Preliminary plans by the U.S. General Services Administration to
expand the Westwood Federal Building have been met with opposition
by local officials and community groups.
The proposed project would expand the federal building, located
at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue, by adding
two new buildings, contributing over 900,000 square feet of new
space for offices, storage and parking.
The General Services Administration is the federal agency
responsible for the management of federal office buildings.
One opponent of the expansion plans is Rep. Henry Waxman, who
has brought up possible negative impacts of the proposed projects
on the area in a series of correspondence with the administration
over several months.
In addition, he has said that the administration was not
considering alternative sites for the new FBI headquarters.
Waxman has also urged the administration to consider employee
commutes to the various locations when drafting the Environmental
Impact Statement
The environmental report is drafted to evaluate issues such as
traffic and parking, air quality, noise, land use and public
services.
According to a press release from Waxman’s office,
numerous local organizations, including the Bel Air Association,
Brentwood Community Council, West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
and eight others, oppose the project.
Any space that is available in the area should be used for
additional housing rather than an expansion of the federal
building, said Flora Gil Krisiloff, chairwoman of the Brentwood
Community Council.
“The West Side is trying to get people living closer to
where they shop, work and go for entertainment,” Krisiloff
said. “We need more affordable housing rather than another
federal building.”
Waxman also said the project would worsen transportation
congestion, emergency response times and the overall quality of
life in the area.
Officials from the administration did not return phone
calls.
Kim Savage, executive director of federal relations at UCLA,
said the university has not taken a position on the expansion
proposal.
“Generally the university doesn’t take a position.
There are a lot of big projects that have been built around UCLA
that we didn’t get involved with,” Savage said.
She said it is possible that once the Environmental Impact
Statement is published, the university may choose to support or
oppose the plan.
The administration has also proposed a few alternatives,
including a renovation of the current federal building to better
suit the needs of the FBI, construction of a building in the
northwest area of Los Angeles the administration could lease, or
leaving FBI operations in the L.A. area as they are now, according
to a notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
released by the administration.
All local organizations and government agencies are waiting
until the Environmental Impact Statement is prepared and published
before any further actions, decisions or plans are made, said Lisa
Pinto, district director to Waxman.
The new headquarters would provide the needed space, technology
and infrastructure required by the unique needs of the FBI,
according to a flier the administration has circulated about the
project.
Although the FBI currently occupies nine of the 17 floors of the
federal building, the FBI has had to lease
“significant” space within 10 miles of the federal
building to accommodate its needs.
The expansion of the federal building would allow for the FBI to
consolidate its local offices into one headquarters. The 10 other
“satellite offices” operating throughout Southern
California would not be included in the consolidation.
The administration has been given about $14 million from the
federal government to go through a design process for the proposed
expansion, Pinto said.
She said the Environmental Impact Statement was originally
anticipated to be completed in March but has been pushed back to
October 2005.
Once the statement is issued and reviewed, further decisions
will be made to move plans along in an effort to have an FBI
headquarters constructed, Pinto said.