BEVERLY HILLS
July 28, 2017 | Page 31
Chairman 2014 Paula Kent Meehan President & Publisher Marcia Wilson Hobbs ****** Senior Editor John L. Seitz Special Sections Editor Stephen P. Simmons
Guest Editorial By Ari Bussel
GROWING OLD IN BEVERLY HILLS...CIRCA 2017 I remember visiting a family relative in Israel, arriving at old aged home run by the national labor union for its retirees and was horrified at what I saw. It turned out that she was at a private facility, immediately adjacent to this one. I discovered a former head of the labor union at the latter unit, not the former. This spoke volumes. In Beverly Hills, we too have an example of sideby-side facilities, one for the everyday person, another for the uber-rich. Let us take a look. Above Whole Foods are the “forgotten,” seniors who managed to get an apartment in this mixed-use facility. Whole Foods may be a wonderful shopping destination, albeit with insufficient parking, however one would not want to live right above it, with its refrigerators rattling, deliveries and employees causing constant noise and disturbance and an overall a look in the back that is the exact opposite of the shine in the front. A good and caring neighbor? Not Whole Foods, a profit-driven conglomerate and the forgotten elderly, the weak whose voices are not heard. Years ago, when the building just opened and the waiting list numbered a few hundred, people waited for someone to die in order to get in. A prevailing story was of those who “stripped” their relatives from any property, at least on paper, so they could be considered for the housing. Much like the abuse of placards, there are those who would stop at nothing to circumvent the system, and they see nothing wrong in what they do. Candidates used to come here, bring cookies and red, white and blue plastic plates and napkins, and ask the residents for their votes. I think that over the years, this place has pretty much been forgotten, taken off the effort path to the City Council. Just around the corner is another example of senior housing. This one though is private and requires more than $10,000 a month to stay. There is a waiting list here as well, and the demand is so high, that if you do not look the part, when you come in to inquire, you likely will not even receive a call back. The City gave the owners of Sunrise of Beverly Hills (who have similar facilities around Southern California) extra height. Old timers might remember a surface parking lot, where we all used to park for the Sunday Farmer’s Market. In return, there exists a dedicated floor for Alzheimer’s patients. The building also opens its doors as a polling place during elections. The City elders should look and evaluate each instance of providing a developer with clear economic benefit: What have we gained? Could we have received more, in the realm of the tangible? Here, for instance, should part of the “rental” be assessed as a “bed tax,” for essentially it is a hotel-of-sorts? Should the extra floors, beyond what was permissible-by-code at the time, have not translated to some “profit sharing” with the operator/developer, in perpetuity? It is interesting to see the (semi-)public and private options side by side. The difference between those who have and those who do not; much like the difference between the north and south parts of our City. Alas, neither option is really available, so we venture to look for more. Less than eight blocks to the east, on Clark Drive, is another senior housing/assisted living. Formerly BridgePoint at Beverly Hills, it is now The Watermark at Beverly Hills. The original developer wanted the building to expand and was ready to tear down the adjacent two story, multi-residential apartment building. I was one of those who objected. The application was denied. I am not sure if it was the right decision after all. Assisted living is a world-unto-its-own, with almost no traffic, hardly any visitors and plenty of parking. It is quiet, with one exception of frequent Beverly Hills Fire Department ambulance services responding to calls. Indeed, this was dealt with by our BHFD after multiple complaints of sirens at all times of the day and night, weekday or weekend. Two blocks from there are two “retirement hotels,” Carmel North and South. They are on either side of Burton Way, just east of Robertson. The owner also owns the rehabilitation center on San Vicente (same street as Burton Way) and 6th Street, just northwest of Wilshire. Both buildings of this “retirement hotel” were built decades ago, just outside the boundaries of Beverly Hills. Undoubtedly, a city needs, as part of its general plan, to look at senior living, both independent and assist. We have not. We let outside businesses come in and grab a foothold. There is no planning, no oversight and no attention to a critical need.
