Noho Commons: Performance artists, painters and sculptors were on hand at the ribbon cutting ceremonies for the opening of the Lofts at Noho Commons. The artists, who were actually engaged in creating works during the ceremony, were there to highlight the location of the mixed use project in the center of the Noho Arts District, said Cliff Goldstein, senior partner with J.H. Snyder Company, the developers of the project. Goldstein delivered the opening remarks for the ceremonies, noting that the redevelopment of the area at Lankershim and Chandler boulevards has been more than six years in the making. Jerry Snyder told the group about the start of the third phase of the project, which will include an office building and a movie theater. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials were also on hand talking about the revitalization of North Hollywood.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Noho+Commons.-a0156362250
Monday, December 4, 2006
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
(818) 713-3741
CAPTION(S):
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
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
(818) 713-3741
CAPTION(S):
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.
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.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
Friday, June 16, 2006
CROWDS TURN OUT ON NOHO DEVELOPMENT
CROWDS TURN OUT ON NOHO DEVELOPMENT.
Byline: ANGIE VALENCIA-MARTINEZ Staff Writer
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CROWDS+TURN+OUT+ON+NOHO+DEVELOPMENT.-a0147132685
NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- Hundreds of people packed the first public meeting Thursday night on plans to build more than 1,000 town homes, condos and apartments -- a modernization project that includes revamping the lackluster Valley Plaza shopping center into a $560 million open-air mall.
Neighbors at the meeting, held at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, raised concerns over increased crime, traffic and its impact on schools and city services from the project, located near Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street.
``It's absolutely overwhelming,'' said resident Stephanie Murray. ``A six-story apartment building? No thank you.''
Developer J.H. Snyder Co. is proposing 700 condos, town homes and possibly lofts for sale and about 300 rental units. Snyder also wants a 5-acre park just east of the Hollywood Freeway and south of Victory Boulevard at Laurel and Valley plazas.
While many agreed that the area needs to be revitalized, they opposed the number of rental properties, saying more owner-occupied units should be built.
The company also wants to spruce up the 22-acre commercial complex at Valley Plaza with a cinema complex and department and retail stores, making it the costliest retail development in the San Fernando Valley.
One potential anchor store for the new complex would be a Federated Department Stores Inc.-owned Macy's, officials with the Miracle Mile-based company said. J.H. Snyder hopes to break ground in about 18 months.
The proposed project is being designed by the same architect who did The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. J.H. Snyder also is building a $200 million complex of lofts, apartments and shops known as NoHo Commons at the core of the NoHo Arts District, to the south of the current proposed residential development.
``Every project we do is a work in progress, nothing is set in stone,'' said Cliff Goldstien, a partner at J.H. Snyder. ``We have a lot of work to do.''
angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com
(818) 713-3699
Byline: ANGIE VALENCIA-MARTINEZ Staff Writer
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CROWDS+TURN+OUT+ON+NOHO+DEVELOPMENT.-a0147132685
NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- Hundreds of people packed the first public meeting Thursday night on plans to build more than 1,000 town homes, condos and apartments -- a modernization project that includes revamping the lackluster Valley Plaza shopping center into a $560 million open-air mall.
Neighbors at the meeting, held at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, raised concerns over increased crime, traffic and its impact on schools and city services from the project, located near Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street.
``It's absolutely overwhelming,'' said resident Stephanie Murray. ``A six-story apartment building? No thank you.''
Developer J.H. Snyder Co. is proposing 700 condos, town homes and possibly lofts for sale and about 300 rental units. Snyder also wants a 5-acre park just east of the Hollywood Freeway and south of Victory Boulevard at Laurel and Valley plazas.
While many agreed that the area needs to be revitalized, they opposed the number of rental properties, saying more owner-occupied units should be built.
The company also wants to spruce up the 22-acre commercial complex at Valley Plaza with a cinema complex and department and retail stores, making it the costliest retail development in the San Fernando Valley.
One potential anchor store for the new complex would be a Federated Department Stores Inc.-owned Macy's, officials with the Miracle Mile-based company said. J.H. Snyder hopes to break ground in about 18 months.
The proposed project is being designed by the same architect who did The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. J.H. Snyder also is building a $200 million complex of lofts, apartments and shops known as NoHo Commons at the core of the NoHo Arts District, to the south of the current proposed residential development.
