Hollywood Office Building Probably Delayed Again

1601 Vine Street, designed by Gensler

In what may be the least surprising news ever, the long stalled eight-story office building proposed for 1601 Vine Street has suffered yet another delay.  Unfavorable market conditions have set the project back for years, but this time the culprit is Los Angeles' slow moving bureaucracy.  When the J.H. Snyder Company took over development of 1601 Vine back in July, they agreed to break ground on the project by April 2014.  However, no company will issue title insurance to J.H. Snyder while the conveyance of the property still requires approval from the City's Department of Finance (DOF).  The DOF has indicated that their approval of the transaction would be evident via their approval of CRA/LA's Long Range Property Management Plan.  But therein lies the rub: there is no set timetable regarding when the DOF will complete their review of the plan.  Thus, CRA/LA has extended the groundbreaking deadline until the later of 1) DOF approval of the transaction or 2) December 31, 2014.  After seven years of waiting, what's an extra twelve months on top of that?  At least the mixed-use project across the street still seems to be on track.

• 1601 North Vine Street, Non-Monetary Amendment (CRA/LA)
• 1601 N Vine Street, Assignment of Disposition (CRA/LA)

Kimpton to Develop Hollywood Boutique Hotel

Even with the locals in an uproar over increased traffic, density and earthquake faults, Hollywood's development binge forges on.  The contentious Millennium Hollywood has taken most of the heat, but there are other projects in the works which would provide the Capitol Records Building with tall neighbors.  Documents released by CRA/LA indicate that Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants will be stepping in to re-develop a parcel just north of Hollywood Boulevard into the Argyle Hotel.  The San Francisco based hospitality company is the largest operator of boutique hotels in the United States.  The Argyle Hotel would be their third Los Angeles location, joining Westwood's Hotel Palomar and the Miracle Mile's Hotel Wilshire.

The Argyle Hotel would stand 16-stories, consisting of  225 hotel rooms, 6,000 square feet of meeting space, and 3,000 square feet of restaurant space.  The hotel rooms would sit atop a four-story podium, containing three levels of above-grade parking and a ground floor lobby.  Just in case there wasn't enough parking already, the project would also include a 107 car underground garage.  At some point, Los Angeles based Coe Architecture International drew up designs for the hotel, seen below.  However, it is unclear if these renderings represent the current plans for the project.

All images from Coe Architecture International

Argyle Hotel on the right hand side.  A massing for 6230 Yucca can be seen center left in the image.

Argyle Hotel on the left.  6230 Yucca seen center right.

Don't hold your breath in anticipation, though.  Construction of the Argyle Hotel would first require the demolition of the nondescript five-story office building which currently stands at 1800 Argyle Avenue.  The ongoing effort to map the Hollywood Fault also poses a threat to the Argyle Hotel.  Should the California Geological Survey conclude that the fault line runs underneath 1800 Argyle, Kimpton would most likely be prevented from building on the land.  Neighbors Millennium Hollywood and 6230 Yucca are also stuck in limbo pending the conclusion of the study, expected sometime in 2014.

• Argyle Hotel (CRA/LA)
• Hotel Argyle (Coe Architecture International)