CRPD advances $30 million purchase of Fireworks Hill and Hillcrest Center

After months of financial maneuvering, the Conejo Recreation and Park District is on the verge of owning one of Thousand Oaks' most recognizable landmarks. A unanimous board vote earlier this month cleared the final procedural hurdle on a $30.4 million acquisition of Fireworks Hill and the Hillcrest Center for the Arts — a deal that preserves both a beloved open-space hilltop and a cultural campus that thousands of Conejo Valley residents use every year.

A Final Vote, a June 30 Deadline

At its June 5 board meeting, the CRPD board voted 5-0 to approve a financing plan through the Webster Public Finance Corporation and to enter into site lease and leaseback agreements with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA). The vote covered the properties at 401 and 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, along with roughly 60 acres known as Fireworks Hill.

"This is the final board-required action, and the goal is to close by June 30," CRPD General Manager Jim Friedl told the board, according to the Thousand Oaks Acorn. "We hopefully will own the properties by the end of June."

The timing carries a certain poetry: if escrow closes as planned, CRPD could be the official owner of Fireworks Hill before it launches its annual Fourth of July fireworks show from the same hillside — an event coordinated by CRPD, the City of Thousand Oaks, and local sponsors that draws spectators to The Oaks and Janss Marketplace parking lots each summer.

How the $30.4 Million Deal Is Structured

The purchase price is funded through three streams. CRPD's capital reserves contributed $13.4 million, representing the largest single source. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy chipped in $2 million, contingent on preserving 30 acres at the top of Fireworks Hill as permanent public open space. The remaining $15 million is being financed through the lease-leaseback arrangement approved at the June 5 meeting.

Under the structure, CRPD will lease two parcels to the MRCA, which will then lease them back to the district. Parcel A is the driveway leading up toward the buildings; Parcel B encompasses the Hillcrest Center for the Arts and the CRPD administrative building. Annual payments on the 20-year financing are expected to total about $1.14 million at a fixed interest rate of 4.46%.

Brandon Kfoury of Urban Futures, Inc. — the financial firm CRPD hired in February, following a 5-0 board vote, to guide the district through the purchase process — explained the legal rationale for the approach. Under California law, special districts like CRPD generally require two-thirds voter approval for long-term debt beyond 10 years. The lease-leaseback structure sidesteps that threshold because courts have determined that lease payments do not constitute "debt" in the constitutional sense, allowing the district to stretch financing across 20 years without a ballot measure. Annual payments will be covered by existing and projected property tax revenues and ongoing budget surpluses, meaning no new taxes will be required, the Acorn previously reported.

A Long Road: From Surplus Property to Permanent Preservation

The deal's roots stretch back well before January 2026. For more than two decades, CRPD has occupied the Hillcrest Center building as its headquarters, even though the City of Thousand Oaks owned it. The city began exploring a sale of the property — which it classified as surplus — to help fund its downtown redevelopment project. With CRPD's lease set to expire in September 2027, the district faced the prospect of losing not only its administrative home but also the arts campus it operates.

The buildings themselves carry significant local history. Dedicated on February 24, 1973, the twin structures were the city's first purpose-built City Hall, designed by architect Robert Mason Houvener following a national competition. The city vacated the buildings in 1988 after asbestos was found in the ceilings, and they sat vacant until the National Park Service leased one for its regional headquarters starting in 1997. In 2002, the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley, partnering with the city and CRPD, moved into the south building, giving rise to the Hillcrest Center for the Arts as the community knows it today. The Janss family, which was responsible for much of the city's early development, had donated the parcel to the city for public use in 1969.

The formal purchase agreement was reached in January 2026. In separate 5-0 votes, the Thousand Oaks City Council and the CRPD board approved the sale of the historic property at 401–403 W. Hillcrest Drive to CRPD for $30.4 million. The roughly 62-acre property was placed into a 180-day escrow period slated to end in July 2026. The June 5 financing vote was the last board action needed before that escrow could close.

What's at Stake for Thousand Oaks Residents

The preservation of Fireworks Hill and the Hillcrest Center is more than a real estate transaction — it protects a cluster of cultural institutions that serve thousands of Conejo Valley residents annually.

The Hillcrest Center for the Arts sits atop the hill overlooking The Oaks Mall and serves as a hub for the arts in the Conejo Valley, housing the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley and serving as the performance home of the Young Artists Ensemble (YAE). YAE, founded in 1981, produces an annual Family Theatre Season, Teen Dramas, and Teen Summer Musicals, drawing hundreds of youth ages 10–19 and reaching thousands of local theatregoers each year. Had the property gone to a private developer, all of that programming would have been at risk.

CRPD Board Chair Nellie Cusworth put it bluntly at the June 5 meeting. "We've saved a mountain, and two historic buildings," she said, according to the Acorn. "We would have lost the Hillcrest Center for the Arts, the Arts Council, the Young Artists Ensemble, and the Art Gallery. This could have all gone to development, but we have gained a lot for our community."

For the district itself, permanence matters operationally. CRPD is a special district established in 1962 that administers more than 50 community parks across the Conejo Valley, and the Hillcrest hilltop serves as both its administrative nerve center and a major community programming venue. Owning rather than leasing the site removes the uncertainty that has hung over the agency for the past several years.

What Comes Next

With the June 5 financing vote in the books, attention now turns to escrow closing. Friedl has indicated the target date is June 30. If that timeline holds, CRPD will become the legal owner of Fireworks Hill and both Hillcrest buildings before the city's Independence Day celebration fires up the sky above Thousand Oaks — this time, from land the park district can call its own.

The deal also carries a conservation obligation going forward: the $2 million grant from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy requires that 30 acres at the top of Fireworks Hill be maintained as public open space, locking in a preservation commitment that will outlast any future board or budget cycle.