Tilden Terrace Construction Reaches Milestone

David Voncannon

NOTE: This is a follow up to an article written by Mr. Voncannon for the Culver City Progress Blog which can be found here.

Monday, July 30 marks a significant milestone in the construction of Tilden Terrace, a combined affordable housing and retail building.  Since the project groundbreaking on March 26, 2012, Dreyfuss Construction has been working on excavation for the subterranean parking, and other preparations for the pouring of the main floor slab.

The pouring of the main floor is a significant milestone because it marks the end of the underground work.  From this point forward most of the work will be above ground as the building grows to its eventual height of 33 feet.

For those of you interested in such details, the details of the main floor are interesting.  The slab is approximately 20,000 sg. /ft. in area and 12 inches thick.  That equates to 20,000 cubic feet of concrete.  A quick Google search tells me that concrete has a density of approximately 145 lbs. per cubic foot so the main floor slab will weigh about 2,900,000 lbs. when finished!  Further, this slab is designed as a single pour meaning that it must all be poured in one session.  Representatives from Dreyfuss Construction that this single part of the construction will require 100+ truckloads of concrete.

As impressive as the above statistics are, at least they are to me; even more impressive is the continued support for the project within the community.  A construction project of this magnitude will have an impact on neighborhood residents.  This project is not an exception due to the number of construction vehicles, concrete trucks and other trades moving around the work site.  Compounding the problems many of the residents on Tilden Avenue either work from home or do not work a typical work schedule.

From the first discussions about the project, Los Angeles Housing Project and Dreyfuss Construction committed to addressing neighborhood concerns during the construction.  David Sanchez, Project Manager for Dreyfuss Construction, has followed through by meeting with any concerned resident and letting the neighborhood know that any worker parking in the neighborhood will be sent home from work and not paid for that day’s work.  In another example of neighborhood cooperation I met with Mr. Sanchez to warn him of the approach of Ramadan, the Islamic holiday which begins July 20^th and runs through august 20^th, he asked if it would be possible to meet with representatives from the King Fahad Mosque.  I was able to facilitate a meeting with representatives of Dreyfuss Construction and King Farad where issue related to parking and traffic were discussed.  The mosque had already been in contact with the Culver City Police and they hire additional security for Ramadan. 

The Tilden Terrace project is significant in ways beyond being an outstanding example of cooperation.  Perhaps most significant is that Tilden Terrace represents the first affordable housing project in Culver City in over 10 years.  Tilden Terrace won approval from the City Council in early 2011 with the promise of adding to the affordable housing and new retail space.  The project will contain 33 affordable housing units when completed.  A much needed addition to affordable living space in Culver City.

A final point is the hope that Tilden Terrace will act as a catalyst for further redevelopment along this section of Washington Boulevard.  With the loss of the city redevelopment agency earlier this year, any new development will need to be privately funded.  Indeed there has already been some activity along those lines with Copenhagen Bakery opening across the street and the redevelopment of the old Albertson’s Chevrolet lot at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard. 

Mostly the residents are looking forward to the end of construction and being able to return to our normal work, and sleep, patterns.  Until that is possible, we are all trying to cooperate with construction crews, street closures, and mosque visitors while looking forward to the benefits promised by new development in our neighborhood.

David Voncannon is a member of the Culver City Advisory Committee on Redevelopment.