Marshall Allen
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- The Sport Chalet headquarters under
construction on Houseman Street represents a "major milestone" in La
Canada Flintridge, City Manager Jerry Fulwood said.
"A lot has occurred to get to this point," Fulwood said.
The Sport Chalet project, which broke ground March 4, has been in the
works for about 20 years, Fulwood said. Controversy over its
development led to the city's Downtown Village Specific Plan -- a
comprehensive guide to development, created with community input and
adopted in November 2000. Anchoring the plan's pedestrian-friendly mix of
retail, commercial and residential property will be the Sport Chalet's
retail store and its corporate headquarters.
Sport Chalet was founded in 1959, when Norbert Olberz purchased a
small sporting goods company on Foothill Boulevard. The company has grown
into dozens of stores in Southern California and Nevada. The company's
new two-story, 27,000-square-foot headquarters will be at 839 Houseman
St. and completed in mid-July. The building will accommodate the nearly
100 employees who are now spread among eight buildings on Foothill
Boulevard.
Sport Chalet owner Norbert Olberz owns about 12 acres of property in
downtown La Canada Flintridge, Director of Community Development Robert
Stanley said. Olberz's property abuts the Foothill (210) Freeway in the
north and Foothill Boulevard in the south. It's bordered by Angeles Crest
Highway on the west and Lillian Court on the east, Stanley said. This
land will be a future shopping center, if all goes according to plan.
"We're looking forward to it developing," Stanley said. "That's the
whole reason we went to the Specific Plan process."
