BIG COMEBACK FOR AN OLD STAR HOLLYWOOD AND VINE TO GAIN GLITZ WITH RESIDENCES, SHOPS.

Byline: SUE DOYLE

Staff Writer

Like an aging movie star returning after decades in the shadows, the legendary corner of Hollywood and Vine is making a comeback.

An official groundbreaking will be held today for a $600 million residential and retail project designed to bring zing, zest and "za-za-zu" back to the area.

"This project really represents the vision of how Hollywood will be in the future -- a very dynamic, urban community," said Leron Gubler, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

And when it's ready for its closeup in two years, the southeast corner of the famous intersection will feature 143 high-end condos, 297 market-rate and 78 affordable apartments, a 300-room W Hotel and 55,000 square feet of upscale shops on a five-acre site.

The historic Taft Building -- which once housed offices for Will Rogers, Charlie Chaplin and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences -- will stay. Also remaining is Bernard Luggage Co. -- a multi-generational family store that fought off the city's eminent domain claim for the property.

The new project is part of an effort to return Hollywood to the glory days of Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, rather than the tough and gritty community depicted in "Pretty Woman."

"A decade ago, Hollywood and Vine was synonymous with blight, crime and neglect," said Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti, whose district includes Hollywood. "We have the most famous intersection in this city being restored to glamour that we haven't seen in 80 years."

A block at a time

City and Los Angeles County officials worked five years on the on the Hollywood and Vine project, completing necessary environmental and traffic reports and searching for the right developer for the property.

The winning bid by Gatehouse Capital Corp. includes promises to build a W Hotel -- a luxury project that officials knew would anchor the corner with elegance and lure other projects to the area, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.

"That's the way these things get started. They get started one project at a time, one block at a time, one mile at a time and pretty soon you have a real resurgence, regeneration of the area," Yaroslavsky said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority owns nearly all five acres of the city block at Hollywood and Vine, which also includes a stop for the Red Line. The new project is one of 30 in which the MTA is working to make mass transportation part of residents' everyday lives.

The Hollywood and Vine project is also designed to complement the $615 million redevelopment project at the Hollywood & Highland Center, which includes the Kodak Theatre, plus shops, restaurants and a 640-room Renaissance Hotel.

Transit a key asset

MTA officials and developers envision communities that rely more on public transportation than cars to run errands, go to work or have a night out on the town.

"If you need a tube of toothpaste or a cup of coffee, you don't have to get in your car to do it," said Roger Moliere, head of real estate development for the MTA.

"It cuts down, hopefully, on all the day-to-day little trips and big trips to work, and that's really the overriding idea."

Garcetti said the Hollywood he envisions will make new history, not just evoke the past.

Surrounded by the sparkling stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the area will see more developments built in anticipation of this one, Gubler said.

The Broadway Building, once a department store that closed in the 1970s and then became office space, now houses 90 condos on the southwest corner of Hollywood and Vine.

More condos are planned for the northeast corner inside the old Equitable Building.

On the west side of Vine Street, north of Hollywood Boulevard, a residential and mixed-use development is planned. East of the intersection on Hollywood Boulevard is a project called Boulevard 6200, which will create 1,000 apartments and 150,000 square feet for shopping.

And down the way at Vine Street and Selma Avenue, plans call for a 60,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market topped with 300 apartments.

"These will completely transform and change the entire landscape of the area," Gubler said.

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Hollywood and Vine's big comeback

SOURCE: Daily News research

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist