Council grants Caruso extension to close on Lakes residential parcel, directs $100,000 per year to navigation center; vote 4-1

The City Council approved an amendment to the purchase-and-sale agreement (PSA) for the Lakes residential project (2200 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard) that extends the buyer’s closing deadline by one year, with an option for a second one-year extension, in exchange for nonrefundable payments of $100,000 per extension. The motion passed 4–1 with Mayor David Newman voting no.

Chief Assistant City Attorney Patrick Heager summarized the amendment. Under the original agreement, T.O. Lakes LLC (managed by the Caruso organization) had exercised its purchase option but had not closed escrow; an earlier extension set the deadline at June 30, 2025. The amendment before council extends the closing date by one year, with a second one-year option, and requires a $100,000 nonrefundable payment for each year of extension. Heager said the payments are not creditable toward the $2,000,000 purchase price or toward a community-benefit payment schedule in the development agreement.

Heager and Finance Director Jamie Boscarino told council the purchase structure requires the buyer to submit building permit applications and have permits ready to issue before escrow may close. Staff recommended directing the $100,000 per-year extension payments to the navigation center operating gap; the council approved that direction as part of the motion. Caruso representatives reiterated that construction and financing headwinds have delayed residential work and said the commercial side of the Lakes continues to attract tenants.

Opponents, led by Mayor Newman, questioned the long history of the Lakes project, the absence to date of any city cash flow from the property under earlier arrangements, and the lack of affordable units in the project as currently conceived. Proponents on the council stressed the project’s potential to add residential density near downtown and the immediate community benefit of the extension payments for the navigation center. Councilmember Engler and others noted that the PSA requires building plans be submitted before closing, which the staff said makes it likely the buyer will move forward if it closes. The motion carried 4–1.