Developer Wins Time for Proposal
The developer who wants to build a 2-million-square-foot retail, hotel and office complex in North Hollywood received a second extension Thursday to allow more time to complete the proposal.
Developer J. Allen Radford was granted the extra six months by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency board.
The board required Radford’s JARCO development company to demonstrate within two weeks that it has the $500,000 necessary to complete an environmental impact report.
One agency official said she was confident the developer would be able to show that he has the financing for preliminary work--including the environmental report--as well as the $400 million to build the project.
“Before the City Council acts on the extension, he must show he has that,” said Lillian Burkenheim, the redevelopment agency’s North Hollywood project manager.
After the board meeting, Radford said the environmental report and much of the other preliminary work was 80% complete and the $500,000 funding was in place. He said a number of potential tenants had signed letters of intent for 291,000 square feet of retail space, including Johnny Rockets and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro restaurants.
He also said he is confident that well-known retailers, a health club and a theater chain will join the list of tenants.
Many residents and business owners, however, continue to question the viability of the project.
The Red Line subway opened its North Hollywood station to enthusiastic crowds three weeks ago, yet much of the area surrounding the sparkling new station is occupied by dusty lots and struggling businesses.
“It’s been stagnating,” said Glenn Hoiby, who chairs the citizens committee that is advising the redevelopment agency about the project. “I don’t think there is a real commitment by the CRA to get a developer who is able to move forward with a realistic plan and have the financing available.”
Hoiby, an attorney who owns a building a few blocks south of the subway station, said the local business community has suffered during the redevelopment project delays.
Loretta Dash, president of the Universal City-North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said she is also disappointed by the slow pace of redevelopment.
The CRA first approved a six-month period of exclusive negotiations with Radford in March 1999 with an option to extend the talks for an additional 90 days.
The original redevelopment proposal was a 43-acre project with 10 sound stages and 400 condominiums, but Radford said he was unable to sign long-term leases with sound stage tenants.
Last March, Radford cut the project size to 22 acres, and the revised plan included a 250-room hotel, a 14-screen movie theater, a health club and more than 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
