Beverly Hills renames industrial zone to attract media business.An industrial zone in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. ? That's right, for decades, the city with glitzy glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. retail shops on Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive (IPA: /roʊˈdeɪoʊ/) generally refers to a famous three-block long stretch of boutiques and shops in Beverly Hills, California, United States, although the street stretches further north and south. and gleaming office towers along Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for H. Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. also has had an industrial district. But the 43-acre zone just east of City Hall has never really been a true industrial area. At one time, it may have had a few light-industrial companies; today, it's mostly a hodge-podge of entertainment-related office tenants and city-owned facilities. AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. , a division of Time Warner Inc. has offices there, as does News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment. And now, the industrial zone designation itself is history. With major portions of the zone now empty or slated for redevelopment, city officials want to attract more hip entertainment and new media companies. They have renamed it the "entertainment business district." "It's an edgy area that we think might appeal to entertainment-related businesses, and that's where we want to target the new private development," Deputy City Manager David Lightner said in a press briefing last week called to draw attention to the name change for the often-overlooked area. One big selling point: the lease rates are likely to be cheaper than they are at more visible, prime locations within the city's "Golden Triangle" or along Wilshire Boulevard. Tucked away between City Hall on the west, Santa Monica Boulevard on the north, Maple Drive on the east and Third Street on the south, the "former industrial area" is now in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of sweeping changes. A trash transfer station and city-owned warehouse facilities were heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and have been torn down, leaving several acres of open space immediately across from City Hall. On the eastern side, city officials have put out a long-term plan to replace property uses such as city storage yards with higher revenue generators, including Class A office space with ground floor restaurants and retail. Plans also call for changing the city's general plan to raise height limits from the current 45 feet to 75 feet. That would provide enough space so that major entertainment firms won't have to leave the city once they outgrow outgrow verb To change the relationship with a condition or structure by dint of ↑ age or size; while children outgrow clothing, and certain behaviors, they rarely outgrow diseases–eg, asthma their current offices, as the Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is a talent and literary agency which represents a vast array of actors, musicians, writers, directors, and athletes, as well as a variety of companies and their products. did a couple years back. The big catch in all these plans? As usual for development on the Westside, it's traffic. The area is bounded by residents on three sides who likely won't want cars going through their neighborhoods to and from any trendy spots or employment centers. As such, preliminary plans call for improved access on streets within the district, but with barriers so that cars won't go into adjoining residential neighborhoods. By HOWARD FINE Staff Reporter |
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