``Every project we do is a work in progress, nothing is set in stone,'' said Cliff Goldstien, a partner at J.H. Snyder. ``We have a lot of work to do.''
angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com
(818) 713-3699
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
EDITORIAL NOHO MOJO CITY CAN'T LET INVESTMENT LOSE
EDITORIAL NOHO MOJO CITY CAN'T LET INVESTMENT LOSE.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/EDITORIAL+NOHO+MOJO+CITY+CAN'T+LET+INVESTMENT+LOSE.-a0147065850
THE economic and cultural rebirth of North Hollywood is a testament to what can happen to a depressed neighborhood when the powerful resources of the city are focused in its direction.
Although it took a decade after the completion of the subway, the promise of a Valley urban hub shows signs of being fulfilled in the next few years, thanks to the convergence of attention by the MTA and CRA, as well as tireless advocacy by Valley groups.
Property prices are increasing as new lofts and apartment buildings and stores rise from long-empty lots. The decrepit Valley Plaza is getting a multimillion-dollar makeover. The NoHo Arts District is becoming a modern-day reality. This neighborhood, so convenient to Hollywood's major studios, as well as on a straight subway shot to downtown, is a natural sell.
Call it NoHo mojo.
Even Rick Caruso, the Westside developer responsible for The Grove and the Commons at Calabasas, now says he may give a second look to a project in NoHo. At one time, he wouldn't consider it because of the crime and other negatives associated with NoHo.
That's as sure a sign as anything that the miasma clinging to North Hollywood for so many years is lifting.
But although NoHo construction is on the upswing and a vision is being developed that hopefully will make it a landmark region of the city, the need for strong leadership in the San Fernando Valley doesn't end there.
Indeed, while violent crime is down nearly 11 percent across the city from this time last year, it's up 8 percent in North Hollywood, according to Los Angeles Police Department statistics. Crime is down overall in the Valley, but the area historically gets shortchanged in police coverage, and that has not changed.
Declining neighborhoods in the Valley can still be revived, but safe streets are critical, as are well-organized communities, good planning and investment.
City officials need to understand that delivering on their long-overdue promise to NoHo doesn't answer the long-standing neglect of the Valley as a whole.
The Valley has waited too long to get its fair share of City Hall resources and leadership.
Some positive signs are visible. The Orange Line busway is a step in the right direction, as its massive popularity shows. Still, the Valley has paid more than its share of taxes and fees and gotten too little in return.
Now is the time to save the Valley and save the city. It's time to spread the NoHo mojo.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/EDITORIAL+NOHO+MOJO+CITY+CAN'T+LET+INVESTMENT+LOSE.-a0147065850
THE economic and cultural rebirth of North Hollywood is a testament to what can happen to a depressed neighborhood when the powerful resources of the city are focused in its direction.
Although it took a decade after the completion of the subway, the promise of a Valley urban hub shows signs of being fulfilled in the next few years, thanks to the convergence of attention by the MTA and CRA, as well as tireless advocacy by Valley groups.
Property prices are increasing as new lofts and apartment buildings and stores rise from long-empty lots. The decrepit Valley Plaza is getting a multimillion-dollar makeover. The NoHo Arts District is becoming a modern-day reality. This neighborhood, so convenient to Hollywood's major studios, as well as on a straight subway shot to downtown, is a natural sell.
Call it NoHo mojo.
Even Rick Caruso, the Westside developer responsible for The Grove and the Commons at Calabasas, now says he may give a second look to a project in NoHo. At one time, he wouldn't consider it because of the crime and other negatives associated with NoHo.
That's as sure a sign as anything that the miasma clinging to North Hollywood for so many years is lifting.
But although NoHo construction is on the upswing and a vision is being developed that hopefully will make it a landmark region of the city, the need for strong leadership in the San Fernando Valley doesn't end there.
Indeed, while violent crime is down nearly 11 percent across the city from this time last year, it's up 8 percent in North Hollywood, according to Los Angeles Police Department statistics. Crime is down overall in the Valley, but the area historically gets shortchanged in police coverage, and that has not changed.
Declining neighborhoods in the Valley can still be revived, but safe streets are critical, as are well-organized communities, good planning and investment.
