Hollywood WELCOME HOME

Stalled plans for a residential tower on the Hollywood Walk of Fame have been revived. The proposed development, slated for the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street, would consist of a 23-story building featuring 220 residential units and 4,850 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. A case filing from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning indicates that the tower would also include a parking garage with subterranean and above-grade levels.

A half-year after paying $7.5 million for a property near the famed intersection of Hollywood and Vine, Dutch hotel chain citizenM is moving forward with plans for its second U.S. location. According to plans filed yesterday with the City of Los Angeles, citizenM’s proposed development at 1718 N. Vine Street would consist of a 14-story, 73,000-square-foot building featuring 216 guest rooms. Records indicate that the hotel would also feature multiple food-and-beverage venues with full line alcohol permits.

In 2014, plans emerged for “Eighty Cool Rooms,” a boutique hotel near the Hollywood/Western subway station. The proposed development, which was slated for a vacant lot at Hollywood Boulevard and St. Andrews Place, stalled out when its developer failed to obtain zoning variances for the project. With those hotel dreams crushed, a different entity is now moving forward with an alternate scheme for the .2-acre property. According to a case filing from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, the new plan for the lot at 5600 Hollywood Boulevard calls for a seven-story structure featuring 32 apartments above approximately 1,300 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

The website of real estate firm Kilroy Realty has revealed updated renderings for the Academy, a proposed $300-million mixed-use in Hollywood. The project - slated for a city block bounded by Vine Street, Homewood, Ivar and De Longepre Avenues - would construct a series of high-rise and low-rise buildings featuring 250 apartments, 235,000 square feet of office space and 37,000 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants. Architectural plans from the Shimoda Design Group call for a gateway entrance on Vine Street, leading to a pedestrian paseo cutting east-to-west through the 3.5-acre property.

Developer Townscape Partners’ plan to build a $300-million development near the Sunset Strip is moving forward - with conditions. Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission (CPC) voted unanimously to approve the proposed mixed-use complex at 8150 Sunset Boulevard. The project, designed by the famed architect Frank Gehry, would feature a total of 249 residential units and approximately 65,000 square feet of retail space in buildings ranging from 5 to 15 stories in height.

Later this week, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission will review “The Rise Hollywood,” a mixed-use complex proposed by a joint venture between Cal-Coast Development and Rescore. The $110-million project is slated for an approximately two-acre site at 1311 N. Cahuenga Boulevard, currently developed with a collection of small commercial buildings. Plans call for seven-story structure featuring 369 apartments, including 12 live-work units, 30 micro units and 20 units reserved for moderate income households.

With completion nearing for the Dream Hollywood, plans are now in the works for a second phase of the development. Last week, Hollywood International Regional Center (HIRC) filed plans with the City of Los Angeles to build a new wing of the hotel on an adjacent L-shaped site, featuring 114 guest rooms, a parking garage and several food and beverage venues. The project would consist of an eight-story structure, created by adding seven floors above an existing one-story retail building at Selma and Wilcox Avenues.

Local entrepreneur Adolfo Suaya has filed plans with the City of Los Angeles to construct a new hotel near the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The proposed development, slated for a .45-acre parking lot at 1717 N. Wilcox Avenue, would feature 134 guest rooms, a 2,500-square-foot ground-level restaurant, a rooftop bar and a 104-car parking garage. A case filing from the Department of City Planning indicates that the project would require several discretionary approvals, including a zone change and a site plan review.

Although Related California continues to struggle with the Grand Avenue Project, the Irvine-based developer appears to be having better luck with a different stalled project near the Capitol Records Building. A photograph taken by Hollywood resident Paul Danielson shows that site preparation is now underway at 6230 Yucca Street, a vacant lot which Related purchased last year for $10.5 million. According to a grading permit issued last week by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, the half-acre property is being developed with an 18-story tower that will feature 114 apartments, 2,100 square feet of retail space and a five-level, 201-car parking garage.

After years of anticipation, Emerson College quietly opened its new Los Angeles campus to 130 students earlier this week. The 10-story structure, designed by LA-based Morphosis Architects, contains classroom space, meeting rooms, outdoor performance space and living accommodations for up to 200 students. A ground floor restaurant known as the Emerson Kitchen features a 40% vegetarian menu and greets Sunset Boulevard with patio dining space. The outdoor seating was well patronized this past Saturday (see below), and will provide a nice shot in the arm for foot traffic along Sunset in years to come.