Religious Order, Homeowners Seek Accord on Condos

Leaders of a religious order and homeowners in Studio City, at odds over proposed development of a former high school, moved closer Thursday to a compromise that could lead to a luxury townhouse project.

Meanwhile, officials of the Westchester-based Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary told homeowners there is little likelihood that an AIDS hospice will be built at defunct Corvallis High School if the condominium deal falls through.

The assurance came as nuns met leaders of the Studio City Residents Assn. for the first time since Corvallis was closed last year and put up for sale.

Homeowner leaders said they will schedule an emergency meeting of their group’s board of directors next week to discuss a proposed 130-unit condominium development at the 3.6-acre site.

A special membership meeting is scheduled March 29 to allow homeowners to vote on the density issue, said association president Polly Ward.

The nuns assured Ward that they have no plans to open an AIDS hospice at the abandoned 46-year-old campus. The hospice issue was raised by an attorney for the order during negotiations for the sale of the school site.

“I allayed her fears,” said Sister Joan Treacy, provincial superior of the religious order, which has 114 nuns in the Los Angeles area and 1,300 worldwide.

“I think the archdiocese is looking for a number of sites for hospices, and our lawyer thought we could do a trade-off of sites in the event we didn’t sell Corvallis,” Treacy said.

Under that scenario, the Catholic Church would use the high school as a hospice site in trade for land the nuns could use themselves or sell.

“AIDS hospices are things we have not been involved in,” Treacy said. “Transitional housing for the homeless would be much more probable than an AIDS hospice. We have been involved in the homeless field.”

But the idea of converting Corvallis High into an interim homeless camp has not pleased Studio City residents, either.

Situated steps from the community’s main business district on Laurel Canyon Boulevard just south of Ventura Boulevard, the campus adjoins one of the area’s oldest neighborhoods.

Ward said homeowner leaders will discuss traffic congestion and the impact of the campus development on that neighborhood when the association’s board of directors meets next week. Ward declined late Thursday to discuss what her own development recommendation will be.

The city’s Planning Commission is expected to consider permanent zoning for the school April 7. City Councilman Mike Woo, who represents the area, has indicated to homeowners that he will abide by residents’ wishes on the density issue.

Zoning’s Fiscal Impact

Treacy said she feels that “the neighbors are beginning to understand” that drastic campus zoning changes by the city will have a major effect on the religious order, however.

Existing multiple-family and commercial zoning on the site would allow up to 246 units, making the land worth about $9 million. The 104-unit density, supported in the past by some homeowners, would give the land an estimated value of $5.6 million.

A 130-unit project, planned on the site by Encino-based Glenfed Development Corp., would give a $7-million return to the nuns--plus an estimated $2-million bonus from a townhouse-sale profit-sharing plan proposed by the firm.

“Glenfed is our first choice,” Treacy said Thursday.

Besides using the school or trading it to the Catholic Church, her order has the short-term option of renting it for something like a night school, she said.

Since Corvallis High closed last year because of low enrollment, Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary have been paying taxes on the site and spending money to maintain the school buildings and grounds, Treacy said.

“That’s been a tremendous drain on us,” she said. “We can’t keep it up forever.”