“DOWNSIZING” - THE CASE OF TWO BUILDINGS We live in a City where many can afford the best. I remember the grandmother of a former girlfriend. She had several full time employees, including a maid, gardener and an all-purpose guy, who also chauffeured her in her Rolls Royce every day to eat an early dinner either at Brentwood Country Club or The Beverly Hilton. She stayed at her home to her last day. For many, however, the large mansions at the north part of town become too large and too empty after the kids grow up and leave, and they look for a place that is more manageable. Money is usually no object, and a lifestyle needs to be maintained. In the past, we did not have too many luxury condominium complexes in the City, with amenities that include 24 hour front desk, valet, onsite cleaning and maintenance, and a handy man. The two exceptions were complexes stretching the entire two blocks of 200 and 300 N. Swall Dr., occupying both the Swall and the Clark sides. The 200 North, called the “Somerset,” was built after the 300 North, called the “Four Seasons” (no connection to the hotel chain), both built by the late Jonah Goldrich and Kest. The Four Seasons has 60 two-bedroom, twobathroom units, all between 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. Units there used to sell for more than a million dollars (when that was a lot of money), and the association fee is in the neighborhood of $2,000 per month. The Somerset was completed with 102 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units of various sizes, mostly a 1,000 square feet smaller than their “richer cousin to the north,” also not as luxurious as the Four Seasons. (Notwithstanding is a unit that was set aside for the developer’s trust that is both huge and has balconies extending over entire units underneath.) Adding 42 units meant shrinking everything down. The overall plan remained, two joined buildings, with a common hotel-like entrance, a pool in the midst, a gym and all the amenities. Alas, only one thing is missing, as was discovered most recently at Somerset and as was installed several months ago at the Four Seasons: an emergency generator (City permit is required). Even though there are rules on the book and an entire department in the City that is supposed to oversee construction, there were many shortcuts taken, saving millions during construction. Also, things like asbestos, illegal during construction, were used. Where was the oversight? This open question remains and speculations are aplenty. Litigation against the developers ensued, a settlement was reached and after legal fees in the millions, the remaining pot-of-gold hardly sufficed to bring the building to (then) current life-and-safety code. Then a similar building was built on Beverly Boulevard and Oakhurst, but who really wanted to live in that triangle? Since then, multi-million dollar condos were built throughout this area, that became like an oasis characterized by greenery and semi-privacy. It was disrupted by a young, internationally known singer who moved in and liked to party at nighttime and by a more recent uproar about two privately-owned vacant lots whose trees and vegetation cover were destroyed. Why the focus on these two buildings? Until the real estate market went crazy and it became impossible to get a one bedroom condo in the City for under a million dollars, these were the two options for those who wanted to downsize. Couples would sell their mansions and move either into the Four Seasons or into its poor relative, the Somerset. Today, the Four Seasons in many ways looks like a retirement home, with residents very old or dying. The Somerset has seen an influx of young couples with very young kids. These are two other examples of a dying and a self regenerating organism. Both reflect our City, and neither can–or should–exist without the other. PROTECTING OUR FUTURE Often times, Beverly Hills leaders ask themselves how to safeguard what makes us unique, so we can continue to be one of the most exceptional cities in the world. We must be able to withstand a major economic downturn and/or to compete with other cities. We admit to ourselves that the lure of Rodeo Drive, with its concentration of the most known brands in the world, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, is not guaranteed in perpetuity. We have already seen Robertson Boulevard luring some top brand names willing to shell $100,000 a month in rent, as well as Melrose Place and other locations nearby that are attracting business, shoppers and tourists away