City officials need to understand that delivering on their long-overdue promise to NoHo doesn't answer the long-standing neglect of the Valley as a whole.
The Valley has waited too long to get its fair share of City Hall resources and leadership.
Some positive signs are visible. The Orange Line busway is a step in the right direction, as its massive popularity shows. Still, the Valley has paid more than its share of taxes and fees and gotten too little in return.
Now is the time to save the Valley and save the city. It's time to spread the NoHo mojo.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Man Critically Injured In North Hollywood Shooting
Apr 16, 2006 2:41 am US/Pacific
Man Critically Injured In North Hollywood Shooting
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― A man was critically injured in a shooting in North Hollywood Saturday night, just two miles away from a shooting outside a birthday party on Lankershim Boulevard.
The shooting happened in the 7000 block of Coldwater Canyon Avenue at about 9 p.m., Los Angeles police Sgt. Tom Wich said. The victim, whose name is being withheld, was in critical condition with two gunshot wounds.
There were no immediate arrests, Wich said.
Even though the shooting happened just 30 minutes later and in close proximity to a shooting outside a banquet hall birthday party, police do not believe the two incidents are connected.
http://cbs2.com/local/North.Hollywood.Shooting.2.515571.html
Man Critically Injured In North Hollywood Shooting
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― A man was critically injured in a shooting in North Hollywood Saturday night, just two miles away from a shooting outside a birthday party on Lankershim Boulevard.
The shooting happened in the 7000 block of Coldwater Canyon Avenue at about 9 p.m., Los Angeles police Sgt. Tom Wich said. The victim, whose name is being withheld, was in critical condition with two gunshot wounds.
There were no immediate arrests, Wich said.
Even though the shooting happened just 30 minutes later and in close proximity to a shooting outside a banquet hall birthday party, police do not believe the two incidents are connected.
http://cbs2.com/local/North.Hollywood.Shooting.2.515571.html
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
COMING TO LIFE BILLION-DOLLAR PLANS SET FOR 'TIMES SQUARE WEST' ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX PICTURED AS DOWNTOWN HUB
COMING TO LIFE BILLION-DOLLAR PLANS SET FOR 'TIMES SQUARE WEST' ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX PICTURED AS DOWNTOWN HUB.
Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/COMING+TO+LIFE+BILLION-DOLLAR+PLANS+SET+FOR+'TIMES+SQUARE+WEST'...-a0136178958
In a bold bid to brand Los Angeles as a world-class live entertainment center, the owner of Staples Center detailed plans Tuesday for a $1 billion, 5.5 million-square-foot sports-entertainment-residential complex that would be one of the largest developments in downtown history.
The LA Live development by the Anschutz Entertainment Group - scheduled to make the formal announcement Thursday at the project's groundbreaking with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city leaders in attendance - would include retail, live theater, premiere movies, restaurants and housing.
It is envisioned as becoming ``Times Square West'' and the permanent home for a variety of award shows with a Grammy museum that could include an annual ``induction'' ceremony, in addition to facilities for a major sports/entertainment broadcasting company yet to be disclosed.
``We think L.A. should be the event capital of the world,'' Timothy Leiweke, president of the company owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, said in an interview with Daily News editors and reporters.
``Award shows, tourism and content are going to be the most important industries we have. We're not going to be the steel city, we're not going to be the chip city, we're unfortunately not going to be the new technology city, because we missed that boat.''
Leiweke said LA Live - a complex with the square footage of downtown Long Beach - is envisioned to dovetail with a proposed 1,100-room, 56-story Hilton hotel adjacent to the ailing Convention Center.
The hotel has become controversial since developers Apollo Real Estate and Wolff Urban Development entered into a proposed deal with the city that includes a $16 million loan from the Community Redevelopment Agency, $4 million in fee waivers and the forfeiting of nearly a quarter-billion dollars in room taxes the hotel is projected to generate over 25 years.
Leiweke said while LA Live doesn't hinge on the hotel's development - most of the complex would be completed within the next two to three years - it would be a ``crime'' if the city passes on the private capital committed to the hotel.
The Convention Center costs the city more than $30 million a year in debt service and net operating losses, and trails even Des Moines, Iowa, in convention business.
