On July 21, 2009, Mayor Villaraigosa joined Councilmember Tom LaBonge, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Chairman Bill Farrar, and Chamber President and CEO, Leron Gubler, as well as Kerry Morrison, Executive Director of the Hollywood Media Business Improvement District, to visit some of the companies which are bringing more jobs to Hollywood:
Hotel General Manager, Don Jacinto, provided a tour of the $5.1 million in renovations recently completed of the 3 major meeting rooms, including $3.5 million in the historic Blossom Ballroom (home of the first Oscar’s show). While there, Mayor Villaraigosa stopped by to visit with employees of the Nielsen Company attending a client’s meeting. The restored Roosevelt Hotel, with its 400 employees, has carved out a niche for itself and, even in these tough economic times, is running at about 82% occupancy, and often sells out on most weekends.
Joel Johnston, COO, of Trailer Park and building owner Shaul Kuba of CIM, gave the Mayor a tour of their new expanded offices in the TV Guide Building in Hollywood. Trailer Park now occupies 56,000 sq. ft. on four floors that house their 300 employees on site. Trailer Park previously leased space for nearly 150 employees in the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood and decided to consolidate here in LA. Trailer Park is a company that produces movie “trailers” (previews) – an important segment of the industry that is often taken for granted.
While there, the Mayor was able to have a telephone conversation with Benedict Coulter, President of Trailer Park.
Allied Advertisement represents another relocation from West Hollywood. This international advertising company employs 300 seasoned marketing specialists around the U.S. and Canada. Seventy-five employees will work out of their new Hollywood location in an adaptive reuse of a historic building that had been vacant for ten years.
Up and coming retailer, Zara, is set to open in August on the ground floor just beneath Allied Advertisement – in space that formerly only held souvenir shops! Zara will occupy 15,700 sq. ft. and has just started to make a presence in Southern California. Their only other location in the region is at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Mayor Villaraigosa has placed a high priority on retail growth, not only because of the jobs created, but also because of the important General Fund sales tax revenue it generates.
In a creative way to create jobs, revenues, and business activity in a tough economy, the Disney-owned El Capitan Theater has taken over the 22,000 sq. ft. retail space left vacant in the Hollywood and Highland shopping center with the closing of Virgin Records. The El Capitan is utilizing the space this summer to create a new interactive attraction space for Disney’s summer movie, “G-Force.” Later in the year, CIM, owners of Hollywood and Highland, hope to re-tenant the space with a permanent Hard Rock Café, Los Angeles.