Hollywood Developers Come Up Empty
The recent surge of Hollywood real estate development suffered a setback Friday when backers of a high-profile shopping center adjacent to Mann’s Chinese Theatre abandoned plans to build the complex.
Failure of the $20-million project at Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Street stemmed in part from the bankruptcy filing of major tenant Frederick’s of Hollywood, said developers Steve Ullman and Larry Worchell. The lingerie chain, which had planned to relocate its flagship store to the new development, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this summer.
“Due to the current financial condition and pending bankruptcy of the anchor tenant for the project, financing . . . is no longer available and construction therefore cannot go forward,” Ullman said in a statement. Ullman is president of Grant Parking Inc., which owns the half-acre site on the west side of the Chinese Theatre.
But Frederick’s of Hollywood refused to take the rap.
“They are blaming their financial difficulties on us,” said Frederick’s spokesman Seth Jacobson. “We were excited about the location and trying very hard to be there. Unfortunately, they were not able to get other tenants.”
Frederick’s is searching for alternative locations along Hollywood Boulevard for a new store and its museum of historic and celebrity lingerie. In April, a Los Angeles investor purchased the four-story Art Deco building that houses the company’s headquarters. Jacobson would not say how much time Frederick’s has before it must relocate, but said that the firm was not under any immediate pressure to do so.
Frederick’s of Hollywood had planned to move to the proposed HollywoodOrange Building in late 2001. The elaborate building, designed by Los Angeles architect Michael Rotondi, would have included space for stores, restaurants and a public courtyard.
This is second failed attempt by Jacobson and Ullman to develop the corner parking lot. Previously the partners tried to build an Imax theater on the property, which would have been fronted by 50-foot-tall, free-standing capital letters spelling out “Hollywood.”
A spokesman for the developers said there were no immediate plans for the site. Ullman said he believed the property “will someday house a unique landmark for Hollywood.”
Other builders, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with their plans.
Canadian development giant TrizecHahn Corp. is in the middle of constructing its $385-million Hollywood & Highland project north and east of Mann’s Chinese Theatre. The complex includes retail space, a 640-room hotel and a 3,500-seat theater that will serve as home to the annual Academy Awards broadcast.
In separate projects along Hollywood Boulevard, developers Tom Gilmore and CIM Group are renovating buildings in preparation for new stores and media-related tenants. Pacific Theatres has broken ground for a $60-million entertainment and retail complex near Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street that will rise on parking lots adjacent to its landmark Cinerama Dome movie house.
Not far away, Regent Properties of Beverly Hills has proposed building about 300 apartment units and retail space along Vine Street.
