Peterson Building

7001 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA

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The Petersen building is a two-story historic commercial building located at the northwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Avenue. It is owned by the CIM Group. The property owner proposes to add nine floors to the building and create an eleven-story hotel with 300 rooms. Agency staff has reviewed the design concept but the project description has not been finalized. Agency staff will assist CIM in the environmental analysis process, obtaining entitlements and identifying parking. Total projected expenditures in the next five years are $100,000 including Agency labor costs.

Hollywood & Vine

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Currently under development, the Hollywood & Vine community calls for an exciting, mixed-use project offering 262 luxury apartments, a 300-room hotel (with 96 luxury condominiums to be operated by W Hotels) and over 60,000 square feet of street level retail space. Supporting these diverse uses will be two to three levels of subterranean parking.

Two, 12-story buildings facing Hollywood Boulevard will house the hotel and condominiums. The base of these buildings will be devoted to retail stores, restaurants and an MTA station. These steel frame, high-rise buildings will total approximately 297,000 square feet.

A third, five-story building ? fronting on Vine Street, Selma Avenue and Argyle Avenue ? will provide 262 luxury apartments situated above 55,000 square feet of retail space.

Hollywood & Vine, which will be available for leasing in 2007, is being developed by Legacy Partners and Gatehouse Capital.

The Broadway Building

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The Broadway Hollywood building was originally constructed in 1927 as the Broadway Department Store. It is a 10 story concrete and steel structure that was designed in the Classical Revival Style. In 1939 Donald Parkinson designed a 8 story addition to the west of the original structure. Interestingly, this addition was not designed to match the original building, but has it?s own identity as a Streamline Moderne structure. Over the years the building has been converted into office space for a variety of tenants.

The proposed renovation and reuse of this property, coverts the existing buildings into luxury residential condominiums with parking on the basement and mezzanine levels and retail/restaurant uses on the street level. The residential portion of the project includes a historically sensitive addition on the 1940?s building which will bring it?s height in line with that of the original structure. The units will range from 850 square feet to 2000 square feet; the majority will be one level with some rising up to three levels. The design concept within the units is one of open and flexible space. There are bedroom locations highlighted on the plans, but dividing walls will not be constructed in order to allow the future owners the utmost flexibility of lifestyle. The roof area will be developed with an exercise room, Jacuzzi, swimming pool and cabanas. The layout will highlight the spectacular views of the Hollywood Sign and Hollywood Boulevard to the west. The construction on this project is anticipated to begin Spring of 2005.

Major Mixed-Use Project Planned for Pantages Area

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After turning away developers for more than two decades, the family that owns the Pantages Theatre is planning a $300 million entertainment-themed development that would surround the Hollywood facility.
A deal with an unnamed New York developer could be reached within weeks for a mixed-use project that would contain entertainment, housing and subterranean parking, among other possible features, said Neil Papiano, an attorney representing Nederlander Producing Co. of America Inc.

It would dovetail with other large housing, retail and hospitality developments already under way in the area surrounding the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

James M. Nederlander, who runs the family company that owns the Pantages and several acres of surface parking lots along Hollywood Boulevard, wants to redevelop the stretch east of Vine Street as an entertainment and theater destination, said Papiano, a partner at Iverson Yoakum Papiano & Hatch.

Until now, no developer’s proposal has measured up to his vision. But nearby projects have taken root, and changed the outlook for the type of project Nederlander has in mind.

Adjacent to the site, Dallas-based Gatehouse Capital Corp. and Foster City-based Legacy Partners Inc. are seeking final approvals to develop a $325 million complex of housing and retail anchored by a nearly 300-room W Hotel. Condo conversions at the Equitable Building and the Hollywood & Vine Plaza are also under way.

In April, Nederlander hired the New York-based real estate investment firm Holiday Fenoglio Fowler LP to recruit developers, and the proposal from the New York developer has emerged as a frontrunner. A contract could be in place within six to eight weeks, Papiano said.

The developer’s proposal calls for a $300 million mixed-use project with shops, restaurants, housing and an expansive underground parking garage, according to attorney Benjamin Reznik, a partner with Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP, who is representing the New York developer.

Nederlander, whose company owns 26 theaters worldwide, is also interested in a boutique hotel and possibly a second live theater for plays. Papiano said Nederlander recognizes that putting all those pieces together into one development may not be feasible yet.

Reznik said neither the hotel nor the live theater is in the developer’s current proposal but he said each could still be added. “Right now everything is conceptual to make sure everything is economically viable,” he said.

Both attorneys said their clients believe a deal could be reached between the Nederlanders and the developer within weeks. “I personally believe we could have an agreement by the end of the year,” Papiano said. “That being said, (Nederlander) has waited this long so I don’t think we’re in any sort of rush either.”

Nederlander, who runs the company with his son, is not interested in selling any of his property and, because he wants to retain control over the development of the site, he will only consider entering into long term land leases. He did not respond to a request for an interview.

Beyond the surface parking lots, the Nederlanders own a patchwork of properties extending east along Hollywood Boulevard from the Pantages that includes the Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre and the Hollywood Palladium.

