BURBANK STANDS BY ITS BUD : A CITY ONCE THE BUTT OF JOKES NOW PROSPERS UNDER MANAGER OVROM.Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer To Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom, a proposal to build a new retail complex on 103 acres of old Lockheed land doesn't make sense. Vestar Development wants to build 24 new movie screens, but there are already 22 screens at the Media City Mall City Mall is a shopping mall located in Eroii Revolutiei square, Bucharest, Romania. The City Mall include:
``What the hell are we going to do with 50 movie theaters less than two miles apart?'' Ovrom rants. Wait a minute. Is this the same Bud Ovrom who once talked the Burbank City Council into giving $69 million to a developer to build a mall downtown, the same man who took out trade magazine ads in a shameless shame·less adj. 1. Feeling no shame; impervious to disgrace. 2. Marked by a lack of shame: a shameless lie. attempt to steal studios from Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , the one who was nearly fired two years ago for being too generous with developers? The name is the same, but the times have changed. ``We're not at all desperate. We don't have to take the first thing that comes along,'' Ovrom said. ``We'd rather see the whole project collapse than work with the wrong development.'' Ovrom's attitude toward Vestar is a 180-degree turnabout from the wheeling and dealing wheeling and dealing Noun shrewd and sometimes unscrupulous moves made in order to advance one's own interests wheeler-dealer n he's done in the past to get businesses to come to town. ``Ten years ago, we'd take anything,'' he said. For when Ovrom reported for his first day of work in 1986, it was still ``beautiful downtown Burbank,'' with city leaders cringing cringe intr.v. cringed, cring·ing, cring·es 1. To shrink back, as in fear; cower. 2. To behave in a servile way; fawn. n. An act or instance of cringing. every time Johnny Carson
flood tide, flood of residential activism that was decidedly anti-expansion. But today Burbank is on top of the world from a business standpoint. The office vacancy rate in the Media District is near zero, with entertainment companies clamoring for space near Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) ., Disney and NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. . The city has added some 1 million square feet of retail in the last 10 years, boosting its sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. revenue by 33 percent. Just seven years after Lockheed left town and moved to Georgia, Burbank is recognized nationally as the city that has bounced back most robustly from aerospace losses. Revitalizing downtown At the center of all this is Ovrom, the city's lead salesman. He's earned a reputation as an economic development shark of sorts, embarking on schemes to get entertainment firms and retailers to move to ``beautiful downtown Burbank.'' ``I think Bud is a masterful city manager. He's a good behind-the-scenes orchestrator or·ches·trate tr.v. or·ches·trat·ed, or·ches·trat·ing, or·ches·trates 1. To compose or arrange (music) for performance by an orchestra. 2. ,'' said development consultant Larry Kosmont, who was Burbank's redevelopment director when Ovrom first arrived in the city. ``Bud is an aggressive guy, but he does it in a gentlemanly way.'' Ovrom's first marching order Noun 1. marching order - equipage for marching; "the company was dressed in full marching order" equipage, materiel - equipment and supplies of a military force from the council was to transform a 40-acre vacant lot in downtown Burbank into a bustling retail center. ``It had sat there as a dust bowl for 10 years,'' Ovrom said. ``I came here and I thought what in the hell are they thinking? How can they expect me to build a shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into five miles away from the Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large 3 story regional shopping mall located in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. It is the second largest mall in Los Angeles County. It is located in Downtown Glendale. ?'' After several false starts, the Media City Mall opened in 1991. ``When you did economic development studies, everyone said Burbank cannot be viable from a retail standpoint,'' Ovrom said. ``I always thought it was a scary proposition.'' City officials took heat for investing $69.2 million in the mall with the expectation of being repaid once the retail center became profitable. But because the mall hadn't turned a profit by 1994, the city agreed to accept a $10 million payoff from mall developer Alexander Haagen and forgive the rest of the loan. Ovrom defends the city's deal, saying it was the only way to get retailers and other businesses to come to the city. ``Downtown urban renewal is tough. It was very expensive,'' Ovrom said. ``It's tougher than going to a cow pasture in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. and starting from scratch. But once you get the snowball rolling it takes off.'' The mall has struggled, opening in 1991 just as the recession hit, but Ovrom said it's slowly finding its footing. A steady stream of new stores and restaurant have come in and around the mall. Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse Famous character of Walt Disney's animated cartoons. He was introduced in Steamboat Willie (1928), the first animated cartoon with sound. Mickey was created by Disney, who also provided his high-pitched voice, and was usually drawn by the studio's head animator, replaces jets While Burbank has struggled to establish itself in the retail arena, the expansion of the entertainment industry has largely made up for Lockheed's departure. Disney, Warner Bros. and NBC are currently undertaking major expansion projects. Each studio made its proposal in line with the requirements of a document called the Media District Specific Plan, which was designed to make peace between residents and businesses. While many residents don't believe the plan goes far enough to protect their neighborhoods, it gave them an active role in the studio expansion process. ``Once that passed, everybody knew the ground rules. Before that it was almost open warfare between the developers and residents,'' said T.J. Baptie, vice president of corporate affairs at Disney. ``There was a point we thought we might have to move. We had to grow.'' Baptie credits Ovrom and his staff for getting all the players in the same room. ``He got businesses and residents and the city all talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to each other,'' Baptie said. NBC announced its expansion plan last summer. Just eight months later, its proposal will go before the City Council for approval Tuesday. ``You didn't have thousands of people opposing (the studios). We really have had relative peace in our time between the studios and the neighborhoods,'' Ovrom said. Shark hunts for studios The speed with which the Burbank studios have been able to get their plans approved is worlds apart from the approval process 20th Century Fox has faced in Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. and Los Angeles. ``In the Fox expansion they spent five years bogged down in a neighborhood dispute. Los Angeles just can't get things done,'' Ovrom said. Ovrom would be happy to help Fox. In fact, he gained a reputation as a poacher because of his blatant attempt to get Fox to abandon its expansion plan and move to Burbank. He sent memos to studio chiefs headlined ``Burbank is Better,'' and took out a full-page ad in Variety to woo the studio. ``We're not at all bashful bash·ful adj. 1. Shy, self-conscious, and awkward in the presence of others. See Synonyms at shy1. 