Hilton Headquarters Q&A: Councilman Edelston

Agoura Hills healthcare executive John Edelston marks seven years on the City Council this November. A member of the Economic Development Committee, he previewed the Conrad G. Hilton Foundation project in detail prior to review by the full City Council. After hearing the Foundation development team's presentation on July 14, Edelson lent his insight to Patch.

Agoura Hills Patch: What type of opposition can you forsee as a result of this development? 

John Edelson: There may be a more vocal minority than a vocal majority.  What the majority wants is thoughtful, careful, and not unrestrained development. The people who own the lots have certain rights. The city can not stop them from developing their property. There are some who would like to see that happen.  

AH Patch: Do you think the fact that Hilton's project will be constructed along Ladyface Mountain affects the community's sentiments? 

Edelston: I think the subjectivity on Ladyface is probably a number of things. Really, it's an iconic image in Agoura Hills. It's visible from virtually the entire city. You want [any structures there] to blend in as much as possible…and you want the cohesiveness between each development. We don't get the fragmentation that you had in the past. One of my priorities is to move away from the hodge podge and have more consistency. 

AH Patch: What is your take on the preliminary designs for the Hilton campus-style headquarters?

Edelston: Hilton has, I will say, a more institutional look than we would like as a city, but you have to look at the tradeoffs. It's under the height limits, but it's not parallel to Agoura Road, which I have a problem with. But that it's virtually a zero-impact is nothing short of remarkable. And being able to support that, although there are certain elements that we may prefer not be there... If you heard from everybody [at the July 14 City Council meeting], there are parts of this that are not ideal.  The issue is form versus function.

AH Patch: Since the headquarters will be situated at the base of Ladyface Mountain, what will the Foundation need to comply with in order to develop their headquarters in Agoura Hills? What problems have past projects faced? 

Edelston: Looking at Ladyface in general, there is the Ladyface Mountain Specific Plan. There is also the Agoura Village Overly Plan. These plans limit what developers can build there, so what we have done generally is lower the bar of what even can be built from what it was to five years ago or even 10 years ago to today. The Gupta project—that has a variance. If the building had been centered on the property, it would have been much more looming, so we relaxed the standard a bit [to let him build at the edge of the property].

AH Patch:  When did you first learn about the Hilton project?

Edelston: I learned about it two or three years ago in its conceptual state that the Hiltons...owned some property, that they were looking at potentially looking at building their foundation. And that always engenders a certain amount of excitement. Although...you have to consider that we are losing around $200,000 a year in tax revenue. So you have to look, is there enough being contributed here to the community that in essence makes up for that?

AH Patch: You mentioned in the July 14 City Council meeting that the Hilton Foundation project came to you through committee. Can you talk a little bit about the committee process? 

Edelston:  What you're not aware of is that the Economic Development Committee gave the Hilton Foundation some comments [in May 2010] in addition to what was discussed at [the July 14 City Council meeting].  We [on the Economic Development Committee] looked at the project in far greater detail, examining all four of the buildings in the context of the campus. As you start to go through this project, you must meet certain findings. And so, the committee process allows us to give feedback based on things we have found.

AH Patch: As a member of the Law Enforcement Committee, do you have any unique insight into congestion or use of public safety resources as local work population increases?

Edelston: A development like this decreases congestion. The number of trips per car here is far less than it would be if it were retail. The thing to do to decrese the use of law enforcement would be to decrease the number of lounges in town.  The [nightlife business] in town is costly. 

AH Patch:  From the perscpective of a taxpayer who might be wondering where their tax dollars are going in this tough economy—If you are going to build there at all, why not a retail center to generate sales tax revenue or another hotel like Renaissance that would generate bed tax revenue?

Edelston: We can only respond to the property owners and what they want to have, but it's completely up to the property owner. We have no authority, no ability to dictate it. And I want to say also, the largest occupant by acreage in Agoura Hills, that is not for profit, is the schools. I would say they contribute more to the property value in the community of anything else. Will the Hilton Foundation contribute to the property values? Absolutely. So, from the residents' perspective, if we had another Renaissance there, would there be [revenue from several tax types]? Yes. Those things go into paying for city services, but none of those go directly into increasing property values. 

AH Patch: Assistant City Manager Nathan Hamburger, Councilman Kuperberg, and Councilman Weber all feel like Hilton will be a net benefit to local merchants. How do you think this development will affect the local economy?

Edelston: I say, hands down, it is going to bring more to the community. And the community is more than just Agoura Hills. There will be people employed there, people coming for meetings. The Hilton Foundation will be an anchor tenant. It really adds to the fabric of the community. When you start to have these kinds of businesses recognize your city as one that is desirable to locate to, property values improve. It improves every aspect to living in Agoura Hills. 

AH Patch wants to know your opinion about Hilton's anticipated headquarters. Sound off here or e-mail the editor at daniellej@patch.com.