By Mary O’KEEFE

At the end of another very long night at the Glendale City Council meeting on Tuesday, council members voted three-to-one against the proposed land/building exchange with Carmel Partners and the Glendale Unified School District. 

The proposal began over a year ago. When the GUSD board of education voted unanimously to enter into a building exchange agreement with Carmel Partners. This would allow Carmel Partners to prepare to build apartments at the present location of the GUSD offices at 223 N. Jackson St. in Glendale and GUSD would move to a newer building at 425 E. Colorado Blvd.

Glendale district Superintendent Winfred Roberson spoke at Tuesday’s meeting citing the benefits of this property “swap.” The building on Jackson Street was constructed, according to Roberson, in 1972. It houses over 200 employees, in addition to hosting board meetings and other events. Next to the offices is Daily High School, which would not have been part of the exchange. The proposal covered 206-220 Kenwood and 223-241 North Jackson Street. 

The proposal from Carmel Partners would have included the construction of 207 residential units, including 24 low-income affordable units. They would be a mix of studio, one and two bedroom units; the larger percentage would have been for studio apartments. There was also a mini-park added to the proposal. 

The City Council chamber met capacity of 106 early in the evening. The overflow crowd was placed in the Glendale Police Dept. community room. Although Mayor Zareh Sinanyan had set a cut-off time for the public to submit comment cards, he continued accepting submissions past the deadline. 

Despite strong support from the Glendale PTA Council, teachers, GUSD administrators, staff and the school board, the project was voted down.

The concerns of the neighborhood community included environmental issues during the construction, lack of adequate parking as well as the aesthetic look of the area. The proposal included building a four-story building. 

Council members who voted against the project moving forward were in line with the staff’s recommendation of not supporting the applicant’s base density calculation, which was based on the entire acres of land, including the Daily High School location. 

Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian recused himself at the beginning of the land swap discussion to avoid any perception of prejudice because his wife is a member of the GUSD school board. Councilmembers Paula Devine, Ara Najarian and Vrej Agajanian voted to deny the project. Mayor Sinanyan voted in favor of the project. 

Below is a statement released by GUSD on Wednesday afternoon: “The GUSD Board of Education and administration wish to express sincere gratitude to everyone who showed support for the GUSD property exchange efforts. We are sad to report that at last night’s city council meeting, the development project connected to GUSD’s property exchange was not approved by a City Council majority.

“Previous communications from the superintendent’s office about the property exchange highlighted the benefits to GUSD. The proposed new building would have doubled our square footage allowing us to bring all departments under one roof with space for a new parent center and a staff professional development center. GUSD estimates it would cost more than $40 million to renovate the district’s existing building and provide adequate space and parking for district operations. Additionally, the property exchange included GUSD offering land for a community mini-park.  

“Although the project has been denied by the City Council, we will continue to communicate with our valued stakeholders regarding the GUSD facility needs.

“We extend a special thank you to the Glendale Council PTA, Glendale Teachers Association, California School Employees Association, Glendale Schools Management Association, and Glendale Educational Foundation for their partnership and advocacy on behalf of this exchange. Our thanks to Mayor Sinanyan as well for his vote in support of the project on behalf of the benefits to the community and GUSD schools.”

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