New Project Planned for Hollywood

A panel reviewing alternatives for development near the Hollywood and Vine Metro Red Line station has given a preliminary OK to a mixed-use project featuring a W Hotel and about 250 residential units.

The proposed $282-million project is the latest in a string of redevelopment ventures collectively pumping more than $1 billion of private-sector capital into Hollywood property improvements. But the recommendation also comes at a time when the slumping economy and tepid climate for tourism are hindering the district’s recovery.

The staff panel from the Community Redevelopment Agency and Metropolitan Transportation Authority recommended last week that the agencies select a proposal by Foster City, Calif.-based Legacy Partners, which is in negotiations with the MTA to build a housing and retail complex at the North Hollywood subway station. Legacy’s Hollywood development team includes Dallas-based Gatehouse Capital Corp., which would develop the 300-room hotel.

The panel’s report said the Legacy plan is the only proposal among four finalists that includes a hotel in its initial phase and provides a firm commitment from a hotel operator--the W chain’s parent Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The proposal also includes 200 apartments, 46 condominiums, 30,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, 732 underground parking spaces and a transit plaza linking the subway to surface transportation.

Legacy’s proposal involves several adjacent sites owned by other parties, so it is contingent on the developer’s ability to reach agreements with those owners. The developer group also might seek CRA assistance to obtain those properties, or revise the plan to include just the MTA’s 2.8 acres near the southeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

MTA and CRA staffers now will prepare an exclusive negotiating agreement through which the two agencies and the developers will try to hammer out a final development contract. Construction probably wouldn’t begin for two years, said Dennis Cavallari, senior vice president with Legacy Partners’ residential group in Irvine.

Meanwhile, the developers and their designers will work with the agencies and community members to fine-tune the architecture for the high-profile project. Although the recession and dot-com collapse have left Hollywood with an over-supply of office space, developers continue to pursue retail and residential projects.

“I think the Hollywood marketplace is fabulous,” Cavallari said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to become a part of the neighborhood.”

The W may become an “anchor” for the heart of Hollywood, much like the Hollywood & Highland project’s new 637-room Marriott Renaissance is doing for Hollywood’s western flank, said Rob Langer of Meringoff Equities, Hollywood’s biggest office landlord. Meringoff plans to build a 50,000-square-foot high-end retail development at Hollywood and Vine’s northeast corner.

Just south on Vine at Sunset Boulevard, a group led by Century City’s Bond Capital Ltd. has cleared a site for a planned $200- million development stacking 300 loft-style apartments atop a 90,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by Borders Books and Bed Bath & Beyond. Construction is set to begin in May.