Hollywood Gets a Pep Talk on Revitalization

With Hollywood seemingly on the verge of changing from dumpy to desirable, property owners are being urged to be more choosy about future commercial tenants.

Enough with the junky souvenir shops and tourist-trap T-shirt stores. Instead, fill your empty storefronts with businesses that will attract local shoppers.

That advice was offered Thursday to 250 Hollywood business owners and developers attending an economic summit at the recently rebuilt Egyptian Theater, home of a movie restoration and revival group called the American Cinematheque.

Economic experts said that $1.5 billion in new Hollywood construction is expected to be completed in the next three years. But that needs to be accompanied by forward thinking if the area is to avoid falling again into decline.

Tourism is fine, but that’s not enough to carry the community in lean times, said redevelopment expert Tom Gilmore--who is rehabilitating a landmark office high-rise near the legendary corner of Hollywood and Vine with such business conveniences as high-speed fiber-optics.

“We have to think beyond the current frenzy of building” and make certain that the hundreds of thousands of square feet of new and refurbished space is filled with a mix of tenants that will be to the long-range benefit of the community, said property management executive Pietra DuBuclet.

Economist Jack Kyser agreed, suggesting that business owners take advantage of the new Red Line subway’s extension through Hollywood and into the San Fernando Valley and turn Hollywood into a shopping and entertainment center for the rest of Los Angeles.

The problem is that many people in the rest of Los Angeles still see Hollywood as shabby and sleazy.

“The feeling is it’s not safe, it’s dirty,” said Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. “It’s going to be a long battle. You can’t kick back now. There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Higher quality retail stores, such as a Nordstrom department store planned for a new addition to Fairfax Boulevard’s Farmers Market, are needed to draw outsiders to Hollywood, Kyser said.

The new subway--which starting Saturday will link Hollywood to the Valley as well as with downtown Los Angeles--will give the area a major boost, he said. “You don’t know how important that is,” he said.

But “you need to educate the rest of Southern California that Hollywood is back,” Kyser said.

Other panelists at the conference led by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce encouraged those in the audience to be creative in developing and refurbishing their property.

Businessman Chris Breed told of quickly attracting the trendy nightclub set when he converted an old Hollywood warehouse into the Sunset Room nine months ago.

“I was warned it would be hard to get the ‘A’ crowd from Beverly Hills and Santa Monica to come to Hollywood,” said Breed. “Everybody’s starting to believe now.”

Internet entrepreneur Luke McDonough explained how his firm, iFILM, moved from San Francisco half a year ago to take advantage of a Hollywood mailing address and was surprised to find, as he put it, “that Hollywood has a lot of cool.”

Photos were shown of old Hollywood office buildings where interiors are being turned into trendy loft-style spaces with the removal of acoustic ceilings and the use of exposed-brick interior walls.

Developer Steve Reinstein explained how his firm plans to retain the Streamline Moderne look of an abandoned Vine Street television studio as part of a proposed combination apartment-shopping complex that will be marketed to young professionals wanting to live near where they work.

Officials distributed maps pinpointing 98 Hollywood sites where development has either recently been completed or is underway. The largest project is a $567-million entertainment and retail center being built at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, earmarked to become the new home of the annual Academy Awards ceremony, said Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler.

Johnny Grant, who serves as the chamber’s honorary mayor of Hollywood, said the federal government is even putting its stamp of approval on the community’s revival. Soon, Grant announced, postal officials will begin using a “Los Angeles / Hollywood” postmark for locally mailed letters.