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[tags]los angeles, red line, transit oriented development, nbc, universal city, north hollywood[/tags]
Rendering of MetroStudio@Lankershim, the proposed headquarters of NBC/Universal. Clicking on the picture goes to the project web site.
North Hollywood was in the news for L.A.’s biggest, boldest development at the junction of the Metro Red and Orange lines. Even that $1 billion investment is now dwarfed, in less than two weeks, by an even bigger, bolder plan by a big, bold media company. NBC/Universal is consolidating its operations, and the Peacock is leaving Burbank for Campo de Cahuenga, right above the Universal City station! And this one promises to be about $3 billion!
Google News has several news stories on the NBC move. Also, the developer has launched a site for the project, titled MetroStudio@Lankershim. Curbed LA has been all abuzz with several NBC-move posts, including this statement left in its inbox:
UNIVERSAL CITY - The NBC relocation atop a Red Line station has inspired several of you to wax poetic about the realization of the LA subway as a viable system. “Would it make sense for either Google or Yahoo to have a presence there rather than in Santa Monica… Also a good time to rethink about the extensions of the Red Line subway north, as well as the Purple Line to Santa Monica to allow the suits on the west side an opportunity to get to the offices in Universal. Now LA is starting to understand how [transit oriented developments] can really be beneficial.
Also this week, LA Weekly shed light on the sordid dealings of Metro’s approval of the NoHo Art Wave development. To reiterate, that’s the puny development around the North Hollywood that’s just $1 billion, one-third of the proposed Universal City unit. The story is written by a free-lancer imitating editor Jill Stewart’s trademark histrionic writing style.
The project’s developers and interested parties contributed money to almost all of the board members, and the conflict-of-interest laws enacted by the state legislature forced various board members to vote on the project by lottery.
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Businesses that moved out of downtown and other urban areas for cheap land will be moving back into areas with multiple transit options.
Whether one agrees with all the specifics of the development at these two rail stops, it is nevertheless a good trend.
Millions more are coming over the next several decades. High-density development where there are actual rail lines is a no-brainer.
We don’t need a rethink of the Puple Line. We need it expedited and built as soon as possible.
Here’s a map on the MTA website for a potential westside subway expansion, linking both Hollywood and Wilshire Blvd. with the Westside. We need BOTH of these alignments and transit advocates should push for both. I’m sure MGM and MTV would love access From Santa Monica to Hollywood via rail.
http://www.metro.net/projects_programs/westside/Potential%20Alignment%20Map%20(PDF).pdf
this all sounds pretty insane–in a good way. we’re all doing our part to get people on the public transit band wagon but in all reality, its necessary for these huge corps to get on board too and really make an effort (and the above is quite the effort!) to get their employees to take transit to work. the more corps on board the more the govt will have to pay attention to the purple line extension and from there…..
Absolutely. Corporations do not act selflessly. When they decide it is in their bottom line’s interest to locate near transit lines and for Southern California to have more public transit, then the powers that be will really get motivated.
Wasn’t it Seal who sang, “We’re never going to survive unless we get a little crazy.”
Oh man, this is great. I was always amazed when I passed the NBC Studios in Burbank - “That’s it?!?”.
It’s great to see the entertainment entities that supposedly make this town finally truly supporting the city. I think this will be a watershed for the other entities in this town.
As a born and bred San Fernando Valley native, both developments are great news to me and can show that the Valley is not the stereotypical suburbia as some people see it. We got two subway stations, a well used busway, and a pretty crowded Rapid line (761). Fred, you are right about your impressions of NBC West Coast, it’s nothing. In fact, I haven’t even walked around that area yet, but I have been to NBC East Coast, aka 30 Rock, and using their subway, it was easy to get to and there is a tremendous amount of pedestrian activity that is missing at Burbank around Olive/Alemeda. In both cases, there have been issues with getting extra portals and pedestrian crossings. For Universal City, I read somewhere that Universal did not want to pony up the cash to help build a subway access to the south side of Lankershim, leaving only two portals on the north side. I’m wondering if NBC’s project will make that south portal a reality. For North Hollywood, their project will include putting a Red Line pedestrian portal on the west of Lankershim, where the Orange Line bus terminal is, no more crossing the street (or river when it rains) to get to the Red Line.