First building under Ventura’s downtown code

Downtown Ventura, California, has its first new Class A office building since the 1920s, and it’s a beauty. Dan Frederickson, a former top executive of Kinko’s, erected a four-story office and retail structure at 60 California St. — the first building produced under Ventura’s form-based downtown code.

With a white stuccoed exterior and deep-set windows, Frederickson’s 20,000 sq. ft. creation has the solid look of buildings from a century ago. City Manager Rick Cole points out that the new code allowed the building to be constructed with no on-site parking. The architect was DesignARC of Santa Barbara.

With the city’s cooperation, Frederickson is leasing 54 parking spaces (at $32,000 a space over 25 years) in an adjoining garage that he says had been underused. A pedestrian bridge connects the garage to the new building’s second floor. At night a sophisticated LED system illuminates the building’s spire.

Though the building is a significant step forward for Ventura, Frederickson expresses frustration that it took years to obtain the required government approvals and, partly as a consequence, the building “cost $2,000,000 more than it should have.” The slow pace, which he blames partly on inadequate administration by city staff, resulted in its being finished at

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