Culver City : Drive-In Plan Dropped

For the second time, development plans for Culver City’s Studio Drive-In theater have fallen through.

The Redevelopment Agency voted 4 to 0 Monday night to terminate negotiations with D & S Corp. and its partner, Ring Financial, and instead remarket the 9 1/2-acre site when market conditions improve. Member Jozelle Smith was absent.

Earlier this month, D & S had asked to renegotiate its purchase agreement for the city-owned land, contending that the recession had reduced its value. According to city staff members, the acquisition price for the site at Sepulveda and Jefferson boulevards had been in the $10-million range.

“Maybe fate’s telling us this is not the time or this isn’t the project, as much as we’ve tried to make it a project that we could all be proud of and enjoy,” said agency Vice Chairman Mike Balkman.

The drive-in theater, which had been one of only two on the Westside, closed this month. The operator, Pacific Theaters, has expressed interest in reopening while city planners decide what to do with the site. The Redevelopment Agency on Monday, however, put off until next week a decision on the reopening to give city staffers time to discuss it with Pacific Theaters officials.

The city’s first choice of developer, Watt Homes Inc., pulled out of the job in November after a disagreement with the agency over building the project in phases.

The subsequent D & S proposal was for a 190-unit housing complex, composed of 91 townhouses, 48 condominiums and 51 senior housing units.

Now, however, city planners will start again from scratch in deciding how the site should be developed.