The family also owns the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills and has a long-term lease with the city of Los Angeles to operate and manage the Greek Theatre in Griffith Park. Though the company is mostly based in New York, it is co-headquartered in Hollywood, the site of its concert promotion division.

Over the past six years, Nederlander has had about five serious offers to develop its Hollywood Boulevard parcels. Two years ago, a developer proposed building a Hard Rock hotel. Last year another developer wanted to blanket the lots with condominiums and apartments.

But Nederlander feels housing should be off Hollywood Boulevard, Papiano said, toward the rear of any proposed development. Anything on the boulevard “should all be entertainment-related or commercial-related.”

Until now, this agenda may have been economically unfeasible. But with the large number of apartments and condominiums under development nearby, an active restaurant and club scene, and the W Hotel going up across the street, that situation has changed, Papiano said.

“I get the feeling people out there looking at this feel more confident of what he has in mind than they did previously,” he said. “The kinds of proposals we get now are much closer to his original vision.”

Because so many developers had unsuccessfully courted the Nederlanders, builders and civic leaders said they had written off any construction for decades. For that reason, officials at the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency were surprised when Joseph Morningstar, a senior managing director at Holiday Fenoglio Fowler, notified them Nederlander had retained the firm. So were officials in the office of Councilman Eric Garcetti, whose 13th District includes the site.

“It’s more than they have ever done before,” said Josh Kamensky, Garcetti’s press deputy. “No one has been courted by more convinced suitors than the Nederlanders. Now, however, they are the ones pitching the idea of developing those parcels so there’s a sense it’s more serious than it has ever been before.”

Helmi Hisserich, deputy administrator for the CRA’s Hollywood region, said Nederlander had always wanted to develop the area to build more parking for the Pantages and give theatergoers more activities once shows let out.

Hisserich said construction on the Hollywood & Vine project that features the W Hotel could begin in 2006 and take two years to complete. She said it was feasible Nederlander could begin construction on a project by that time as well.

“It’s doable, totally doable,” she said. “We’ve always anticipated there would be higher density development at Hollywood and Vine.”

Still, Papiano said Nederlander hasn’t signed an agreement and could still decide to hold off on developing the land. “He takes the long view,” Papiano said. “He didn’t buy all this land to develop it and make some quick money. He’s in it for the long haul.”

Hollywood & Orange Building

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From The Blvd.
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East to West
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Rooftop
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Upper Deck
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North to South Grand Passage
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A design collaboration by JAG and Roto Architects, the proposed Hollywood Orange is an ambitious retail center development, sited at the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Orange, on the west side of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre

The program includes multi-level retail, and a rooftop dining terrace with a view of street activity below. The contemporary design of glass and steel has a transparent facade and an open court, promoting fluid interactivity with the street.

Background: Christopher A. Joseph & Associates prepared the environmental documentation for the Hollywood and Vine Project.

Lead Agency: City of Los Angeles
Project Applicant: Legacy Partners and City of Los Angeles

Daily News
June 1, 2005


Looking to add to the glitz and glamour of the restored Hollywood area, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a $325 million public-private partnership to build a 296-room W Hotel as well as condominiums, apartments and retail space.

In its 13-0 vote, the council agreed to put $4.8 million of public funds into the project -- mostly for land acquisition costs in the Hollywood and Vine area. It is in addition to some $40 million already spent on various projects in Hollywood.

"People ask me, why we're doing this, what is the value to the city when we are already seeing good development," said Councilman Eric Garcetti, who represents the area.

"Well, the answer is that for a $40 million investment we have leveraged $1 billion in economic development. And that's more tax dollars into our coffers to hire police, to build parks, to provide services."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority controls about 75 percent of the land needed to accommodate the project -- the MTA has a Red Line subway station at the intersection -- and the total public investment would be about $4.8 million, mostly for land acquisition, according to the city's Community Redevelopment Agency.

Legacy Partners would develop 350 apartments, including 74 units reserved for low-income renters.

Gatehouse Capital and its equity partner, HEI Hospitality Fund Acquisition, would build the W Hotel, a boutique chain owned by Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide.

The only other W Hotel in the Los Angeles area is in Westwood. The brand is known for chic, modern rooms and amenities such as spas and personal trainers.

The city's past investments in Hollywood have had mixed success, with its biggest failure at the Hollywood and Highland Development, with the original developers selling out for a fraction of the initial cost, and the city losing money on its investment in a parking structure.

Garcetti said the city has learned from its mistakes and has done well overall with its participation in Hollywood.

Still, some owners of small businesses oppose the project, which would abut a $300 million mixed-used project planned by The Nederlander Organization.

Robert B. Blue, whose family trust owns the vintage 1929 Herman Building at 1642 N. Vine Street, said the development would kill his business, Bernard Luggage, at the same location since 1950.

"It is very hard for a business to stay in business after moving from a long-term, established location," he told the council.

"The developers for this project are big boys and girls and can perform the project on a smaller scale, or on the same scale, without taxpayer handouts and government assistance. Just follow the leads of the neighbor across the street, the Nederlander family."

Leron Gubler, head of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, defended the project.

