Snyder a Popular Choice for Project
With a record of successes and at least one high-profile miscue on his resume, Los Angeles-based developer Jerry Snyder is vowing to save a floundering retail and office development in North Hollywood’s burgeoning arts district.
Last week, Snyder--perhaps best known for building the luxurious Wilshire Courtyard office property--offered to become the lead developer for the troubled NoHo Commons, a 2-million-square-foot restaurant, retail and office complex proposed across from the new Metro Rail subway station.
The $361-million proposal has been scaled back substantially and the current developer, J. Allen Radford, has been forced to seek two extensions from the Community Redevelopment Agency, which would help fund the project. The CRA board is set to take up the matter this week.
Some observers said Snyder would bring with him not only a proven track record in both the retail and office arena but also strong financial backing and an ability to craft creative solutions to vexing land matters.
“Jerry Snyder is a very reputable and successful developer who thinks outside the box,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is among the many public officials closely watching the development. “He builds to meet the needs and constraints of the property.”
Bert Abel, associate vice president for Grubb & Ellis, and his team are responsible for trying to lease the retail portion of the project. He was among those who months ago predicted that Radford would need some high-powered talent to get the job done.
Radford could not be reached for comment.
“I’ve always felt that Allen may have been in a bit over his head,” Abel said.
Snyder Gives CRA a Guarantee on NoHo
Snyder’s firm--J.H. Snyder Co.-- has built 41,000 homes, 4 million square feet of offices and 1.3 million square feet of retail development, most of it in California. He has nine other projects in the works.
He formed his own company at age 19 and entered commercial real estate in 1979. In addition to the 1-million-square-foot Wilshire Courtyard in L.A.’s Miracle Mile area, the company’s projects include the Channel Gateway mixed-use project near Marina del Rey and the Water Garden campus in Santa Monica. The second phase of that project opened late last year, and the property is 95% leased, Snyder said.
“With his background, Jerry Snyder definitely represents a major asset to this project,” Abel said.
When talking about the projects he’s taken on, Snyder jokingly refers to himself as “a 50-year overnight wonder.” His firm ranks as the 10th-largest commercial real estate development company in Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.
He was so confident about his prospects for the NoHo project that he gave the CRA board an “iron-clad” guarantee that he’d have a “done-deal agreement” by the board’s next meeting.
A trim, energetic man with the charm of a car salesman and a blunt, down-home style, Snyder is no stranger to risky rescue missions.
About a year and a half ago, he stepped in to save Valley Plaza, proposing a $140-million redevelopment effort for that down-at-the-heels shopping center, a few miles northwest of the NoHo site.
But Snyder’s path has not been stumble-free.
In the late 1990s Snyder tried to launch a planned office complex near NBC and Warner Bros. studios in Burbank. He finally pulled out and the project is now moving forward under developer M. David Paul.
“Jerry was not able to produce,” said Burbank City Manager Robert “Bud” Ovrom, who nonetheless lauded Snyder’s arrival on the NoHo project. “He was not able to secure the financing. He was not able to secure measurable tenants.
“I think Jerry gave it his best, but he was not able to make it happen,” Ovrom said.
Snyder dismissed any notion that the Burbank project represents a blemish on his record.
“It didn’t happen. We made a deal and the [real estate trust that had title to the property] didn’t want to go ahead. It’s one out of 100. So what? We got paid and we left.
“With all of the other stuff that we built, I don’t want to hear about one job we didn’t. That’s absurd.”
Strong Financial and Political Connections
In July, Snyder and Louis Gonda, a founder of a jet aircraft leasing company, struck a deal in which Gonda agreed to be Snyder’s financial partner in real estate projects totaling $1 billion over the next four years. Gonda will invest in Snyder’s projects through Lexington Commercial Holdings, a real estate investment firm Gonda founded.
“The basic problem was financing, and Radford could not do it on his own,” said Dale Trush, planning deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs. “Snyder’s connections are much stronger, and he will be able to solve that problem.”
Snyder is well-liked at City Hall, where he is a major political donor, contributing thousands of dollars to the campaigns of Valley council members, including Wachs, Laura Chick and Hal Bernson.
Trush said Wachs was pleased to see Snyder join the project, adding that those contacts will come in handy.
“Snyder has the relationships with the people he has to have them with--the City Council, the CRA, the county supervisors. He’s well-known and well-respected and he has more than considerable financial strength.
“We think it’s a great idea,” Trush added.
The 71-year-old Snyder, who says he’ll retire “when they put me in the box,” is fairly matter-of-fact when commenting on his popularity at City Hall.
“I’ve been in and out of City Hall for 40 years,” he said. “They know we build a good product.”
