City, Developer Reach Deal on W Hotel

A deal has been reached between a group of local officials and Hollywood business owner Robert Blue to incorporate his Bernard’s Luggage Co. store into the planned Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street development that will feature a W Hotel.
By: DANIEL MILLER: Los Angeles Business Journal Online
City officials said Blue was the last holdout fighting the development.

Blue worked out the deal with Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, and project developers Legacy Partners Inc. and Gatehouse Capital Corp., said Josh Kamensky, spokesman for Garcetti.

“This agreement is the result of a lot of late night meetings,” Kamensky said.

Details of the deal are to be released at a press conference in Hollywood this morning.

The mixed-use project, which will be located south of Hollywood Boulevard between Vine Street and Argyle Avenue, includes the hotel, condos, apartments, and retail space. The price of the project has been estimated at $400 million.

The deal takes place against the backdrop of Proposition 90, which would limit eminent domain to public uses, such as parks, roads and schools. Blue received attention last year when he fought the CRA’s use of eminent domain to clear property for a private developer. Blue’s case has been cited as an example for boosters of the proposition, which is on the November ballot.