"We believe this is a real win-win project for Hollywood and Los Angeles, a tremendous public-private opportunity," he said. "We're having a $325 million project with relatively low public investment. It will be the catalytic project for the Hollywood and Vine area."


(Excerpt copyright 2005 Daily News)

Everyone should check out some website about Hollywood

http://www.gatehousecapital.com/Hollywood.html

http://www.heihospitality.com/

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/index.html

This isn't about Hollywood per se, but the Miracle Mile hood is sort of like the southern flank of Hollywood, & so it & hoods farther north, closer to Hollywood Blvd, go hand in hand.

The last few sentences should be interesting to ppl who are following talk about extending the Red Line through mid Wilshire, & news on how inflation in the cost of devlpt locally & worldwide is slowing down timetables & proposals:


LA Business Journal, June 13, 2005

Transformation of Miracle Mile

By ANDY*FIXMER*

L.A.’s Miracle Mile is attracting several large-scale projects that could reshape the corridor of museums and office towers. The city of Los Angeles has approved six Miracle Mile projects that would add 757 units of housing and more than 100,000 square feet for ground-floor shops and restaurants.

“It’s just ripe for development,” said Renee Weitzer, chief planning deputy for Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose 4th Council District includes the Miracle Mile. “There hasn’t been any good retail there and there’s a lack of restaurants, but the people living there really want those things.”

Some residents, however, are becoming uneasy about the impact that the development could have. Just to the north is Third Street, where the confluence of the Grove shopping center and several residential developments has added to the area’s congestion. There are also environmental concerns, given the area’s large deposits of methane gas. While some urban planners salute the trend among developers to move inward instead of sticking to the outlying suburbs, there is general concern among homeowners groups and others about the inevitable effect of the additional population. The development activity has also spurred new design guidelines.

“There is no elasticity,” said Bart Reed, executive director of the Transit Coalition, which advocates building more subway and light rail lines. “There is no more room on these streets.”

Rickie Avrutin, who lives in the same house on Curson Avenue where she grew up, worries about the high cost of rents, given the lack of affordable housing in the neighborhood. And she’s also concerned about the projects’ impact on the area. “The street I live on is a narrow street that is now used as a thoroughfare, even with the speed bumps.” Said Avrutin, a neighborhood council member. “It is bumper to bumper during rush hour.”

Weitzer downplays the potential for problems. “As these things come online, people are getting anxious about the added traffic,” she said. “Wilshire is still a good street. You know, there’s going to be traffic in this city and we try to mitigate it whenever we can.”

Running between La Brea and Fairfax avenues, Miracle Mile is home to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the La Brea Tar Pits and a bustling office district serving as a base for numerous media companies. But the strip offers few amenities for residents in the neighborhoods to the north and south. Office workers clog the artery during the day but leave it relatively empty at night. City planners have pushed for more housing, especially projects with shops and restaurants on the ground floor. That’s where planners believe the added traffic and density can be more easily absorbed.

“We’ve been looking for a site close to the Miracle Mile for a long time,” said Larry Scott, senior vice president in the Newport Beach office of AvalonBay Communities Inc., which is developing a six-story, 123-unit building with 10,000 square feet of retail. “It has very desirable characteristics.”

AvalonBay intends to rent apartments for about $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom to $3,000 for a three-bedroom unit. “We think those are very attainable rates for that area,” he said. “There’s a lot of demand from people who want to live there.”

Retail rise and fall

The Miracle Mile was developed in the 1920s as Wilshire Boulevard was being extended from downtown to the UCLA campus in Westwood Village and on to the ocean. As the rise of the automobile began to decentralize business in Los Angeles, downtown realtor A.W. Ross developed the commercial strip on the site of a vast oil field. By the end of World War II, Ross’s development attracted upscale department stores, including Desmonds, Broadway, Phelps-Terkel and May Co. But the district began to lose its luster as new areas further west began to open.

“It was what they called a red-line district,” said developer Jerry Snyder, who bought a number of properties in the area in the 1980s. “Lenders wouldn’t lend there and people were moving out.”

Still, Snyder thought the area’s central location could bring people back. He revamped the Museum Square building, home to the Screen Actors Guild, and across the street, built the 1 million-square-foot Wilshire Courtyard buildings, where the Los Angeles Business Journal is located. Snyder also bought and renovated the former CalFed tower at Wilshire Boulevard and Masselin Avenue, which he sold earlier this year to Arden Realty Inc. for about $93 million after signing a large lease to Viacom Inc. that brought the building to nearly full occupancy.

Starting at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Highland Avenue and moving west, some of the large projects under way include:

• Chandler Partners has nearly completed construction on a two-building, 104-unit apartment complex at Wilshire Boulevard and Detroit Street that includes an existing ground-floor store in its design.

• Legacy Partners last month received approval to build a 197-unit condo that includes nearly 34,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The developer could begin construction this summer, which first requires razing the site – a former Office Depot store.

• Publicly traded apartment developer BRE Inc. has approvals for a 288-unit, six-story building on a city block bounded by Wilshire Boulevard, Eighth Street, Hauser Boulevard and Ridgeley Drive.

