A showdown is shaping up over whether one of L.A.’s former Brown Derby locations should be considered historic.
Adler Realty Inc. wants to build a mixed-use project on the roughly 1-acre site, which now holds the Derby nightclub and Louise’s Trattoria. The project would contain 80 condos above a supermarket a Whole Foods Market Inc. or a Bristol Farms and have other ground-floor shops and restaurants.
The proposed building, designed in a Spanish architectural style, would span a block along Hillhurst Avenue and rise from three stories at the Avocado Street intersection to five stories at Los Feliz Boulevard.
Richard S. Gable, an Adler vice president, said the company had an assessment done in its environmental impact report that found the building didn’t merit saving. “Our study found it wasn’t designated as a historic landmark,” Gable said, “and that it doesn’t qualify.”
The Los Angeles Conservancy and a number of other groups disagree. They have formed the Save the Derby Coalition and launched the Web site SavetheDerby.com.
The group has a series of meetings with Adler Realty to discuss ways the developer can integrate the Derby into its project. Jay Platt, a preservation advocate with the L.A. Conservancy, said historic assessments aren’t the last word on whether a building should be saved.
“We find it to have cultural and historical importance,” Platt said. “It’s our last chance to save an important connection to the glamour of Hollywood’s early years.”
For now, Councilman Tom LaBonge whose 4th District includes the site hasn’t taken a stance on the project. Still, the councilman’s press deputy, Jane Galbraith, said LaBonge doesn’t want to lose the building entirely. “He is a historic preservationist,” Galbraith said. “The councilmember would like to keep the Derby fa & #231;ade as part of a new structure.”
Since Adler Realty and a group of unidentified investors purchased the property in June 2004 for $4.8 million, Gable said the company has been meeting with neighborhood and community groups. So far Adler has drafted three new proposals to satisfy concerns.
Burbank Bargain
Legacy Partners Inc. is buying a Burbank Media District office tower for about $43 million, according to sources close to the deal.
Legacy, a Foster City-based developer, is picking up the 148,000-square-foot building at 2600 W. Olive Street from Carr America Realty Corp., a pension fund adviser that’s a large landlord in Warner Center, Century City and Universal City.
The price works out to about $291 a foot a bargain compared with other recent Burbank Media District office building transactions. In June, pension fund advisor Blackrock Inc. paid $356 a foot for the 32-story tower at 3900 W. Alameda Ave.
The building is about 35 percent leased. Grubb & Ellis Co.’s Kevin Shannon represented both sides in the deal. Shannon didn’t return calls seeking comment.
*Staff reporter Andy Fixmer can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 263, or by e-mail at
afixmer@labusinessjournal
.com.
