Tuesday, November 21, 2006

PHASE I OF NOHO COMMONS OPENS LOFT PROJECT ON THE MOVE

PHASE I OF NOHO COMMONS OPENS LOFT PROJECT ON THE MOVE.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/PHASE+I+OF+NOHO+COMMONS+OPENS+LOFT+PROJECT+ON+THE+MOVE.-a0154771178

Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer

NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- The first phase of NoHo Commons -- a massive retail, loft and apartment complex that has drawn a half-billion dollars in investment -- opened Monday.

The 292-unit residential loft complex, strategically located at the edge of the Red and Orange lines terminus, was hailed by developers and city officials as a transit-friendly project. It was billed as an affordable complex that should draw the likes of artists, teachers and firefighters, but some artists at the event said they would find it hard to come up with the rent.

``It's nice,'' said Preston Craig, as he painted NoHo in orange letters on a canvas. ``But the irony is that artists can't afford to live here.''

The loft units range in price from about $1,400 for a 580-square-foot unit to $2,500 for a 980-square-foot one. Officials hope that it will encourage transit use among residents.

The $100 million loft complex is the first of three phases funded in part with $37 million in local, state and federal grants.

It will include a 438-unit apartment and condo complex and retail center with a HOWS market that will open in 2007. About 20 percent of the units will be set aside for low-income renters.

Developers also announced they will break ground on a seven-screen art house theater and retail complex across the street to open in 2009.

``This is a place where you can live, work and use public transit,'' said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. ``It's what we have got to see a lot more of in this city.''

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) Jennifer Berry, a ballet dancer, takes part in the NoHo Commons ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday. About 20 percent of the units will be for low-income renters.

(2) Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa busts out a smile for sculptor Erin Barrett during Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Monday, November 20, 2006

RESIDENTIAL UNITS AT NOHO COMMONS OPEN

Residential units at Noho Commons open. - allbusiness.com
By Garcia, Shelly
Publication: San Fernando Valley Business Journal
Date: Monday, November 20 2006

http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-california/3995715-1.html

On November 20, city dignitaries cut the ribbon opening The Lofts at Noho Commons, a pioneering transit village that has been nearly four years in the making.
But for the officials at J.H. Snyder Co. the work is just beginning ... again.
The development company is beginning work on the third phase of the project, which has been redesigned since the initial planning for the complex back in 2002.

For the remaining three-acre parcel of the complex, the company has scaled down an office building that was to have been built in phase three and added a movie theater.
"We're expecting to finalize terms to bring a seven-screen Laemmle theater with 1,100 seats to the project," said Cliff Goldstein, senior partner at J.H. Snyder Co.

The office building, one of the only speculative office projects under construction on the Valley floor, was initially intended to be about twice the size of current plans, but skyrocketing construction costs made it difficult to attract financing for the project.
"The partners and I determined we were willing to take the financial risk to build a smaller building," Goldstein said.

Bringing a movie theater to the project was an idea that had been on the community's wish list ever since Snyder first began negotiating for the project, but theaters were consolidating and retrenching at the time.

Snyder, which is currently in the process of acquiring the neighboring Valley Plaza shopping center, first began talks with Laemmle about locating in that complex.

A movie theater, with its very high construction costs, is not the most lucrative option for any developer--indeed Snyder executives say they will not be turning a profit on that portion of the project. But the theater component would provide a kind of finishing touch on Noho Commons, with its pioneering strategy of creating what is arguably the first urban village designed from ground up in Los Angeles.

In addition to the 280-odd residential for-rent units, most of them lofts, the complex will include 14 live-work lofts suited to artists, craftsmen and others whose businesses and lifestyles can be located in one place; a Howes Market and restaurants that, so far, include The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, California Pizza Kitchen, Daphne's Greek Cafe, and Coldstone Creamery. T-Mobile and Wells Fargo have also signed onto the location.

J.H. Snyder Co. Announces Movie Theater, Office Building to Be Part of New Project in North Hollywood Arts District

J.H. Snyder Co. Announces Movie Theater, Office Building to Be Part of New Project in North Hollywood Arts District
Nov 20, 2006

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Los Angeles-based J.H. Snyder Co. today announced it will develop a movie theater, office building and residential complex in North Hollywood, adjacent to its mixed-use, transit-oriented NoHo Commons development.