• J.H. Snyder Co. is building a one-story replacement building for Office Depot at the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Masselin Avenue.

• Developer David Schwartzman has approvals to convert a small office building at Wilshire Boulevard and Ogden Drive into 45 apartments, though it’s unclear if he will proceed or convert the project to for-sale units.

Construction can be long and costly because of the high water table and deposits of methane gas and crude oil. Developers have to build extra-thick reinforced foundations to withstand pressure from the water table. They also have to install special methane gas venting systems. The gas is filtered and then siphoned through a vent in the roof of the building. “It’s not like an oil refinery where you have a constantly burning flame that burns off the gas,” said Scott, the AvalonBay developer, who said the building’s residents wouldn’t notice the methane being vented from underneath the building. “You won’t smell or see it.”

Still, as AvalonBay was digging out the site for the building’s foundation and underground parking, the developer had to pump out ground water. The water was laced with sulfur, and when it mixed with the air released a rotten smell. Many Miracle Mile office buildings have to regularly pump oil out their elevator bays and underground garages. The weight of the buildings often pushes oil to the surface.

“It’s just one of the quirks,” Snyder said. “Every now and then you have to bring in someone to pump out the tar.”

Those conditions can lead to budget overruns. Even Snyder is having trouble with his Office Depot development, where the cost of construction has doubled to $7 million.

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December 13, 2005 – Legacy Partners Teams Up with the Directors Guild in West Hollywood Rez Project

Article Date: 12/13/05


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Full Story:
Foster City-based Legacy Partners has entered into a long-term ground lease with the Directors Guild of America to replace an existing parking lot and develop a new $60 mil mixed-use luxury apartment rental community. The development, located at 7950 W. Sunset, is conveniently located near the 101 Fwy, with shopping centers, boutiques, restaurants and entertainment located within walking distance. It is now under construction and will feature 183 apartments and ground level retail when it opens in summer 2007.

The five-story apartment project is located along the famed Sunset Strip, at Hayworth Ave, with views of the Hollywood Hills and downtown Los Angeles. It will feature dramatically styled single-story flats and town homes ranging in size from 591 sf to 1.2k sf. Residents and visitors will have abundant dining and shopping options to choose from in the project’s 13.3k sf of restaurant/retail space situated along Sunset Blvd. 7950 W. Sunset will also feature three levels of parking for residents, guests, retail customers and Directors Guild patrons, as well as two levels of privately controlled access subterranean parking for residents.

The Apartments at 7950 W. Sunset will range in price from $1,750 to $3,400 per month. There will be 28 studios, 81 one-bedroom units and 74 two-bedroom homes available for lease.

Units at 7950 W. Sunset will feature custom kitchen cabinetry with freestanding islands, granite kitchen countertops and upgraded finishes throughout. Bathrooms will feature granite counters, oversized tubs with showers in master suites, and freestanding vanities. There will be stained concrete flooring in first-level apartments, slate flooring in second- and third-level units, wood flooring in penthouse homes with dramatic 9- to 17-foot ceilings, and energy-efficient central air conditioning and heating throughout.

All apartments will include stainless steel appliance packages, full-size washer/dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, gas ranges with microwaves, flat-screen TVs in kitchens, and ceiling fans in living areas and bedrooms. High-tech features include a private security alarm option, pre-wiring for high speed Internet access and cable TV. Residents will enjoy outdoor patios and balconies with dramatic views of downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills.

Community amenities and services at 7950 W. Sunset include: a 7k sf clubhouse with state-of-the-art entertainment equipment; a sports lounge with plasma televisions; an elevated swimming pool with spa, cabanas and sundeck; and four rooftop sky terraces, with a lounge, fireplaces, water features and spectacular views. Residents also will have access to a Business Center, complete with computers, Internet access, fax machine, scanner and a color copier, along with a conference room that can be reserved for business or personal meetings. A 3.1k sf Health Center will include state-of-the-art fitness equipment with attached television monitors, an aerobics/yoga floor, Pilates and cardio equipment, wet and dry saunas, locker room and service bar. 7950 W. Sunset will also feature interior landscaped courtyards with fountains, fire pits and intimate sitting areas for residents to enjoy.

The project team for 7950 W. Sunset includes: Legacy Partners Residential, Inc, developer; Legacy Partners Builders Inc, general contractor; AIG Global Real Estate, financial partner; Guaranty Bank, lender; Thomas P. Cox Architects Inc, architecture; HRP Landdesign, landscape architecture and design; Fuscoe Engineering, civil engineering; and Faulkner Design Group, interior design.


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www.7950westsunset.com

What's Missing From Hollywood? Office Space


The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/realestate/commercial/08hollywood.html)
By MORRIS ******
Published: March 8, 2006
LOS ANGELES, March 7 — An unremarkable office building in Hollywood from the 1970's might seem an unlikely candidate for a Cinderella story. With an aging exterior of black glass and a billboard on the roof, the building, 1800 Highland, was nearly empty until recently. Its few tenants paid rent month to month.

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Top, J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times
The building at 1800 Highland Avenue, top, in the midst of remodeling, and an artist's rendering, above, of what it is expected to look like once it is completed.