2. Characterized by, showing, or resulting from shyness, self-consciousness, or awkwardness. ,'' Ovrom said. These days he has his sights set on DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch) SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios) SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code) SKG Smith and Kraus Global , which is struggling to get its proposed campus built in the Playa playa or pan or flat or dry lake Flat-bottomed depression that is periodically covered by water. Playas occur in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts in arid and semiarid regions. Vista section of Los Angeles. Ovrom freely admits he's still stalking the fledgling entertainment company, hoping to snap up another high-profile studio for Burbank. ``Do we still have a chance, probably not,'' Ovrom said. ``But you still have to play your hand.'' Disney's Baptie said Ovrom sets himself apart because he is easy to get on the phone and is honest. ``You may not get the answer you want from him, but he doesn't beat around the bush,'' Baptie said. ``There's nothing worse than getting flipped around.'' Balancing the needs of economic development and residents' concerns about increasing growth has been the biggest challenge in Burbank, Ovrom said. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the city's battle with Burbank Airport over its expansion. While the airport has been one of the strongest selling points to businesses considering a move to Burbank, Ovrom is against the airport's proposal to more than triple the size of its terminal. On this issue he's clearly sided with residents, who are irate i·rate adj. 1. Extremely angry; enraged. See Synonyms at angry. 2. Characterized or occasioned by anger: an irate phone call. about jet noise, pollution and traffic, and the City Council, which is involved in litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. to stop the expansion. Lockheed leaves The entertainment boom which is expected to bring tens of thousands of new jobs to Burbank over the next 20 years has softened the blow of the city's aerospace losses. Just as the downtown mall The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia is one of the longest pedestrian malls in the United States. Located on Main Street, it runs between 2nd and 5th Streets. It is laid entirely with brick and home to an array of restaurants, shops, offices and art galleries. was being completed, Lockheed, the city's largest employer, announced it was moving to Georgia. In the end, the city lost 14,000 jobs and 5 million square feet of industrial space was demolished. ``You don't live in this town and not have a friend, a neighbor or a family member who didn't lose their job,'' Ovrom said. ``Peace broke out. Nobody needed these fire jets anymore. Damn peace.'' Ovrom and city officials launched an aggressive plan to find new owners for the Lockheed properties. ``Part of me said, `This a tremendous opportunity.' It's 350 acres of vacant land in the middle of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. ,'' Ovrom said. There were several proposals bandied about. Burbank would build a sports arena with Warner Bros. The Kings and Clippers would play there. Madonna would play opening night. But the arena never panned out. Vestar is negotiating to buy the land but Ovrom and council members want to see more office-commercial uses as opposed to the mostly retail proposal Vestar has on the table. Ovrom said despite his problems with Vestar's current proposal, he is certain the city and the company will be able to work out a compromise. `Black Sunday' Despite his role in Burbank's business successes in the early 1990s, Ovrom almost lost his job in 1995. Councilman Bob Kramer had just been elected and at his very first council meeting made the motion to discuss canning Ovrom. Elected on a wave of support of residents sick of development and airport noise, Kramer targeted Ovrom as the culprit. A closed-door meeting was scheduled one weekend morning to consider Ovrom's future. It's referred to in city lore as ``Black Sunday.'' ``It was in one sense one of the worst days of my life,'' Ovrom said. But he was heartened when some 200 people showed up to support him, wearing rosebuds and pins that said ``We love Bud.'' After an eight-hour meeting with the council, in which he defended the city's aggressive and sometimes expensive redevelopment strategies, Ovrom emerged with a second chance. Today, Kramer is an ally. That's because Black Sunday brought Ovrom in line with the thinking of the new council, Kramer said. ``No matter which way the council has swung I have been able to maintain a middle-of-the-road course,'' Ovrom said. As for Carson's old ``beautiful downtown Burbank'' joke, Ovrom admits it added to the pressure he and redevelopment staffers were under to build the new mall, but there is a bright side. ``It offended a lot of people in town, but I always thought it was good,'' Ovrom said. ``It was name recognition. Burbank has name recognition way out of proportion to its size. We got the last laugh.'' CAPTION(S): 3 Photos, Chart, Box Photo: (1--Color) Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom, left, walks with city officials Mary Alvord and Bob Tague as they scout a new park site. (2--Color) Bud Ovrom (3) Since he started in 1986, City Manager Bud Ovrom has worked to energize en·er·gize v. en·er·gized, en·er·giz·ing, en·er·giz·es v.tr. 1. To give energy to; activate or invigorate: "His childhood Burbank, which is now home to several entertainment giants. John McCoy/Daily News Chart: (Color) SALES TAX REVENUE (Burbank) Daily News Box: (Color) BURBANK'S ECONOMIC PICTURE Top 10 sales tax producers Top 10 employers Daily News |
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