The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has decided to negotiate exclusively over the next six months with developer J. Allen Radford of Jarco/SLG&G, Los Angeles, for the construction of a massive studio-office complex in North Hollywood. The proposed 30-acre project would include 10 sound stages, some 2 million square feet of office space, retail stores and condominiums.
Part of the Radford package calls for Hollywood Center Studios (HCS) to operate the NoHo sound stages. HCS continues to maintain its long-standing Hollywood lot, with stages that regularly host spot shoots.
Thus far, Jarco has acquired some 20% of the property designated for the NoHo development. That reportedly was a key factor in Jarco getting the nod over a competing developer, the Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Anko Construction. Paired with Anko as a stage complex consultant was CBS Studio Center, Studio City, Calif., a facility that hosts commercials and long-form.
The NoHo development-formally dubbed the North Hollywood Studio Complex-has been deemed critical to the revitalization of North Hollywood. The planned site will be next to the new subway station, a public transportation hub linking North Hollywood to much of Greater Los Angeles.
Radford has proposed development in three phases, starting early next year with the construction of the 10 sound stages and support offices totaling in excess of 430,000 square feet. The second phase would include office and retail space. And phase three would encompass two 20-story office towers, restaurants and movie theaters.
The project has generated controversy. Some property owners and business proprietors in the area are apprehensive that the CRA will exercise its power of eminent domain in order to secure additional space for the studio-office development. Another concern is that significant public funding will eventually be needed for the complex. Currently, the proposal calls for the project to be largely privately financed, with some estimates running as high as $400 million-plus.