Transactions This month, however, the CIM Group of Los Angeles, the largest private landlord in Hollywood, plans to give the humble 80,000-square-foot building the star treatment. Driven by the demand for scarce office space in this reviving district, CIM plans to pull down the rooftop billboard and replace the tired exterior with a sleek new glass skin.

For years, 1800 Highland Avenue "sat there with signs on it in a relatively run-down condition," said Steven Tronson, vice president of Ramsey-Schilling Real Estate Services, a local real estate brokerage firm, "and now it's being repositioned as a Class A office building."

Even with the building draped in construction cloth as work begins, CIM says it has received "substantial interest" from entertainment-related companies looking for space in the building, which it bought in 2004 for $14 million. No new office buildings have been built in Hollywood since the mid-1970's, and until recently there has been little demand from large-scale entertainment tenants, who typically looked for space in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills or Burbank.

The planned rebirth of 1800 Highland Avenue is also part of a larger attempt by CIM to manage its office properties — it also owns residential buildings and retail space in the area — following a districtwide strategy in which it will try to achieve a balance among the different segments of the market that it owns.

"Hollywood Boulevard is a multiheaded beast," said John Given, the CIM principal in charge of investment and development. "There are layers of different uses and user groups on the boulevard and that gives Hollywood Boulevard a 24-7 context."

"We understand that Hollywood is many lifestyles, many cultures and many different demographics," he added, "and that makes it possible for us to acquire buildings in a variety of locations."

The company is trying to respond to the real estate market by noting the changes from block to block within a two-mile stretch of Hollywood Boulevard. That stretch includes familiar tourist attractions like Grauman's Chinese Theater, as well as the bulk of the district's office buildings.

National chains like Virgin Records may need a big, splashy location to appeal to both tourists and local residents. Chic new restaurants like Geisha House, and specialty shops like American Apparel, on the other hand, tend to thrive in older low-rise buildings in slightly less-trafficked areas, where they are within walking distance of the growing number of people in their 20's and 30's either living and working in Hollywood, or both.

Production companies and other entertainment-related businesses, meanwhile, are trawling the market, often for large-scale office space, but finding little.

CIM's approach is "quite visionary," said Helmi Hisserich, the Hollywood regional administrator for the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, which has jurisdiction over much of Hollywood Boulevard. The firm, she adds, "really views Hollywood as an entire district."

"They are not tackling it one building at a time, but one big market segment at a time," she said.

CIM was founded in 1994 by two Israeli-born developers — Shaul Kuba and Avi Shemesh — with Richard Ressler, a financial professional and former employee of Drexel Burnham Lambert, the investment banking firm.

The company enjoyed its first big success in Santa Monica, on the Third Street Promenade, a three-block shopping street in a redevelopment area of that oceanfront city, where CIM became the largest single landlord. The Promenade was a mixed-use district, and CIM learned to respond to the market with the type of development that seemed warranted — housing, shops or office space — in new and existing buildings.


In Hollywood, CIM benefited from good timing and perhaps a bit of luck. Drawing on a fund underwritten by two of the nation's largest public pension funds, the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers Retirement System, the company bought its first Hollywood building in 1997, well before the current vogue for the district gathered steam.


Transactions Formerly shunned by Los Angeles residents, Hollywood Boulevard had a reputation as a mean street where teenage runaways, drug dealers and would-be rock stars wandered in a landscape of tacky souvenir shops. It was easy to dismiss the boulevard as the dark side of the entertainment industry.

With an inventory of 10 commercial and residential buildings in Hollywood and an 11th in escrow, CIM is "the most enthusiastic investor to come into this area in the last 10 years," Mr. Tronson said.

In February 2004, CIM undertook its largest and perhaps biggest challenge in Hollywood, by buying the 640,000-square-foot Hollywood and Highland complex for $201 million. The developer and seller, Trizec-Hahn of Toronto, took a reported $360 million write-down on the project.

The building had opened in 2001 to hostile reviews and lukewarm sales. Many local residents disliked the complex — a 640-room hotel, retail space, a multiplex cinema and the Kodak Theater, home to the Oscar ceremonies — that seemed to some an overscaled intrusion of corporate America, with national chain stores dominating the tenant mix.

CIM's approach has been to find tenants more in tune with the young consumers Mr. Given identified as one of several pivotal customer groups in Hollywood. Earlier this year, a Virgin Megastore moved into the building. Another new tenant is Lucky Brand Dungarees, while the landlord is in negotiations with Damon Wayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans to open a comedy club in the complex.

"You come to Hollywood and hope for something special and they deliver on that," Ms. Hisserich said.

CIM has also been one of many developers to capitalize on the Hollywood housing craze, converting two former office buildings into 101 rental apartments. Other developers have been building or converting office buildings into condominiums, which are getting up to $800 a square foot.

The runaway housing market, in fact, has caused concern among Hollywood watchers, who say Hollywood needs more office space to remain a viable business center. Housing, however, is typically more profitable than office space, and that difference in real estate values threatens to displace office development, Ms. Hisserich said.

