Paramount Pictures is poised to take a huge step forward next month in the studio’s massive, long-planned expansion of its iconic Hollywood studio facility.
At a hearing scheduled for July 14, the city of L.A.’s Planning Commission will examine the plan and its environmental impact report, take public comment, and vote on a recommendation to the City Council, with whom final approval rests.
“This a milestone because the project can now move to the final approval phase with the city,” said Marie Garvey, a Paramount spokeswoman.
The studio wants to wrap up the review and approval process by the end of the year.
The so-called Paramount Pictures Hollywood Project calls for an estimated $700 million to be spent on five new technologically advanced soundstages with adjacent production offices and production support facilities for storage and on-lot distribution of lighting and props. The plan also includes modernized producer, talent, and writer offices and bungalows.
The 62-acre Paramount lot, on Melrose Avenue between Gower Street and Van Ness Avenue, was formed with the consolidation of two powerful side-by-side studios – RKO to the west and Paramount to the east. The proposed project is designed to improve circulation on the property.
Unlike other studio rehabs, this one will not contain a tourism component.
First announced in 2011, it has taken five years to complete the final draft of the environmental impact report as experts analyzed the potential effect on traffic, air quality, and various other areas that could be affected by the studio’s proposed expansion.
“The time frame is pretty typical for a long-term plan of this size,” Garvey said.
Neighborhood support
The facelift for the 90-year-old legacy lot has the support of one of its most popular nearby businesses.
“The lot creates a lot of business for us, and its expansion will hopefully benefit everyone because new people will come into the neighborhood,” said Patricia Casado, owner of Lucy’s El Adobe Café, which has operated across the street since 1964. “People come from all over the world to see that studio.”
Paramount’s expansion plans could be moving forward at a time when the studio is seeing a lot of demand for its services. The lot’s 29 soundstages are maxed out, benefitting from the production of projects from streaming services Netflix and Amazon Studios as well as traditional network shows from CBS and HBO.
The revitalization project is designed to create more opportunities for Hollywood production to stay in Hollywood.
“It’s really the first time Paramount has taken a long-range plan look at the studio,” said Sharon Keyser, senior vice president of real estate, government, and community relations at Paramount. “As we did it, we considered the business needs but first and foremost had great respect for the legacy of the property here.”
Paramount worked to conceptualize the improvements to the outdated facilities with downtown architecture firm Levin & Associates, which has guided other historic preservation projects such as the Griffith Park Observatory, Los Angeles City Hall, and the Grand Central Market.
Keyser said the plan will preserve 60 percent of the historic buildings on the lot and produce 12,600 jobs over the course of 25 years.
In addition to preserving the history of the studio, the goal is to effectively monetize its valuable property. The approach has been to focus on surface parking lots and underutilized areas – such as the eastern side of the property – and replace poorly designed trailers and buildings with more structurally sound and technologically advanced spaces.
Construction is scheduled to begin on the first part of the master plan in the next few years.
