The prestigious Harvard-Westlake School, which will buy the 16 acres occupied by the Studio City, Calif. facility, plans to use the property, which currently includes a nine-hole, par-3 public course, driving range and 16 tennis courts, as an athletic center.
Plans for a controversial parking structure project proposed for the Harvard-Westlake School’s Studio City, Calif. campus have been put on hold now that officials of the prestigious preparatory school have agreed to purchase a nearby 16-acre golf course and tennis facility, the private school announced on October 30th, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.
Harvard-Westlake officials announced that the school is buying the Weddington Golf & Tennis property in Studio City from the Weddington family, which now owns the land, the Daily News reported. School officials plan to build an athletic center there that can be used by both students and the public.
School officials said the purchase will enable Harvard-Westlake to rethink its plans to build a 750-space parking structure across the road from its upper-school campus, also in Studio City, the Daily News reported. The current design for the project, which also included a pedestrian bridge and an athletic practice space atop the parking structure, has been put on hold, they said.
Rick Commons, President of Harvard-Westlake School, called the golf course and tennis facility purchase agreement “a watershed moment for our school, our students, and our community,” the Daily News reported.
“Harvard-Westlake’s purchase of the Weddington property allows the school to fulfill its own mission in a manner that is consistent with the neighborhood’s goals for the property,” Commons said. “Everybody benefits.”
The parking structure project sparked protest from nearby hillside residents in the Coldwater Canyon area who said the proposed three-story structure was too large and would create too much traffic, especially during construction, the Daily News reported.
Projects proposed for the Weddington property have also been controversial and have been stalled, the Daily News reported. Neighbors and others have objected to plans to build residential projects on the site, which currently is occupied by a nine-hole, par-three public golf course, driving range and complex of 16 tennis courts, and have pushed for more open areas.
One of the more recent plans released for the property last October proposed 200 apartment units on a portion of the land.
The iconic Studio City property is surrounded on three sides by residential areas, the Daily News reported.
Harvard-Westlake officials said while it is still early, they are weighing what they plan to do with its planned athletic center at the Weddington Golf & Tennis property, the Daily News reported.
The school’s vision for the Weddington property does not include any residential units, according to Alice Walton, a spokeswoman for Harvard-Westlake.
School officials said they want to work with residents and others who could be affected, keep parts of its proposed athletic center open to the public, maintain as much open space as possible and make improvements to the area of property next to the Los Angeles River trail, the Daily News reported.
Councilman Paul Krekorian, whose district includes the two sites, hailed the school’s decision to set aside its plans for the parking structure project, the Daily News reported.
The purchase of the Weddington property indicates the school is “ready to move in another direction,” and its officials “deserve credit for listening to the serious concerns that the community and I raised about the project,” Krekorian said.
Krekorian added that he will work to ensure that open space is preserved on the Weddington site. He said he has opposed efforts to build housing and “other intrusive structures” at the property.
“As Harvard-Westlake moves forward with its new plans, I will continue to advocate for Weddington to remain an environmental, aesthetic and recreational asset to the community, and I look forward to working with the school and the surrounding community to make sure that happens,” Krekorian said.
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