"There's a lot of pressure from the housing market, and we are somewhat concerned that the big commercial parcels are being snapped up for housing," she said.

The redevelopment agency, in fact, is prepared to "fast track" the normally time-consuming process of obtaining government approvals for any developer who can put together the land for a project. The CIM Group is one of two developers that have agreements with the agency to move forward with office construction. (CIM is in escrow on the property in question and will not comment further.)

Currently, Hollywood is viewed as a relative bargain, compared with entertainment hubs like Santa Monica to the west and Burbank to the north.

Ms. Hisserich sees a pleasant oddity in Hollywood's apparent ascendancy in the regional office market. "I am getting calls all the time from entertainment firms looking for space," she said.

"It's nice to see," she added, "that the entertainment industry has taken notice of Hollywood."

[QUOTE=redspork02]What's Missing From Hollywood? Office Space


The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/realestate/commercial/08hollywood.html)
By MORRIS ******
Published: March 8, 2006

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It's about time they do something with this old and vacant eye soar.

oops the pic came out twice.....lol
but um yeah, the revitalization of Hollywood and the entire city of Los Angeles is being put into 2nd gear!!!!!wooohuuuu.:)

oops the pic came out twice.....lol
but um yeah, the romantic revolution of Los Angeles and of Hollywood is starting and is being put into 2nd gear!!!!!wooohuuuu.:)

[QUOTE=redspork02]oops the pic came out twice.....lol


That's not the only thing thing that came out twice??? :jk:

Getting back to the topic:
I know when you drive south on Highland the first thing you see is this building. Then the big advertisements on the side. The new design will still show advertisements with new lighting or not. The building looks like if they are going to lit it up, or is it just me??

At Home in Tinseltown
Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-hollywood19mar19,0,451072.story?coll=la-home-headlines)

A flurry of projects in the area around Hollywood and Vine are designed to restore the famous intersection's luster and make it an 'in place' to live and play.
By Roger Vincent, Times Staff Writer
March 19, 2006


Hollywood and Vine, the once-storied intersection that had degenerated into a home to panhandlers, prostitutes and drug dealers, soon could become home to an entirely different crowd: some of Los Angeles' most well-heeled glitterati.

Developers hope their planned $1.2-billion construction of more than 2,000 upscale condominiums and apartments, along with a new ritzy W Hotel and other attractions, will make the spot a Los Angeles rarity — a neighborhood like parts of Manhattan, with residents and nightlife.

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The condos already are enjoying strong buyer demand. But the proposed transformation has its naysayers. Some existing business owners and neighbors worry about increased traffic congestion and say new residents may get turned off by the bustling nightlife the development is intended to enhance.

Los Angeles city officials have been plotting Hollywood and Vine's comeback for more than a decade, but didn't foresee the rush for high-end living in an area that had seen better days.

"We are a little bit surprised that Vine is becoming a premier residential address," said Helmi Hisserich, the Community Redevelopment Agency's regional administrator for Hollywood. "It just sort of emerged. Vine is going to become an extraordinarily wonderful street for Los Angeles."

The momentum is so strong that developers are trying to buy the cylindrical Capitol Records Tower north of the intersection in the hope of converting it to condos. Early buyer reaction bodes well for builders at Hollywood and Vine, where construction at all four corners is underway or close to starting.

Nearly all 96 units in the former Broadway department store at the southwest corner of the intersection were sold as soon at they went on the market. Prices ranged from more than $500,000 to $2.8 million for some penthouses.

Developer Kor Group said there were hundreds of registrants for a chance to purchase a unit, but declined to identify any buyers. One of them, though, was real estate broker John Tronson, who described "a feeding frenzy" among "mostly high-profile L.A. people or celebrities who want an L.A. base. They think it will be hottest place in town."

Part of the appeal for the glitterati is the reputation of Kor Group as a purveyor of Old Hollywood style. Chief Executive Brad Korzen and his wife, interior designer Kelly Wearstler, build for the chic set and made a splash with their lavishly decorated boutique hotels such as the Avalon in Beverly Hills and the Viceroy in Santa Monica.

Hollywood's rebirth is a bit ahead of the comeback going on in downtown Los Angeles, where Kor is also building condos, Korzen said.

"Hollywood and Vine is surrounded by dozens and dozens of clubs, bars and restaurants," Korzen said. "It's got a robust nightlife in an urban setting. You don't have that anywhere else in L.A."

Korzen is transforming two adjoining buildings that date to the 1920s and 1930s and served as the now-defunct Broadway chain's high-end Hollywood outpost for decades before closing in the 1980s. To revive the glamour factor, he is adding a roof garden with pool, cabanas, an exercise room and a spa.

The Broadway, the former Equitable office building across the street at the northeast corner and the Taft office building at the southeast corner are links to the era when Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street was one of the city's great crossroads in the 1920s, when it was the second-busiest intersection after Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.

It was a gateway to the San Fernando Valley in pre-freeway Los Angeles and had been a draw for the movie industry from the very beginning. Cecil B. DeMille shot "The Squaw Man," Hollywood's first feature film, at the nearby corner of Selma Avenue and Vine in 1914.

