Hollywood business people find damage growing; subway work is suspended but cracking, sinkage go on.

Hollywood Boulevard business people have been astonished to find that their buildings have continued to shift, crack and break away from the sidewalk in recent weeks, even though Metro Rail subway tunneling has been on hold for the past four months.

Business and property owners say that, especially since it rained over Thanksgiving weekend, the ground under Hollywood Boulevard has been shifting, causing their buildings to move, sink and crack. Business traffic along the boulevard is dismal, and some business owners are concerned that if tunneling resumes this month on schedule, irreparable damage will follow.

"I'm going to be the first underground coffee shop," declared Doreet Hakman, owner of the Snow White Coffee Shop, where what were hairline cracks in her wooden floors last August have grown into wide crevices.

"The front of the store is sinking. Day by day, it's going down. This used to be even," said Mohammed Shahjahan, manager of Hollywood Leather & Gifts, pointing at the sloping floor in his store, which now dips toward the boulevard.

The sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard east of Highland is tilted on an angle down toward the street, and new cracks separating businesses from the sinking Walk-of-Fame sidewalk are evident in several doorways. Several businesses have laid down floor mats over the cracks in recent days to protect patrons from tripping.

'Everything is moving'

The sidewalk and buildings are higher where businesses have basements and where utility pipes are apparently holding up plates.

"Everything is moving," said Chris Shabel, president of Hollywood Stakeholders. "The boulevard is tipping. There is a noticeable slide, a drop between buildings and down the street."

Hollywood community activist Robert Nudelman speculated that underground rivers, fueled by the recent rain, have shifted additional soil under the boulevard. He blames unstable soil conditions and "bogus" soil studies for the problems caused by tunneling -- rather than inadequate construction materials.

"Nobody in his right mind would build a subway there," said Nudelman.

But Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Steve Chesser said it's "normal" for there to be continued, gradual horizontal shifting following the "rapid settlement" that occurred during tunnel construction in August. However, he said, the separation is slowing and the MTA is continuing to monitor the situation and make repairs.

MTA says slippage slowing

Chesser denied that the shifting has accelerated in recent weeks.

"A limited sideways creep until the land reaches equilibrium is a normal process. The slippage and creeping will decrease over time," Chesser said. "This is continuing, but we think it's slowing down."

He said the only thing that would cause accelerated horizontal slippage would be "another big vertical settlement," which the MTA does not anticipate as a result of resumed tunneling.

Hollywood real estate developer Jerry Schneiderman said he has noticed new cracks in the flooring of his landmark office building at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard, and columns of the building continue to sink.

"It gets worse every day," he said.

Schneiderman, president of the Hollywood Boulevard Property Owners Association, is organizing a group lawsuit against the MTA and its contractors.

Business people, property owners and others affected by Metro Rail construction are expected to file their multi-billion-dollar case in about a month.

Apartment house owner first to sue over Hollywood subway

The first lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its contractors over damage caused by Hollywood Metro Rail construction has been filed by the owners of a historic apartment building.

The owners of the 64-unit Hillview Apartments, at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Hudson Avenue, claim that subway tunneling-caused damage has rendered the building a total loss, and that the structure must be demolished.

The suit was filed Nov. 18 in Los Angeles County Superior Court by the Glendale law firm Laskin & Graham and recently was served on the MTA. This firm also represents the Radisson Wilshire Plaza Hotel in its $20 million case against the MTA, alleging property damage caused by tunneling under Wilshire Boulevard in the Mid-Wilshire area, and the Omega Group, owners of the office building at 3540 Wilshire Boulevard.

Attorney Arnold Graham said he anticipates filing another dozen or so cases against the MTA on behalf of Hollywood property and business owners. He said he does not want to get involved in the larger group lawsuit being organized by attorney Tom Girardi and a Hollywood property owners' coalition because he believes combining cases carries a conflict-of-interest problem.

"Tenants and property owners have competing interests. It probably will be the tenants who get the short end of the stick," said Graham, who also objects to the firm Hill, Farrer and Burrill representing both the owners of Wiltern Center and some of its tenants in their cases against the MTA.

"You can't mass produce justice on constitutional issues. All the property is different," Graham said.

The Hillview lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount of money, but Graham estimated the building's value at between $3 million and $4 million. The building's owners also are seeking punitive damages.

MTA denies responsibility

The MTA last August paid to house displaced tenants of the apartment building at the nearby Holiday Inn after Metro Rail crews ruptured utility lines. MTA spokesman Steve Chesser said the MTA spent $200,000 to upgrade gas lines so the apartment residents could re-enter the property.

However, the MTA has denied responsibility for what the building owners claim is permanent, irreparable structural damage. The MTA last month rejected a damage claim filed by the Hillview Apartments' owners. Chesser said the MTA believes most of the damage to the Hillview Apartments was caused by the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake.

The southern third of the pink stucco building has been closed since the earthquake, but the hotel owners claim it is Metro Rail tunneling over the summer that rendered the entire building a loss.

Subway tunneling in August caused "cracking, pulling apart, separation, subsidence, settling, loss of use, loss of value, and other damage to the subject property," the suit alleges.

The contractors named in the suit are Shea-Kiewit-Kenny, which has the contract to dig and build the Hollywood tunnel section, and construction management firm Parsons-Dillingham.