``(The center) will never come back. This is our last, great shot at getting a private entity to put up what is going to be $400 million-plus in cash to build a hotel,'' he said, adding that the center ultimately should be privatized to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
Plans for the hotel and the massive complex - which AEG hopes to use as a model for its international ventures, including London's Millennium Dome - have renewed debate over downtown development, as well as Villaraigosa's promise to bring similar economic energy to the San Fernando Valley and other underserved areas of the city.
Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom, deputy mayor of housing and economic development, said while LA Live is being focused on, 50 to 75 projects throughout the city, including the Valley, are getting just as much attention.
``We're pushing major projects throughout all the areas of Los Angeles,'' Ovrom said. ``Yes, LA Live is one of them, and they're very big, but we're equally pushing all projects in South L.A., East L.A., the Valley, Hollywood and the Westside.''
He said projects such as Valley Plaza, NoHo Commons and the Panorama Mall in the Valley, a biomedical campus at USC, and several major retail outlets in East and South Los Angeles are among the projects being pursued aggressively.
``We're putting equal if not greater effort in other areas ... it takes more to get it done. LA Live is basically doing their own thing.''
Leiweke said city leaders historically have ``failed us miserably'' in luring developments to various areas of the city and that regions such as the Valley need ``to fight back and help find these private-public partnerships.''
``Why can't we find these big projects and spread them out a little bit?'' said Leiweke, who suggested that Villaraigosa set up a panel of the city's top leaders to develop ``a master vision'' for how private-public partnerships can be used ``to get things done all over the city.''
Bruce Ackerman, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, said he agrees the Valley hasn't pursued projects on a ``grand scale,'' but cited incremental gains such as the Children's Museum at Hansen Dam, a project AEG contributed $250,000 toward and that is set to break ground next month.
Ackerman blamed NIMBYism and the absence of a central business hub for some of the Valley's difficulties.
``Where is the downtown in the Valley?'' he said. ``There isn't a single area ... you can focus attention to generate the attention downtown gets.''
Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the Valley and other regions need a ``godfather'' to push projects aggressively.
Kyser said that after LA Live, the envisioned but yet unfunded $1 billion Grand Avenue development, and a project along First Street into East L.A., ``you start to run pretty thin on ideas.''
``You need leaders in the San Fernando Valley to say, 'OK, this has a lot of currency for the Valley,' and then you have to get community buy-in,'' Kyser said.
But critics including Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, continue to question the need for government help in financing the hotel.
``People make these kinds of predictions about revitalization, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't,'' Coupal said. ``Why can't (AEG) make the pitch to the hotel developers, 'I'm dropping $1 billion - why not find venture capitalists to build the hotel?'''
Acknowledging the risk in the sports/entertainment complex, Leiweke said the city stands to make $25 million to $50 million more annually in property and sales tax.
At the heart of LA Live, Leiweke said, is a ``dream'' to create an immediate impact on the image of L.A. and Southern California by interlocking a number of venues, events and attractions in the complex around Staples, including:
--The 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, aimed at capturing award shows ranging from the Emmys, Latin Grammys and ESPYs to the MTV Music and BET awards, as well as concerts, comedy shows and other events. AEG plans to spend more than $100 million on the theater.
--The Grammys Museum, which has been agreed to ``in principle'' with the Grammy organization, to honor not only winners, but also to try to secure L.A. as the permanent home of the Grammys, possibly by adding a second ``induction'' ceremony. AEG hopes the museum will attract 1 million tourists a year.
--A 3,700-seat cinema complex with 15 screens, including a 750-seat theater for movie premieres and screenings.
--Nine high-end restaurants and bars, and a smaller Club Nokia, as well as 400,000 square feet of retail space to serve tourists, USC students and downtown residents.
--Offices for AEG's headquarters, as well as some companies it does business with, including attorneys and architectural and design firms.
--Housing, including lofts and condos accounting for about half the project.
Leiweke said LA Live only works downtown because of the synergy with Staples Center and the Convention Center, but that private-public partnerships that don't put taxpayers at risk are needed throughout the region.
``Our project should be the rally cry to answer the need everywhere.''