Later, radio and then television stations set up operations in the neighborhood and KFWB announcers chirped often that they were broadcasting "from Hollywood and Vine," according to historian Marc Wanamaker. "It was considered the downtown of Hollywood."

Such mass appeal was a distant memory by the 1980s, when the neighborhood fell prey to such activities as drug dealing, prostitution and panhandling.

By the early 1990s, the Community Redevelopment Agency had come up with a plan for improving Hollywood that called for commercial and residential development at the intersection. Changing political administrations, subway construction and real estate downturns kept builders at bay, however.

Finally, a city ordinance that simplified conversion of commercial buildings to residential use, along with the Hollywood and Highland development and the recent housing boom, spurred developers to action. The area's grittiness even holds appeal for some.

"Hollywood has just become what the Meatpacking District was five years ago in New York," said developer Avi Brosh, who builds for the single, hip and affluent and who is also spearheading the effort at Hollywood and Vine. "It's the emerging epicenter of nightlife and culture."

Brosh's Palisades Development Group is currently converting the Equitable building to condominiums. He also got city approval in January to build a five-story condominium building on the intersection's northwest corner. It will replace a parking lot situated between a nightclub and a theater built in 1927 that was home to the "Hollywood Palace" television vaudeville show in the 1960s.

He plans to provide furnished units for rent and for sale, all with a concierge, housekeeping staff and room service from the street-level restaurant.

"We want people who might have stayed in an Oakwood but don't feel in tune with their design," said Brosh, referring to the West Los Angeles-based company that specializes in renting furnished apartments.

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The next major addition will spring up around the Taft building and a subway entrance at the intersection's southeast corner.

Gatehouse Capital Corp. received approval from the city Planning Commission last month to build a 300-room W Hotel along with 150 condominiums served by the hotel's staff. The project will include a restaurant, spa, fitness facility and rooftop bar.

The opportunity to build at Hollywood and Vine was worth the five years of effort it will have taken to get underway, said Marty Collins, Gatehouse's president.

"It is one of those iconic intersections in the world," Collins said. "From Africa to Nepal to China, you can say the word 'Hollywood' and they have an image of it that is largely good."

Another developer, Legacy Partners, will contribute 375 apartments and retail space on the ground floor including a convenience grocery store, said Dennis Cavallari, senior vice president.

Plans for the development call for eliminating some old buildings along Vine, including a cocktail lounge, juice bar and a luggage store, which were condemned earlier this month by the Community Redevelopment Agency through eminent domain.

Luggage store operator Robert Blue said he would mount a court challenge to keep possession of his 78-year-old building in part because he hopes to be in business when new residents arrive. "All these people will need luggage and repairs."

Some longtime locals wonder if the neighborhood's transformation will go smoothly.

The trouble with Hollywood's current appeal, said puppet maker Greg Williams, is that "it's all alcohol-based" around trendy nightclubs. New residents may not care for the noise the clubs generate, he said.

Williams, who said he grew up in Hollywood and later ran his Puppet Studio at Hollywood and Vine, said a lack of city leadership following damages from the 1994 Northridge earthquake and following subway construction disruptions ruptured the fabric of the business community by driving out longtime small-business owners.

Like many neighbors in the path of development, Nancy Omeara, who keeps an office in the Taft building, worries whether all the new residents and their cars will be too much of a good thing.

"It's great people are going to be coming," said Omeara, vice president of the Foundation for Religious Freedom. "It's all a positive story except for the traffic. Maybe we'll actually have a city here."

Former New Yorker Raymond Urgo, also a Taft building tenant, said he was worried about the heavy focus on housing development instead of office or retail.

"Everybody is trying to get in on residential, but I'm not sure the mix is right," said Urgo, a management consultant. "The people coming in are going to be paying too much for what they are getting."

Without other uses besides housing, "it will be 10 or 20 years before it becomes a true hot spot," Urgo said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, developer Brosh predicts success will come a lot sooner: "What you are going to see is probably the most dynamic corner in the city. If you're an urban person, this will be as good as it gets."

Boom town
http://www.latimes.com/media/graphic/2006-03/22528986.gif

Here are some of the projects underway or being planned for the neighborhood surrounding Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, the developer and the estimated cost.




1. Project :Palihouse Hollywood

Developer: Palisades Development

Size: New; five stories, 57 condos and apartments over a restaurant

Cost: $50 million

2. Project: Equitable office building
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2006-03/22528717.jpg

Developer: Palisades Development

Size: Rehab; 60 residential condos, five office condos

Cost: $50 million

3. Project: Apartments
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2006-03/22528726.jpg

Developer: Clarett Group

Size: New; five stories, 1,000 rental units over street-level retail space

Cost: $300 million

4. Project: Broadway department store
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2006-03/22528729.jpg
HOLLYWOOD HOMES: Developer Brad Korzen outside the former Broadway department store, which his Kor Group is converting into 96 condominiums over a restaurant and shops.
(Stefano Paltera / For The Times)


