Owner of 35 Lots Not Pleased With City Parking Fees
Retail
by Deborah Belgum
While TrizecHahn Corp. hailed the city’s recent decision to lower parking rates at its Hollywood & Highland shopping center, not everyone was happy.
Steve Ullman, president and chief executive of Grant Parking Inc., which operates about 35 parking lots in Hollywood between La Brea Avenue and Argyle, knows the new rates may ultimately affect his rates.
When Hollywood & Highland opened, parking rates were among the highest for any L.A. shopping center: $1 for the first hour and $1 for every 20 minutes after that, up to $10. The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency owns the parking facility.
Now rates have been cut to $2 for a four-hour period with validation by shopping center merchants and surrounding retailers. But Ullman’s lots charge anywhere from $4 to $11 for parking. Does that mean Ullman’s parking rates may drop to match the shopping center? Probably.
“Hollywood & Highland is a major structure in the middle of Hollywood that has a rate structure that is far below the market. It is definitely going to have an impact on the surrounding (parking) facilities,” Ullman said. “And I have the majority of them.”
Retail Project Grows
Lowe Enterprises, which is building a $195 million mixed-use project in Hawthorne called The Exchange at an old Northrop plant site, purchased 17 more acres from Northrop for the retail portion of the project and then sold 12 of those acres to Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse for $10 million.
Construction of a 170,000-square-foot Lowe’s store is scheduled to begin this summer with opening scheduled by early next year.
Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises, which is not connected with Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, is looking for another major retail tenant and several smaller tenants to fill the rest of the 120,000-square-feet of retail space at the site.
An office supply store is expected to occupy the center and possibly a large discount clothing store. Talks have been held with several restaurants such as the International House of Pancakes operated by IHOP Corp., Outback Steakhouse and Carl’s Jr., said Craig Furniss, senior vice president at Lowe Enterprises.
Eventually, The Exchange will cover 105 acres on the long-vacant site. The land is being acquired in four phases.
Lowe Enterprises plans to put in a mix of retail, industrial, and commercial office space in the development.
Quayle Elected
Former Vice President Dan Quayle has been elected to the K2 Inc. nine-member board.
Quayle was named to the board of the Commerce-based sporting goods company last July to fill a vacancy, but this is the first time he has been elected by shareholders of the $595-million company that makes skis, snowboards, inline skates and other recreational products.
Company executives said Quayle is valuable to the board for his knowledge of Pacific Rim trading issues and for his international connections.
Staff reporter Deborah Belgum can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 228, or at
[email protected].