Beth Barrett, (818) 713-3731
beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com
CAPTION(S):
photo, map
Photo/Map:
(color) LOS ANGELES SPORTS-ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX
Photo by Gus Ruelas/Graphic by Gregg Miller
Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/COMING+TO+LIFE+BILLION-DOLLAR+PLANS+SET+FOR+'TIMES+SQUARE+WEST'...-a0136178958
In a bold bid to brand Los Angeles as a world-class live entertainment center, the owner of Staples Center detailed plans Tuesday for a $1 billion, 5.5 million-square-foot sports-entertainment-residential complex that would be one of the largest developments in downtown history.
The LA Live development by the Anschutz Entertainment Group - scheduled to make the formal announcement Thursday at the project's groundbreaking with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city leaders in attendance - would include retail, live theater, premiere movies, restaurants and housing.
It is envisioned as becoming ``Times Square West'' and the permanent home for a variety of award shows with a Grammy museum that could include an annual ``induction'' ceremony, in addition to facilities for a major sports/entertainment broadcasting company yet to be disclosed.
``We think L.A. should be the event capital of the world,'' Timothy Leiweke, president of the company owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, said in an interview with Daily News editors and reporters.
``Award shows, tourism and content are going to be the most important industries we have. We're not going to be the steel city, we're not going to be the chip city, we're unfortunately not going to be the new technology city, because we missed that boat.''
Leiweke said LA Live - a complex with the square footage of downtown Long Beach - is envisioned to dovetail with a proposed 1,100-room, 56-story Hilton hotel adjacent to the ailing Convention Center.
The hotel has become controversial since developers Apollo Real Estate and Wolff Urban Development entered into a proposed deal with the city that includes a $16 million loan from the Community Redevelopment Agency, $4 million in fee waivers and the forfeiting of nearly a quarter-billion dollars in room taxes the hotel is projected to generate over 25 years.
Leiweke said while LA Live doesn't hinge on the hotel's development - most of the complex would be completed within the next two to three years - it would be a ``crime'' if the city passes on the private capital committed to the hotel.
The Convention Center costs the city more than $30 million a year in debt service and net operating losses, and trails even Des Moines, Iowa, in convention business.
``(The center) will never come back. This is our last, great shot at getting a private entity to put up what is going to be $400 million-plus in cash to build a hotel,'' he said, adding that the center ultimately should be privatized to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
Plans for the hotel and the massive complex - which AEG hopes to use as a model for its international ventures, including London's Millennium Dome - have renewed debate over downtown development, as well as Villaraigosa's promise to bring similar economic energy to the San Fernando Valley and other underserved areas of the city.
Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom, deputy mayor of housing and economic development, said while LA Live is being focused on, 50 to 75 projects throughout the city, including the Valley, are getting just as much attention.
``We're pushing major projects throughout all the areas of Los Angeles,'' Ovrom said. ``Yes, LA Live is one of them, and they're very big, but we're equally pushing all projects in South L.A., East L.A., the Valley, Hollywood and the Westside.''
He said projects such as Valley Plaza, NoHo Commons and the Panorama Mall in the Valley, a biomedical campus at USC, and several major retail outlets in East and South Los Angeles are among the projects being pursued aggressively.
``We're putting equal if not greater effort in other areas ... it takes more to get it done. LA Live is basically doing their own thing.''
Leiweke said city leaders historically have ``failed us miserably'' in luring developments to various areas of the city and that regions such as the Valley need ``to fight back and help find these private-public partnerships.''
``Why can't we find these big projects and spread them out a little bit?'' said Leiweke, who suggested that Villaraigosa set up a panel of the city's top leaders to develop ``a master vision'' for how private-public partnerships can be used ``to get things done all over the city.''
Bruce Ackerman, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, said he agrees the Valley hasn't pursued projects on a ``grand scale,'' but cited incremental gains such as the Children's Museum at Hansen Dam, a project AEG contributed $250,000 toward and that is set to break ground next month.
Ackerman blamed NIMBYism and the absence of a central business hub for some of the Valley's difficulties.
``Where is the downtown in the Valley?'' he said. ``There isn't a single area ... you can focus attention to generate the attention downtown gets.''
Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the Valley and other regions need a ``godfather'' to push projects aggressively.
Kyser said that after LA Live, the envisioned but yet unfunded $1 billion Grand Avenue development, and a project along First Street into East L.A., ``you start to run pretty thin on ideas.''
``You need leaders in the San Fernando Valley to say, 'OK, this has a lot of currency for the Valley,' and then you have to get community buy-in,'' Kyser said.
