Bob Champion Discusses Difficulties Developing in Hollywood

Hollywood is experiencing a renaissance, with major creative office and residential projects rising that will dramatically change the district’s character and promises prosperity for years to come.

While LA Mayor Eric Garcetti has targeted this area of the city for high-density, transit-oriented development, some developers are turned off by unclear zoning and the onerous and costly entitlement process inherent to developing in Hollywood.

For example, Champion Real Estate sold a 1.75-acre site because after the proposed project had already gone through the entitlement process a court ruled Hollywood’s community plan update invalid, so all projects approved under it were required to go back and modify their entitlements. As a result, Champion CEO Bob Champion (pictured) said the whole thing took a year and a half longer than expected, and his company sold out and put the capital elsewhere.

Another issue is that some Hollywood residents are vocally opposed to densification, he noted, including the Coalition to Preserve LA, which is trying to shut down developer Crescent Heights’ 30-story The Palladium Residences near the Metro subway station on Hollywood, and the La Mirada Avenue Neighborhood Association, which succeeded in stopping construction of the Target store, closing down CIM Group’s apartment tower at 5929 Sunset Blvd and other Hollywood projects, according to GlobeSt.

But Bob's issue is with the city's planning map, which was changed during the planning process. Bob also has proposed a large mixed-use project on West Yucca Street in Hollywood and has two other, smaller mixed projects in the works further west in Hollywood near the Hollywood & Highland mall. [GlobeSt]