The family that owns the Pantages Theatre has signed a ground lease with New York-based Clarett Group LLP and Prudential Real Estate Investors to develop a $300 million residential and retail project in Hollywood.
Last week, the Nederlander Producing Co. of America Inc. signed a 99-year ground lease with the developer, according to attorney Benjamin Reznik, a partner with Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP, who is representing the New York developer.
While details of the project are still being fleshed out, Clarett’s initial proposal calls for a mixed-use project with more than 1,000 residential units, including as many as 300 condos, above 200,000 square feet of shops and restaurants at the nearly 7-acre site on Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue.
There would also be an expansive underground garage.
After signing the deal, Clarett executives briefed local officials, including Councilman Eric Garcetti, on their plans for the site currently a surface parking lot diagonally across the street from the theater.
Josh Kamensky, Garcetti’s press deputy, said the councilman viewed a presentation by Clarett officials but hasn’t taken a position on the project.
“We are always excited when people want to invest in Hollywood,” Kamensky said. “We look forward to working with them on this project as it moves forward.”
Helmi Hisserich, deputy administrator for the CRA’s Hollywood region, was also briefed by Clarett officials. If successful, the project would be the largest privately financed development in Hollywood’s recent history, Hisserich said.
“It’s a very significant deal for Hollywood,” she said. “It would be great if they pulled the development together.”
Beyond the surface parking lots, the Nederlander family owns a patchwork of properties extending east along Hollywood Boulevard from the Pantages.
The family also owns the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills and has a long-term lease with the city of Los Angeles to operate and manage the Greek Theatre in Griffith Park. Though the company is mostly based in New York, it is co-headquartered in Hollywood, the site of its concert promotion division.
The area surrounding the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street has attracted numerous new developments.
Next door to the Nederlander site, Gatehouse Capital Corp. and Legacy Partners Inc. are nearing final approvals to develop a $325 million complex of housing and retail anchored by a roughly 250-room W Hotel. Nearby condo conversions at the Equitable building and the Hollywood & Vine Plaza are also underway.
A timeline for the project wasn’t given, but other developers believe the project could feasibly be built in the same time period as the W Hotel project.
Since its inception in 1999, the Clarett Group has completed four high-rise condo buildings in Manhattan, and recently the firm formed a joint venture with Prudential Real Estate Investors.
Clarett officials couldn’t be reached and Nederlander attorney Neil Papiano, a partner at Iverson Yoakum Papiano & Hatch, wasn’t immediately available to comment. The Los Angeles Business Journal first reported negotiations on the deal in its Dec. 6 issue.