But critics including Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, continue to question the need for government help in financing the hotel.
``People make these kinds of predictions about revitalization, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't,'' Coupal said. ``Why can't (AEG) make the pitch to the hotel developers, 'I'm dropping $1 billion - why not find venture capitalists to build the hotel?'''
Acknowledging the risk in the sports/entertainment complex, Leiweke said the city stands to make $25 million to $50 million more annually in property and sales tax.
At the heart of LA Live, Leiweke said, is a ``dream'' to create an immediate impact on the image of L.A. and Southern California by interlocking a number of venues, events and attractions in the complex around Staples, including:
--The 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, aimed at capturing award shows ranging from the Emmys, Latin Grammys and ESPYs to the MTV Music and BET awards, as well as concerts, comedy shows and other events. AEG plans to spend more than $100 million on the theater.
--The Grammys Museum, which has been agreed to ``in principle'' with the Grammy organization, to honor not only winners, but also to try to secure L.A. as the permanent home of the Grammys, possibly by adding a second ``induction'' ceremony. AEG hopes the museum will attract 1 million tourists a year.
--A 3,700-seat cinema complex with 15 screens, including a 750-seat theater for movie premieres and screenings.
--Nine high-end restaurants and bars, and a smaller Club Nokia, as well as 400,000 square feet of retail space to serve tourists, USC students and downtown residents.
--Offices for AEG's headquarters, as well as some companies it does business with, including attorneys and architectural and design firms.
--Housing, including lofts and condos accounting for about half the project.
Leiweke said LA Live only works downtown because of the synergy with Staples Center and the Convention Center, but that private-public partnerships that don't put taxpayers at risk are needed throughout the region.
``Our project should be the rally cry to answer the need everywhere.''
Beth Barrett, (818) 713-3731
beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com
CAPTION(S):
photo, map
Photo/Map:
(color) LOS ANGELES SPORTS-ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX
Photo by Gus Ruelas/Graphic by Gregg Miller
Monday, February 16, 2004
NoHo project could be model for valley
NoHo project could be model for valley.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NoHo+project+could+be+model+for+valley.(Special+Report--Real+Estate...-a0114006196
You can hardly hear anyone talking about the NoHo Commons without hearing the word "catalyst" follow close by--catalyst for the city's fledgling public transit system, catalyst for developing urban cores throughout Los Angeles, catalyst for a radical transformation in the way folks five.
The redevelopment project, on 16 acres of land in North Hollywood, will bring about 716 new units of housing to the community, but the numbers hardly tell the story.
Thought to be the largest urban residential redevelopment project ever attempted in Los Angeles, NoHo Commons will also be the first urban village built around mass transit and it will be among the first large-scale projects to bring together a diverse group of residents ranging from the working poor to affluent professionals.
The mixed-use development, which will combine apartments and other rental housing with neighborhood retail shops like grocery stores, entertainment centers like movie theaters and offices, is so unusual, it's difficult to imagine what NoHo Commons will look like when it's completed.
Think of almost any neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Then add groceries, movie theaters and shops in walking distance and imagine it all sprouting up at once, in a single cohesive whole.
"We're going to be a really comfortable place to call home," said Bud Ovrom, chief executive officer of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the city of Los Angeles, which helped to deliver the project land. "We're going to have our own movie theaters and restaurants and stores, and it's going to be a nice place to live."
For decades, the knee jerk reaction to redevelopment was to build commercial properties--high rises, civic centers, shopping complexes--and North Hollywood was just a knee jerk away from the same fate, if not for J.H. Snyder Co. and Cliff Goldstein, a partner at the Los Angeles based development company.
The CRA, which deemed the site a project area decades ago, had worked with several developers before Snyder came along. They built the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and a local shopping center, and still the area remained blighted.
The CRA hung out banners heralding the NoHo Arts District and sponsored theater groups and sidewalk fairs and still the area was more identifiable by its rows of dilapidated industrial buildings and empty storefronts.
"When it wasn't going to be these high-rise buildings, I don't think anybody had a vision of what it was going to be," Ovrom said. "I think Snyder changed that vision."