Cartoon for the Courier by Janet Salter from us. At the moment everything looks solid, rosy, stable and unchangeable. The economy is robust. Tourists flock to Los Angeles. The City coffers are full and the flow of money is not abated nor does it seem to slow. But the winds of change have proven time and again that things can turn upside down in a blink. I am not proposing the City of Beverly Hills turns itself into a seniorhousing destination. However, we do see houses north of Santa Monica Boulevard hovering around the $10 million mark, houses to the north of Sunset fetching whatever number a person feels like conjuring (the fancier, the crazier, the more possible it seems), and fewer and fewer families living here. We do depend on the next generation to fill our schools. We also depend on a living-breathing-kicking city, not just a showcase of green-wall-surrounded-mansions with security and separation from the world outside, where wide-vans and double-decker buses roam around constantly, telling stories that may have something - or nothing at all - to do with reality. Young couples, people who grew up in the City and wish to remain here, are unable to afford housing in the City. So they move away. The City is changing its character, and is likely unable to provide “affordable housing” for young couples and families. In the past, families were attracted to Beverly Hills, despite the high rents, so they can sent their children to some of the best public schools in the country. While the school system remains one of the pillars of the community, the schools are no longer among the best in the country and not even ranked so high within the state of California. [Shall we blame it on lack of money or on the JPA? How easy to point the finger, yet impossible to explain the continued deterioration.] And rentals have become a horror show. Normally, we are not privy to conditions just blocks away from where we live, at times a few houses up or down the street, or staring at us from across. Units that unkept, rents that constantly go up by the maximum allowed by the City, terror by landlords and the inability to complain, lest there be immediate repercussions. Many of these places are plain disgusting but the tenants are afraid to speak and act. The landlords could not be happier, for they have their cash cows, and the flow of milk is steady, strong and most fertile. [This is in the process of changing, in great part to the immediate past Council and the months leading to the election. May the City Council have the strength to see it through and not give up. May the five members continue to protect those who normally do not (because they cannot) have a voice of their own. This will benefit everyone, for we cannot afford to be a glossy city rotting from the inside.] So we find ourselves at a junction where needs are not met, wishes are not fulfilled, and we are not ready for the future, as we seem to focus too much on–and enjoy–the present. And the present, my friends, is so good that it seems eternal. However, every good thing in life normally comes to an end, and this period of a continued summer-party will, too, reach its end. We may find ourselves wondering why did we not plan ahead for a future or why did we ignore the needs we knew we will have to face. We must take care of the needs of our population that is growing older, as this population is us. We must ensure continuity, for we do call this most amazing place “home,” and want to see it succeed and prosper in years and decades to come. Let us be proactive now. Such road will pay dividends in the future.
POLICE BLOTTER The following assaults, burglaries, robberies and grand thefts have been reported this week by BHPD. Losses in brackets.
ASSAULTS 07/18 S. Santa Monica Bl./ N. Rexford Dr. 07/18 N. Canon Dr./ Wilshire Bl. 07/18 100 N. Le Doux Rd. 07/19 400 S. Roxbury Dr. 07/20 9400 Dayton Way 07/21 400 N. Canon Dr. 07/21 100 Reeves Dr. BURGLARIES 07/16 300 Reeves Dr. 07/18 300 N. Canon Dr. ($246) 07/18 600 Hillcrest Rd. ($41,400)` 07/19 9600 Wilshire Bl. ($120) 07/19 300 N. Swall Dr. ($28,000) 07/19 500 N. Canon Dr. 07/19 400 S. Clark Dr. 07/20 400 S. Almont Dr.
07/20 9700 Wilshire Bl. ($2,900) 07/21 9300 Wilshire Bl. ($60) 07/21 300 N. Rodeo Dr. 07/21 200 S. Robertson Bl. ($1,800) 07/21 9700 Wilshire ($100) 07/23 N. Canon Dr./Park Way ($312) GRAND THEFTS 06/12 9600 Wilshire Bl. ($4,270) 06/27 100 S. Linden Dr. 06/28 300 S. Doheny Dr. ($3,000) 07/05 100 S. Beverly Dr. ($41,000) 07/18 300 S. Elm Dr. ($1,456) 07/21 400 N. Rodeo Dr. ($1,875) 07/23 200 S. Gale Dr. ROBBERIES 07/21 100 Reeves Dr. ($355) 07/22 300 N. Canon Dr. 07/23 9500 Brighton Way