The once so-called "Lake Hayvenhurst," an eyesore at Ventura Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue, has been transformed into a $20-million shopping center in less than six months, and both the developer and local homeowners will celebrate Tuesday.
"I'm delighted to see it opening," said Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, which had doggedly fought every other developer of the site until Rick Caruso offered what they wanted last year--a single-level shopping center.
"I'm hoping that the developer will continue to be sensitive to the neighbors just north of the site," Silver added.
Stores at the Encino Marketplace--which Caruso of Caruso Affiliated Holdings described as the largest completed project in Los Angeles since the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake--will open to the public Thursday. But an invitation-only party for 400 people will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday with Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and such celebrities as Phil Hartman, John Goodman, Gary Owens and Steve Allen in attendance.
Caruso speeded up the construction schedule for the 95,000-square-foot shopping center, which would have normally taken a year, so that the businesses could be open for the holiday season. Local homeowner support helped push through city approvals for the project within a couple of months.
