Neighbors out in force against TVC
•Mid City West supports developers
Hundreds of letters were submitted to the City Planning Dept. last month expressing concerns about a proposal that would significantly expand the CBS television studio on Beverly Boulevard at Fairfax Avenue.
Hancock Park Elementary School parent (and former land use lawyer) Danielle Schenker Peters wrote two of the 400 letters submitted to the City Planning Dept.
One was regarding general concerns of traffic and density of the site now called TVC 2050. “I think it’s going to do irreparable harm to the neighborhood,” she told us.
EXISTING ZONING for Television City and neighbors.
The other was about the rumbling of trucks she alleges will carry hazardous waste from the construction site, down Fairfax Avenue to the 10 Freeway, passing open windows at her children’s school as they go.
The letters are part of a public comment period that ended last month as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) process.
The next step for the city is to prepare and draft the Final EIR (FEIR) to include a Response to Comments section that will address all comments, according to City Planning Dept. officials. The FEIR is then published and the developer concludes its entitlement negotiations with city departments if the city certifies the FEIR.
According to the DEIR, Culver City-based developer Hackman Capital Partners submitted plans that include buildings with heights up to approximately 15 and 20 stories.
The proposed project includes approximately 1.9 million square feet, 15 sound stages, office, retail, parking and other uses, which collectively add 1.3 million square feet of new development on the 25-acre property.
On its website, the developer lists the benefits as creating 4,220 new jobs during construction and 18,760 once the studio is complete.
The original building — a designated Historic-Cultural Monument — would be retained under the proposed plan.
In an effort to revise the $1.3 billion project, Schenker Peters and other neighbors have joined forces with the Beverly Fairfax Community Alliance. The group includes the Beverly Wilshire Homes Association, Protect Beverly Fairfax, the Miracle Mile Residential Association, The Grove and the Original Farmers Market.
“The impacts of this [TVC 2050 Project] will destroy our community…” stated the Beverly Wilshire Homes Association. “[T]he plan will create a massive production facility, which, if approved, would overwhelm and transform the community….”
Supporters
While some oppose the size and scale of the development, others welcome it.
Mid City West Neighborhood Council’s General Board approved the proposed plan on a vote of 20-5 on Sept. 13.
About that vote, Zach Sokoloff, senior vice president, Hackman Capital Partners, told the Chronicle in a statement: “We credit this overwhelming vote to several factors, including our extensive neighborhood outreach efforts, broad community support, and the city’s comprehensive Draft Environmental Impact Report which found no significant long-term impacts.”
Sokoloff claims that the developer had more than 100 community and stakeholder meetings and events since acquiring Television City in Jan. 2019 and announcing the TVC Project in March 2021.
Other supporters of the project he named are the Melrose Business Improvement District and Holocaust Museum Los Angeles.
The project also has the support of the Los Angeles Conservancy.
Opened in 1952, the Pereira and Luckman-designed studio was home to “All in the Family” and “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and it is still an active production site today.
The proposed renovation is a “win-win,” Adrian Scott Fine, senior director of advocacy for the Los Angeles Conservancy, told us.
However, according to Schenker Peters, the industry has grown exponentially since the 1950s. While having the studio has been a plus in the neighborhood, two buildings at 15- and 20-stories high would overshadow the historic Adobe building at Farmers Market and add significant traffic to the area, which is already congested. There are fewer parking spaces in the plan than the new employees it will bring, she said.
When the DEIR was published on July 14, neighboring companies that now have become opponents of the project say the DEIR revealed for the first time the scope of a new access road on Grove Drive and changed the zoning to Regional Center, bringing the area’s allowed density on par with Century City and Downtown Los Angeles.
The developers lack transparency, says Schenker Peters, mom to two Hancock Park Elementary students. At a meeting, the developer reassured the community: “You already have a Regional Center in your backyard.”
While some people may buy it, the former land use attorney did not. “It sounds good, if you don’t know what it means.”
Sokoloff counters that the Grove Drive access and Regional Center designation have been public for 18 months.
In addition, “Regional Center” is a diverse use, he says, noting that the Academy Museum a few blocks away is in a designated Regional Center.
After developer Michael Hackman purchased the iconic property for a purported $750 million, representatives for The Grove and the Original Farmers Market say they spent months discussing a more moderate proposal for TVC.
Not so, said Sokoloff. “We are saddened that they have chosen to use their extensive resources to wage an aggressive campaign to further their own interests. …
“We know that the TVC Project will benefit not only studio workers … but local businesses and neighbors…”
If approved, the project would take approximately 32 months to 20 years to complete per a development agreement, according to City Planning.
For information, visit:
planning.lacity.org/development-services/eir/tvc-2050-project-0, TVC2050.com and beverlyfairfaxcommunityalliance.org.
Pan Pacific Park gift
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Parks Foundation received a $236,000 donation from Hackman Capital Partners to rebuild the Pan Pacific Park playground equipment destroyed by a vandal-set fire this past summer.
The new and improved playground is expected to be open by summer 2023, with the funds already received from Hackman covering the cost of equipment and installation as well as community outreach.
“We are so grateful to Television City and Hackman Capital Partners for this donation, as a park playground plays a vital role in connecting a community,” says Carolyn Ramsay, executive director of the Los Angeles Parks Foundation and a local resident.
This article’s eleventh paragraph was revised on 10-06-22 to correct the Chronicle’s error in citing the organization “Save” Beverly Fairfax as being in support of revising the proposed Television City project. It should have read: “Protect” Beverly Fairfax. In late September, Save Beverly Fairfax wrote to clarify that it had not affiliated with either Protect Beverly Fairfax or the Beverly Fairfax Community Alliance.
Category: Real Estate