FAQs- Project Planning

Measure E is a local voter-adopted 30-year growth-control measure that was approved by voters in 1996. However, the language of Measure E specifically states that it does not apply when a land-use amendment is required to allow a viable use of publicly owned land that has been declared surplus and is no longer needed for a public purpose. Measure E does not govern limits on height. 

The recently adopted General Plan explicitly calls for the creation of a Downtown on the Civic Arts Plaza site and includes several land-use goals that are fulfilled by the Downtown Project. The 2023 General Plan update indicated the need for a General Plan Amendment once a project had been defined and prepared for hearings.  

There is currently no development partner selected. All design and entitlements have been pursued by the City itself. A partner developer will be selected for the construction and operation of the mixed-use buildings and hotel. They will be competitively selected through a thorough Request for Qualifications and Proposals process. The City expects to select a partner developer in Q1 2027. You can learn more about the City’s purchasing process here. 

The 3D flyover of the Downtown Project are available online on the City’s YouTube channel. The file for the 3D model is available upon request and requires a PC to operate. No additional software is required. Please email downtown@toaks.gov to request the 3D file. 

No. 

The Downtown Project does not raise building height limits throughout Thousand Oaks. It proposes site-specific height allowances only within the Civic Arts Plaza Specific Plan area, consistent with the City's long-standing practice of using Specific Plans to establish development standards for unique locations.

While the City's general development standards typically limit buildings to 75 feet or less, the City has historically established different height standards for unique sites where appropriate. Examples include the Civic Arts Plaza Specific Plan, the Amgen campus, and certain mixed-use and industrial areas that have their own planning standards or approved height overlays.

The Civic Arts Plaza has operated under its own Specific Plan since 1989. That plan envisioned taller buildings stepping away from Thousand Oaks Boulevard toward the freeway, with the greatest building heights concentrated within the interior of the site. The Downtown Project continues that planning approach by concentrating height within the Civic Arts Plaza area rather than applying it citywide.

The vision for the Civic Arts Plaza area has remained remarkably consistent for more than 35 years: to create a vibrant civic center that serves as the cultural and community heart of Thousand Oaks.

When the original Specific Plan was adopted in 1989, it envisioned a high-intensity, mixed public-private development that included a government center, civic auditorium, conference center, hotel, approximately 250,000 square feet of office space, restaurants, retail, structured parking, and a central public park. The plan also established a pattern of concentrating taller buildings toward the interior of the site and the Ventura Freeway while maintaining lower building heights along Thousand Oaks Boulevard. 

Today's Downtown Project builds on that long-standing vision while updating the mix of uses to reflect changes in community needs, market conditions, and state housing requirements. The most notable change is replacing uses that were never realized—such as the hotel, conference center, and large office program—with a mix of housing, neighborhood-serving commercial uses, public open space, and civic amenities.

The updated Specific Plan also refines the site's development standards. While it introduces residential development, it reduces the maximum height previously allowed for institutional uses—from 110 feet to 64 feet—and establishes maximum heights of 95 feet for residential and hotel buildings. As a result, the revised plan is not simply an increase in development intensity; it reallocates and refines that intensity to better align with today's vision for a walkable, mixed-use downtown.

Although the specific mix of uses has evolved over time, the fundamental objective has remained the same: transforming this long-vacant site into an active civic, cultural, and economic destination that serves the broader community.

For nearly 40 years, the Civic Arts Plaza area has been identified in the City's adopted planning documents as the community's civic and cultural center. Since the original Specific Plan was adopted in 1989, the vision has been to transform this site into an active destination that brings together public spaces, civic facilities, arts, entertainment, restaurants, and complementary private development. 

The Downtown Project builds on that vision by creating a "third place"—a destination where people can gather, connect, dine, attend performances, enjoy public spaces, and participate in community life outside of home and work. Rather than functioning primarily as a retail destination, the project is designed to serve as the City's cultural hub, anchored by the Civic Arts Plaza, public park, restaurants, civic spaces, and year-round community activity.

The Civic Arts Plaza site is uniquely suited for this role because:

• It is already home to the largest performing arts venue in the region, along with City Hall and other civic facilities, creating a foundation for a true civic and cultural center.

• Its topography naturally accommodates taller buildings that are not suitable elsewhere in the City to be concentrated toward the interior of the site and the Ventura Freeway while reducing visual impacts on surrounding neighborhoods and preserving the character of Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

• It helps strengthen Thousand Oaks Boulevard, bringing more residents, visitors, employees, and patrons within walking distance of existing and future businesses.

• It has been planned for this purpose for decades. The original Specific Plan envisioned a hotel, conference center, offices, restaurants, retail, structured parking, and a central public park.

The Oaks Mall and Janss Marketplace remain important commercial centers, but they are privately owned properties that will continue to evolve over time under new ownership, changing market conditions, and the City's General Plan, which already allows for future mixed-use redevelopment opportunities. Their future evolution is independent of the Downtown Project.

The Downtown Project focuses on the City's civic center because it is the one place in Thousand Oaks where civic institutions, arts, entertainment, public gathering spaces, and complementary private investment can come together to create a true downtown.

Drop us a note here or send an email to downtown@toaks.gov.