Using the Red Line
Goldstein had watched for years as traffic worsened and the quality of life soured in his native Los Angeles. But he'd also spent time in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, where he grew accustomed to mass transit. He saw in the opening of the Red Line an opportunity to turn the tide.
"The idea of what I wanted to build there really came to me as an evolution of my thinking on what the future of Los Angeles needed to be," Goldstein said.
The opening of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's metro rail system has yet to turn Los Angeles into a city of strap hangers, but Goldstein figured a residential community built around the transit hub would help encourage just such a transformation.
"Without the transit link, I don't know how this site would have stood out above other sites," Goldstein said.
All eyes are on the $218 million development bordered by Lankershim Boulevard to the east, Weddington Street to the south and Cumpston Street to the north. If the city's first large-scale transit village works here, it will surely be exported to other parts of L.A.
"It's one of the most significant things happening in the city," said Jane Blumenfeld, principal city planner. "The whole North Hollywood NoHo area development is going to really show what that can be like in L.A."
Dense residential areas are important to the development of mass transit for several reasons. It takes concentrated population hubs to support a mass transit system, and by encouraging greater use of the system, focal points develop that, in turn, make the system more efficient as a way of moving people.
"When everything is spread out everywhere, jobs and people, it is just a train wreck for congestion, and so it's in all of our interests to fully develop a few locations like that, Warner Center and others so you can reduce congestion," said Blumenfeld.
Then too there is the prospect of an emerging new way of life spawned by NoHo Commons.
It isn't just those who will choose to live in NoHo Commons and ride the rails to work downtown or in Hollywood. The development will be laid out as a self-contained community where folks can walk to the local grocery store or a movie, even if they still drive their cars to work.
Studies show that most families make eight to 10 car trips a day, and only two of those trips are made for work. Cutting down on even those non-work related trips can have a huge impact on congestion, smog and quality of life.
Already, NoHo Commons is shaping up to become a kind of petrie dish for a new model for the city. Other developers have begun to build in close proximity to the Metro station and other investments are poised to begin.
"The exciting thing about NoHo is not so much what I'm doing, but what is happening around me," said Goldstein. "It has even surprised me how quickly it has spurred people to come into the NoHo area and start to invest. Finally, something you read in textbooks is happening."
LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SALE
Transaction: 29011 Commerce Center Drive, Valencia
Buyer: Patrick Sammons Managing Member Bay West Equities LLC, San Francisco
Brokers: Craig Peters, Executive Vice President CB Richard Ellis. Sherman Oaks Doug Sonderegger, Executive Vice President CB Richard Ellis. Sherman Oaks Patrick Scruggs, Vice President CB Richard Ellis, Newport Beach
WHAT brought a well-established private real estate investment trust into the greater San Fernando Valley for the first time?
The same one-two-three punch that has fueled acquisitions of industrial real estate all year', strong, credit-worthy tenants, low interest rates and high barriers to entry.
Bay West Equities LLC acquired a 164.188-square-foot facility at 29011 Commerce Center Drive in Valencia for $12.7 million in a deal that gave the company not only a choice property, only two years old, but also a strong tenant, Bertelsmann AG, which operates its fulfillment division in the building.
Most of the company's portfolio is located in Northern California and Hawaii. The purchase marks an emerging interest in the North Los Angeles County region.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NoHo+project+could+be+model+for+valley.(Special+Report--Real+Estate...-a0114006196
You can hardly hear anyone talking about the NoHo Commons without hearing the word "catalyst" follow close by--catalyst for the city's fledgling public transit system, catalyst for developing urban cores throughout Los Angeles, catalyst for a radical transformation in the way folks five.
The redevelopment project, on 16 acres of land in North Hollywood, will bring about 716 new units of housing to the community, but the numbers hardly tell the story.
Thought to be the largest urban residential redevelopment project ever attempted in Los Angeles, NoHo Commons will also be the first urban village built around mass transit and it will be among the first large-scale projects to bring together a diverse group of residents ranging from the working poor to affluent professionals.
The mixed-use development, which will combine apartments and other rental housing with neighborhood retail shops like grocery stores, entertainment centers like movie theaters and offices, is so unusual, it's difficult to imagine what NoHo Commons will look like when it's completed.
Think of almost any neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Then add groceries, movie theaters and shops in walking distance and imagine it all sprouting up at once, in a single cohesive whole.
