Culver City Observer -

The Culver City Planning Commission reviewed on Wednesday night development plans for a three-story, 51,178-square-foot office complex on Jefferson Boulevard next to Ballona Creek.

After a lively discussion on parking, sewer easement and traffic congestion, the Commission voted 4-1 to approve the new project at 9925 Jefferson Blvd., which was proposed by HQ Group, a Los Angeles-based company led by founder Robert Herscu.

Development plans call for demolishing approximately 26,400 square feet out of about 42,000 square feet of existing commercial uses on site, retaining about 15,500 square feet of floor area for the proposed office complex.

The new and existing structures would create a combined total of 51,178 square feet of office space, and would be accompanied by a new 70,739-square-foot garage featuring 177 parking stalls at the rear of the 2-acre property, according plans submitted to the planning department.

A September environmental report on file with the planning commission lists a construction timeline of about 14 months that would begin as this summer.

Shubin Donaldson is designing the proposed office project, which would rise to a maximum height of 43 feet and place a new three-story, glass-and-metal building on the site's Jefferson Boulevard frontage.

Development plans also call for an 8,010-square-foot courtyard, a 1,022-square-foot Zen garden, a 1,330-square-foot terrace, and 4,448 square feet of roof-deck space, among other features.

The project was the subject of two community meetings during 2021, where the developer and its consultants fielded questions regarding the project's potential impacts on traffic congestion and the type of landscaping proposed.

The project site was acquired in 2020 for about $27 million, according to Los Angeles County property records.