The master plan unveiled last week for Universal City includes proposals for 2,900 apartments, lofts and condominiums, additional office space and an upgrade of its studio and entertainment facilities.
But a simple issue could well undo much of the $3 billion proposal: traffic and lots of it.
The massive plan, intended to guide development for the next 25 years, has community members, real estate players and even city officials concerned that NBC Universal may be proposing too much for an area already congested.
“It will have to be dialed down,” said Larry Kosmont, president of Kosmont Cos., a real estate and economic development firm based in Encino. “It is a certainty that that plan is too dense to start with. The residential component in particular, I think it’s too much.”
The massive plan, announced by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Universal Studios President Ron Meyer at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, would place the homes on 124 acres of undeveloped hillside behind the studios’ backlot.
The proposal also involves constructing at least 650,000 square feet of office buildings and new studio space near the Universal City Metropolitan Transportation Authority station. Other projects would refresh the Universal Studios theme park and City Walk, including the construction of a 3,000-seat theater.
NBC Universal officials contend they have included transportation improvements that will lessen the effect of the additional traffic, including an internal shuttle system and a proposal to build new streets and freeway access.
However, local homeowners are doubting that the impact can be lessened enough to make the entire development acceptable.
Anastasia Mann, president of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, said that her group has already met with NBC Universal to discuss the master plan, adding that traffic is the group’s main issue with the development.
“There is going to be a lot of concern,” said Mann, who added traffic in the area is already bad. “Two cars per resident, you multiply it out and it’s scary.”
In the past, the homeowners groups have rallied together to stop an expansion of the theme park.
Indeed, one real estate industry expert who didn’t want to be identified said that “there are plenty of rich, retired lawyers who live near there and will fight this until they die.”
NBC Universal officials have indicated a willingness to talk to area homeowners and other stakeholders to make modifications, but a spokesperson for NBC Universal contended the project would work as planned.
“From our preliminary assessment this is the right choice for the topography, from a traffic standpoint and from an urban infill standpoint,” said the spokesperson, who declined to be identified.
