Chabad of North Beverly Hills has been granted approximately four months to finalize a rehabilitation and restoration plan for its synagogue on Wilshire Boulevard, which is located in a historic landmark building.
The decision was made by the Beverly Hills Planning Commission at its July 10 meeting following a discussion about what is required of the organization given its status as owners of the building.
Chabad of North Beverly Hills purchased the property at 9145 Wilshire Blvd. in 2017. It was designated as a historic landmark building in 2014.
The designation was given because the building was designed by Millard Sheets, an architect described in a city staff report as “one of the most prominent figures in the Southern California art and design community.” Sheets is included on the city of Beverly Hills List of Master Architects.
The building was constructed for the Ahmanson Bank & Trust Company in 1959. Among its character-defining features are two monumental mosaics along the Wilshire facade, Italian marble cladding, ceramic-fired gold tiles and stained glass.
Upon purchasing the property, Chabad was required by Beverly Hills Municipal Code to provide 174 parking spaces.
According to Menachem Mendel Shusterman, a rabbi for the congregation who spoke at the July 10 meeting, that number of parking spaces would not be possible for the organization to create at the Wilshire location. Shusterman said Chabad was advised that the best way to bypass the parking requirement was to obtain a Historic Incentive Permit, (HIP), which they did in 2019.
Under the HIP, the organization became responsible for engaging in restoration and rehabilitation of the building.
Shusterman said at the Planning Commission meeting that the organization has since come to understand how expensive the rehabilitation and restoration would be under the HIP. As such, he came before the commission to ask if there is another way for Chabad to be relieved of the requirement to provide 174 parking spaces, and to effectively revoke the HIP.
Among his arguments were that many churches and temples in the city do not provide as many parking spaces, and that because the congregation is Orthodox, they do not typically drive to synagogue because of religious tenets.
City staff wrote in a report and stated at the July 10 meeting that Chabad has not provided the city with materials required by the HIP, including a timeline of work, a detailed scope of work and an updated set of project plans outlining the proposed work.
Referring to the report, Commissioner Myra Demeter said that the organization did not fulfill its obligation to provide a plan for rehabilitation and restoration as outlined in the HIP, despite having understood the obligation since 2019.
“You had an obligation, you did not fulfill your obligation,” Demeter said. “You were told repeatedly; you had interaction with the staff, and then you were given a chance to come now and present something, and you presented the same exact thing with no deviation.”
In response, Shusterman reiterated that he and other leaders of his organization did not realize how costly the rehabilitation and restoration process would be.
“I understand that we obligated ourselves,” he said. “We didn’t realize it was going to get to that point where a tile of one foot by one-and-a-half feet is going to cost $3,300.”
Commission Chair Jeff Wolfe said that he believes the issue boils down to a misunderstanding.
“Somehow, because of the path this took, there is this linkage between the requirement to do the [restoration and rehabilitation] work and the parking as it relates to the permit,” he said. “The miscommunication is that the link doesn’t actually exist.”
The commission voted to maintain the existing requirement for Chabad to provide a detailed rehabilitation and restoration plan.
The issue will be brought back to the commission at its November meeting with the understanding that Shusterman will convey the decision to his congregation and return with a plan that includes the missing pieces of information.