Developer: Kor Group

Size: Rehab; 96 condos over a restaurant and shops

Cost: $70 million

5. Project: Gay, lesbian senior housing
Developer: McCormack Baron Salazar

Size: New; 104 apartments with affordable rents
Cost: $20 million

6. Project: W Hotel
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2006-03/22528719.jpg

Developer: Gatehouse Capital and Legacy Partners

Size: New; 300-room hotel, 150 condos and 375 apartments over square feet of retail space

Cost: $500 million

7. Project : Apartments

Developer: Camden Property Trust

Size : New; 11 stories, 306 apartments over a Whole Foods store

Cost: $200 million

THIS IS ALSO FROM THE ARTICLE ABOVE......im so EXCITED FOR HOLLYWOOD

:) :eek2:

Developer: Gatehouse Capital and Legacy Partners

Size: New; 300-room hotel, 150 condos and 375 apartments over square feet of retail space

Cost: $500 million

7. Project : Apartments

Developer: Camden Property Trust

Size : New; 11 stories, 306 apartments over a Whole Foods store

Cost: $200 million

THIS IS ALSO FROM THE ARTICLE ABOVE......im so EXCITED FOR HOLLYWOOD[/QUOTE]


This is the kind of development Hollywood is lacking. All those tacky souvenir shops and run down shops along Sunset, Hollywood and parts of Vine need to be demolished. They give Hollywood a old and unattractive view to Tourist. Also Hollywood is known for it's glamour and glitz and once you get there is like what happened. Unless you go west of Hollywood and Highland. Then it's a different story and it feels more like a desirable walking strip.

What's the name of the Honorable Hollywood Mayor? What ever it is he needs to retire and let someone else with a vision and desire to turn around Hollywood to what is know as. They should just Villaraigoza completely take over Hollywood and built high rises and what not.

I really dont know still whats Hollywood and whats Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood, East Hollywood, whoah! difficult, which is the area for what los angeles is known around the world, where is sunset bv and melrose avenue....???

stupid hollywood and vine renovation really messes with traffic most mornings...


also what is being built on Ivar and De Longpre ave?

lots of construction there too

There was this story on Hannitty and Colmes about the busineses such as the famous juicess fountain being removed by eminent domain to make way for the Vine project.

that whole area is just a big parking lot... ill be happy when its gone.

<but i still hope there will be somewere for all those cars to be parked elsewere... otherwise its going to be a mess>

Some parking is a necessity. Too much parking backfires and can lend people to getting into their cars and driving off instead of lingering and using public transportation. Just look at it as tough love. Some places with very limited parking are some of the city's most vibrant i.e. West Hollywood and Hollywood itself. Friends tell me of circling for hours looking for a space to park for the evening but yet it hasn't hurt the occupancy rate of the apartments and it is still some of the highest rents in the city. On the other hand, downtown has block after block of parking but yet it is vacant compared to the two aforementioned neighborhoods and cities. Why is that? An overabundance of parking has a reverse effect on the pschye. Also it makes places feel sterile and cold with little interaction between people. I'm all for parking structures being scattered throughout the Hollywood area but they should be consistent. In that, a) they should be as clandestine as possible b)preferably sub-terrainian c)very expensive.

what about the parking that is hidden behind the above ground walls... there was some building on the los angeles redevelopment page with something like that.

and i have to agree with you about the downtown part... having all those empty lots around makes this city feel even more like detroit, and as most know that is not a good thing

That's why I don't understand the emphasis being put on parking lots being snapped up. Believe me, people will find alternatives. Good example is the event this weekend. Most people took public transpo. It got them there and got them back efficiently. On the other hand compared to just a mere 30,000 people exiting after a Staples event their is traffic for miles. The event this past weekend was HALF A MILLION!
Speaking of the march this past weekend proved 2 things to me:
1) Public transpo does work in this city. Had everyone drove to the march, they would have still been milling out of downtown today.
2) The supposedly "illegal" immigrant is much more engaged in this city and seemingly much more urban than the "average" Angelino*. And by default as of last weekend has instantaneously restored our civic center.

*I say this because of the mass use of public transportation and rightfully using the proper forum to air public complaints, in front of city hall in the heart of the civic center. Let's go Grand Ave park!!

...so what was the idea behind the kids marching down the 405?

Silliness.

i was in Hollywood last night, and i have to say the place is getting better and better! it was jammed packed on the Blvd all night, places opening up everywhere and the corner of Vine and Hollywood is going to be sick in two years! unbelievable how much it has changed in a couple of years. i cant wait to see Hollywood in 2 years.

i was in Hollywood last night, and i have to say the place is getting better and better! it was jammed packed on the Blvd all night, places opening up everywhere and the corner of Vine and Hollywood is going to be sick in two years! unbelievable how much it has changed in a couple of years. i cant wait to see Hollywood in 2 years.

I hope so. Some areas need some sprucing up. I hope Hollywood will revive its image as a leading entertainment center.

Here's another condo project on Yucca Street in Hollywood
http://www.livethehollywood.com/

I know this condo isn't in Hollywood, but I was surprised that they have a number of mixed-use projects in the Miracle Mile district as well!
http://www.tca-arch.com/proj_new/proj/miraclemilef/miraclemile.jpg

grow los angeles! GROW!!!!