At a news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Councilman Tom LaBonge and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky hailed the opening of J.H. Snyder Co.'s The Lofts at NoHo Commons for spurring the revitalization of North Hollywood.

"The NoHo Arts District is a unique and special place in Los Angeles," said Mayor Villaraigosa. "The NoHo Commons not only embraces the unique character of the neighborhood, but it's a smart, transit-friendly development where an artist, a teacher or a firefighter can live and enjoy all that the community has to offer."

The $100 million, 292-unit loft project is the first part of NoHo Commons to be completed in the "transit village," located at the terminus of the Metro Red Line subway and Orange Line busway. The $30 million retail portion, adjacent to the lofts and anchored by HOWS Market, is scheduled to open in spring 2007 and serve as a gateway to the North Hollywood Arts District for passengers arriving by mass transit.

J.H. Snyder Co. announced the next project at NoHo Commons it will develop will include: a seven-screen, Laemmle Theaters movie house with 1,100 seats in a stadium setting; a five-story, 100,000-square-foot office building; and a 150-unit residential complex. This phase, valued at $100 million, is expected to be completed in fall 2009.

"With its focus on the arts, North Hollywood is such a unique community, and NoHo Commons was sculpted to fit into the NoHo Arts District," said Jerry Snyder, the founder and senior partner of J.H. Snyder Co. "J.H. Snyder Co. is proud to be a part of the resurgence of North Hollywood. NoHo Commons is directly responsible for stimulating hundreds of millions of dollars in economic investment in North Hollywood and will serve as an economic generator for decades to come."

The Lofts at NoHo Commons includes 14 live/work spaces with retail store fronts on Weddington Street, and 278 residential lofts, 28 of which were designated as affordable housing units. Leasing opportunities for the lofts began November 20. The adjacent 60,000-square-foot retail space, at the intersection of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards, will include HOWS Market, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, California Pizza Kitchen, Cold-Stone Creamery, T-Mobile, Daphne's Greek Cafe and Wells Fargo Bank.

J.H. Snyder Co. is the master developer for NoHo Commons, which also includes The Gallery at NoHo Commons, a 438-unit apartment complex that is currently under construction. When complete, the three residential components of NoHo Commons - The Lofts, The Gallery and the planned project announced today - would have 880 newly built housing units within walking distance of mass transit.

J.H. Snyder Co. negotiated a Community Benefits Plan with CRA/LA and Valley Jobs Coalition, a project of Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, that includes living wage jobs, an affordable childcare center, local hiring and a job training program in concert with Valley College. For the first time in city history, a Community Benefits Plan mandated that 75 percent of the estimated 1,000 new jobs created by the development would pay at least the city's living wage. Other plans set goals, but had no requirements.

"We like to say that we don't just develop buildings, we partner with communities," said Clifford Goldstein, senior partner of J.H. Snyder Co. "The Community Benefits Plan sets the project apart and ensures that people who live and work at NoHo Commons will have good jobs and benefits."

The Jerde Partnership, which collaborated with J.H. Snyder Co. to create The River in Rancho Mirage and West Hollywood Gateway in West Hollywood, developed the master plan for the mixed-use Lofts at NoHo Commons and is the architect of the third phase, which includes the Laemmle Theater, office building and residences. The architect of The Lofts at NoHo Commons was Santa Monica-based Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, which also designed J.H. Snyder Co.'s The Crescent in Beverly Hills. Dallas-based Faulkner Design Group created the interior design elements for The Lofts at NoHo Commons. Alliance Residential Company, one of the largest third-party management companies in the western United States, is handling leasing and rentals for The Lofts at NoHo Commons.

About J.H. Snyder Co.

The J.H. Snyder Co. is one of Southern California's oldest privately-held real estate development firms, with a portfolio of nearly 3 million square feet of retail and entertainment/retail development; more than 2 million square feet of premier-class office space; and 41,000 homes and residential units. The Los Angeles-based company has developed two of the largest office projects in Southern California - The Water Garden in Santa Monica and Wilshire Courtyard on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles' Miracle Mile District. The company's fully integrated retail division specializes in creating mixed-use town centers, including NoHo Commons, the 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use transit-oriented development in North Hollywood; the award-winning West Hollywood Gateway, a 250,000-square-foot multi-level urban infill development; and "The River," a 250,000 sq. ft. destination retail/entertainment center in the City of Rancho Mirage.

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