Community Mulls Gale Yard Development

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Beverly Hills collected public input on the permanent use for Gale Yard after it serves as a staging site for construction on Beverly Hills' Metro stop.

Sitting against Beverly Hills' border with Los Angeles, Gale Yard is a roughly 18,000-square-foot lot in the southeast area of the city at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Gale Drive. The spot is situated close to the Metro stop scheduled for completion at La Cienega Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard in 2024.

The city already conducted a number of forums and surveys to gauge public interest, compiling a number of popular ideas for the site's use including: a restaurant or cafe, a public plaza with outdoor seating, a police substation and a grocery store or market.

On Sunday, community members commented on introduced proposals and brought up another of additional issues including the need for affordable housing, parking challenges and safety concerns.

After the city has sufficiently gathered public input, city council will eventually send out a request for proposals to develop the area, according to Timothea Tway, City Planner for the city of Beverly Hills.

Beverly Hills resident and school board member Gabriel Halimi said he supported affordable housing at Gale Yard, especially given many young people and Beverly Hills workers cannot afford to live in Beverly Hills. Halimi himself grew up in Beverly Hills, he said, but could not afford to buy property in the city until last year. Given this necessity and the landscape of southeast Beverly Hills, Halimi said he would even feel comfortable allowing for increased density building in the area.

No matter the outcome, revamping Gale Yard will be a significant benefit to the city, Halimi said.

"Let's bring some vibrancy to the southeast corridor. We have so many incredible amenities — hotels, restaurants and whatnot — in Beverly Hills, but they're really focused on the triangle," Halimi said. "I think this is a really unique opportunity to revitalize that southeast for the residents. we can get younger people moving into the city, I look at this as a great new potential stepping stone to get younger people moving into Beverly Hills."

Resident Don Richner, who has lived directly near the site since 1999, cautioned against commercial developments given such developments have struggled to thrive in the past given limited parking near Gale Yard. Senior housing, affordable housing or a police satellite hub make perfect sense, Richner said.

Other community members echoed the issue of parking and minimizing obstruction to the immediate area. Many reinforced that the nearby Saban Theater and tennis courts contribute to parking congestion in the residential streets. Some ideas introduced included a paid city parking structure, better parking for the theaters and even a city-wide valet.

Richner and others, though, expressed concern about inviting additional pedestrian and vehicular traffic into the area.

A police satellite station proved popular among participants, especially given the distance between southeast Beverly Hills and the police department on Santa Monica Boulevard and North Rexford Drive.

Adding a police satellite hub would also benefit the rest of the city with faster response times, said resident John Luca. Luca proposed creating a mixed development with housing or parking and a police hub.