Details Emerge for Hollywood's Academy Square Development

Image: Kilroy Realty via Curbed LA

Over the summer, developer Kilroy Realty unveiled renderings for Academy Square, a $300 million mixed-use development on Vine Street.  Now, a set of environmental documents released by LADCP has revealed additional details about the project, which would create apartments, ground-floor retail, office space, and possibly hotel rooms on a site once intended for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Academy Square would rise on a full city block, bounded by Vine Street, DeLongpre, Ivar and Homewood Avenues.  Plans for the 3.55-acre site call for a combination of low-rise and high-rise structures, bisected by an landscaped paseo running east-to-west across the property.

A trio of four-story buildings would flank the northern and southern perimeters of the site, containing approximately 280,000 square feet of office, retail and restaurant space.  According to a conceptual ground-floor site plan from the Shimoda Design Group, a significant portion of the proposed commercial space would be devoted to a 40,000-square-foot market at Vine Street and Homewood Avenue.

Academy Square is highlighted by a 23-story apartment building, which would stand at the northwest corner of the property.  The proposed tower would move forward under one of two development programs currently being considered by Kilroy Realty.  Under the first alternative, the building would contain as many as 250 apartments.  Under the second alternative, the project would feature 100 hotel rooms, in lieu of up to 50 fewer residential units.  Both options would include a fitness center, swimming pool and other standard amenities.

Despite its location a few blocks south of Hollywood/Vine Station, Academy Square would feature approximately 1,349 parking spaces, divided accordingly between residential, office and retail tenants.  Vehicular access to an underground garage would be provided via DeLongpre, Ivar and Homewood Avenues.

According to environmental report, construction of the potentially LEED-certified development is expected to last 27 months, starting in late 2015 and ending in early 2018.

Academy Square is the third major investment in Hollywood by Kilroy Realty, which has sought to capitalize on the neighborhood's well documented resurgence.  Most notably, the West Los Angeles-based developer is in the midst of construction on Columbia Square, a 675,000-square-foot mixed-use development on Sunset Boulevard.  The $400 million project is conceptually similar to Academy Square, featuring creative office space, high-end retail, and a luxury apartment tower.

A slew of other projects are also active nearby.  At the southeast corner of Selma Avenue and Vine Street, concrete and rebar now peek above ground for the Camden Hollywood, a 287-unit residential-retail complex.  Across the street, construction is expected to begin soon on 1601 Vine Street, an eight-story office building from the J.H. Snyder Company.

• Kilroy Unveils Deatiled Plans for Lush Urban Complex in Hollywood (Los Angeles Times)
• Initial Study - Academy Square Project (LADCP)