"We're going to be a really comfortable place to call home," said Bud Ovrom, chief executive officer of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the city of Los Angeles, which helped to deliver the project land. "We're going to have our own movie theaters and restaurants and stores, and it's going to be a nice place to live."
For decades, the knee jerk reaction to redevelopment was to build commercial properties--high rises, civic centers, shopping complexes--and North Hollywood was just a knee jerk away from the same fate, if not for J.H. Snyder Co. and Cliff Goldstein, a partner at the Los Angeles based development company.
The CRA, which deemed the site a project area decades ago, had worked with several developers before Snyder came along. They built the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and a local shopping center, and still the area remained blighted.
The CRA hung out banners heralding the NoHo Arts District and sponsored theater groups and sidewalk fairs and still the area was more identifiable by its rows of dilapidated industrial buildings and empty storefronts.
"When it wasn't going to be these high-rise buildings, I don't think anybody had a vision of what it was going to be," Ovrom said. "I think Snyder changed that vision."
Using the Red Line
Goldstein had watched for years as traffic worsened and the quality of life soured in his native Los Angeles. But he'd also spent time in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, where he grew accustomed to mass transit. He saw in the opening of the Red Line an opportunity to turn the tide.
"The idea of what I wanted to build there really came to me as an evolution of my thinking on what the future of Los Angeles needed to be," Goldstein said.
The opening of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's metro rail system has yet to turn Los Angeles into a city of strap hangers, but Goldstein figured a residential community built around the transit hub would help encourage just such a transformation.
"Without the transit link, I don't know how this site would have stood out above other sites," Goldstein said.
All eyes are on the $218 million development bordered by Lankershim Boulevard to the east, Weddington Street to the south and Cumpston Street to the north. If the city's first large-scale transit village works here, it will surely be exported to other parts of L.A.
"It's one of the most significant things happening in the city," said Jane Blumenfeld, principal city planner. "The whole North Hollywood NoHo area development is going to really show what that can be like in L.A."
Dense residential areas are important to the development of mass transit for several reasons. It takes concentrated population hubs to support a mass transit system, and by encouraging greater use of the system, focal points develop that, in turn, make the system more efficient as a way of moving people.
"When everything is spread out everywhere, jobs and people, it is just a train wreck for congestion, and so it's in all of our interests to fully develop a few locations like that, Warner Center and others so you can reduce congestion," said Blumenfeld.
Then too there is the prospect of an emerging new way of life spawned by NoHo Commons.
It isn't just those who will choose to live in NoHo Commons and ride the rails to work downtown or in Hollywood. The development will be laid out as a self-contained community where folks can walk to the local grocery store or a movie, even if they still drive their cars to work.
Studies show that most families make eight to 10 car trips a day, and only two of those trips are made for work. Cutting down on even those non-work related trips can have a huge impact on congestion, smog and quality of life.
Already, NoHo Commons is shaping up to become a kind of petrie dish for a new model for the city. Other developers have begun to build in close proximity to the Metro station and other investments are poised to begin.
"The exciting thing about NoHo is not so much what I'm doing, but what is happening around me," said Goldstein. "It has even surprised me how quickly it has spurred people to come into the NoHo area and start to invest. Finally, something you read in textbooks is happening."
LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SALE
Transaction: 29011 Commerce Center Drive, Valencia
Buyer: Patrick Sammons Managing Member Bay West Equities LLC, San Francisco
Brokers: Craig Peters, Executive Vice President CB Richard Ellis. Sherman Oaks Doug Sonderegger, Executive Vice President CB Richard Ellis. Sherman Oaks Patrick Scruggs, Vice President CB Richard Ellis, Newport Beach
WHAT brought a well-established private real estate investment trust into the greater San Fernando Valley for the first time?
The same one-two-three punch that has fueled acquisitions of industrial real estate all year', strong, credit-worthy tenants, low interest rates and high barriers to entry.
Bay West Equities LLC acquired a 164.188-square-foot facility at 29011 Commerce Center Drive in Valencia for $12.7 million in a deal that gave the company not only a choice property, only two years old, but also a strong tenant, Bertelsmann AG, which operates its fulfillment division in the building.
Most of the company's portfolio is located in Northern California and Hawaii. The purchase marks an emerging interest in the North Los Angeles County region.
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