In NoHo, Subway Rolling, Good Times Not (Yet)

Looking at the area around the new NoHo Metro Rail subway station today is a bit like looking at a seed catalog: It gives you some idea of what you’ll have come spring.

After suffering through a six-year winter of discontent, marked by dust, cranes and disruptive subway construction, merchants in the on-the-mend North Hollywood area are looking forward to the rites of spring.

But there are varying opinions on when we’ll see the thaw.

Today, northbound passengers who take the sleek new trains to the end-of-the-line station here ascend the tubular stairwells and arrive, street level, to drink in panoramic views of . . . well, not much.

No offense to the good folks at North Hollywood Ice and Royal Auto Center Body & Paint, located across the street from the new Lankershim Boulevard station, but these are hardly the kinds of businesses that inspire tourists, or even home-grown fun-seekers, to head off on a cross-town trek.

But that’s been the hope of area businesses--that the new subway system would draw in a fresh crop of wallet-bearing visitors--since construction of the 6.3-mile final leg of the Red Line began in the spring of 1994.

Now, with the more visible sign of the region’s hoped-for rebirth completed and opened last month, comes yet another wait: for the actual addition of some “there” there.

The biggest commercial boost will come when (some say if) developer J. Allen Radford starts construction on his 500,000-square-foot retail/entertainment project dubbed the NoHo Commons.

Although one CRA official last week expressed confidence that the long-talked-about project will become reality, he conceded that even under the most optimistic scenario, construction cannot begin until February or March.

And construction is expected to last for at least a year, with the first shops opening in the spring of 2002.

(The CRA board will meet July 20 to mull giving Radford an extension to continue contract negotiations.)

In the meantime, some merchants who endured the dust and disruption are content to focus on the promise of spring and what will be--glad that the worst appears to be over.

For others, the wait for significant commercial development is just one more sign that winter has not released its grip just yet.

“It’s been a very slow-moving train,” said Andrew Higgs, owner of Le Petit Chateau, a well-known East Valley restaurant located on Lankershim, halfway between the NoHo station and the new station outside Universal Studios.

“And I don’t see the momentum picking up dramatically. Once the first one or two or three decent things start to happen, there will be a snowball effect. But so far, nothing has happened other than a great deal of talk.”

Well, perhaps it’s not fair to say “nothing has happened.”

Theater District Helps, but It’s Not Enough

Boosting night life in the area, the NoHo Arts District now boasts more than 25 theaters where there were only two nine years ago, locals say.

But evidenced by the fact that some merchants were excited about the arrival of a Dairy Queen, suffice it to say that major development has yet to hit town.

Higgs, who has owned the restaurant for 12 years, would like to see “two or three other good restaurants” move into the area.

“That would help me and it would make the whole area more attractive,” he said.

He estimates that residents and merchants will begin to see substantial improvements in about a year. But by his count, it will be another two to three years before commercial development around the station reaches critical mass. That’s when he expects to see a real effect on his establishment.

The subway opening thus far has not boosted his sales, and he hadn’t really anticipated that it would. His business will come, he said, from the office projects and other businesses that come into the area.

“Nobody’s going to get off the train at either station and walk to my restaurant,” he said.

But Richard Emanuele, a fourth-generation blacksmith whose great-grandfather helped build the famed Brooklyn Bridge, is banking that he is in a position to profit from any increased foot traffic the station might generate.

His furniture store and gift shop, Emanuele’s House of Iron, is located about a block south of the NoHo station, near the Raven Playhouse and the revamped El Portal.

Emanuele spoke excitedly about seeing celebrity theatergoers in pearls and dinner jackets, and said he’s noticed a distinct increase in foot traffic in recent years. He said he expects that to pick up apace now that the subway is open.

And with those additional feet, Emanuele expects to see more businesses ready to serve.

“We were the pioneers in the area,” said Emanuele, speaking of his 8-year-old business and other long-standing establishments. “Now, all the settlers will come in to claim the land.”

When development does come, Emanuele would like to see a community with a “Soho-y kind of vibe,” reminiscent of the famed New York neighborhood--with jazz clubs and trendy restaurants and nightspots.

He and other merchants said the area is not looking to become another Melrose Avenue or Old Pasadena.

“The business owners’ group is of a mind to promote the arts,” said Alice San Andres-Calleja, chairwoman of the NoHo Business Owners Group. “We’re not just going to be another Burbank or Santa Monica. The arts--that’s what’s going to set us apart from the cookie-cutter places.”

Yet some shops along Lankershim already have a Melrose-y kind of vibe. And Grubb & Ellis, the company charged with marketing the NoHo Commons, sees it as “a little bit of Melrose combined with 3rd Street,” according to Vice President Bert Abel.

It remains to be seen which vision of the area will prevail.

Like others, San Andres-Calleja said it’s too soon to gauge the effect of the subway opening. She thinks that will come in time, but it will be about five years before the area is “transformed into a robust community.”

Mixed-Use Projects Would Expand the Base

Dick Carter, a retail real estate broker with Encino-based Centers Business Management and a longtime broker in the Valley, said he thinks the area could benefit from some mixed-use projects, with ground-level retail and loft-style condos or apartments above.

“To bring in middle-income retail, you need middle-income residents,” he said. “Then, you have people there 24 hours a day. Without it, you have five commuters in the morning and five at night.”

He too said change is in the air, and he cautioned against waiting too long to hasten development.

“That whole area is starting to see a groundswell of change,” he added. “How it goes depends on how fast they can figure out what they want to do, and then do it.”

Deciding what “they” want to do is still a matter up for discussion.

At this point, like baseball players in spring training, the merchants feel that all things are possible.

“I don’t see us being, or competing with, a Melrose or Old Town Pasadena,” Emanuele said. “We’re our own entity.”

“Soon,” he said with a sly smile, “they’re going to have to worry about competing with us.”

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Valley@Work runs each Tuesday. Karen Robinson-Jacobs can be reached at Karen.Robinson@latimes.com.