring a similar spirit to the Valley. What's happening at Cal Sate Northridge right now is very exciting. It's hard to believe that a region of 1.6 million people does not have an entertainment center to attract the quality of entertainment you'd find on Broadway or at the Mark Taper or at the Ahmanson.

Then, from a cultural standpoint, we're still grappling with the question of what is the face of the Valley now and what will the faces be next year? With the latest census numbers, we now know that the Valley is as diverse as the rest of the city, particularly among Latinos and younger families, so that means we have to revisit what type of housing we're providing.

Do we have enough space to continue providing single-family homes with a backyard and a swimming pool? That's probably not the case anymore, so we have to rethink the Valley's traditional way of life and consider how to use these residential parcels more effectively, not overburdening our infrastructure, particularly schools and roads. That's a very tough challenge, but many communities have demonstrated that it is possible to build great neighborhoods that can also accommodate density.

What are the hot real estate markets in the Valley? How much are the mortgage industry challenges affecting housing prices in the Valley?

I see as many "For Sale" signs in the Valley as I do on the Westside. It's a tough housing market and it's very expensive. From a commercial standpoint-and I'm not an expert on this-but it seems to us that the commercial vacancy rates are very low and rents continue to climb.

I'm talking to several investors who traditionally have focused on the Westside and Downtown L.A. who are now driving out to places like Warner Center, North Hollywood, and Chatsworth, and calling VICA to ask if these areas have promise. To me, it's that the Valley is starting to get the attention it deserves from not just City Hall and city planners, but investors throughout California.

What are the prospects of real estate change due to the studio expansions that VICA is involved in?

VICA is very supportive of our entertainment industry, and several of the studios are working to expand operations and reconfigure some of their older properties to be more accommodating of the changing nature of entertainment. For instance, there's a lot more digital animation happening in moviemaking than there used to be and they need facilities for those tasks. And the Valley is fortunate to have many skilled workers living just a few minutes away from the studios.

I predict that real estate will continue to be a wise investment in the Valley, especially for properties not far from the entertainment job centers and the Metro lines that connect them. I love driving through North Hollywood and showing folks from out of town how quickly we are changing.

Let's close by having you comment on the tussle that the San Fernando Valley is having with the U.S. Census Bureau about recognizing the Valley as a region. What's the significance of that issue, and what's the likely outcome?

VICA looks at the census issue as a fair share issue and a marketing strategy. If we don't have that data, it's very hard to impress upon lawmakers and regional regulators that the Valley deserves its fair share of appropriations. The data is also of interest to private lenders and corporations looking at growing or expanding companies in Southern California.

Plus, the data is useful to governmental agencies in terms of planning and providing government services.

VICA's current chairman, Bob Scott, worked very hard to establish the Valley's statistical district, and I know he's not going to let VICA watch it go away-we're working with our Valley lawmakers to preserve this important tool.