Hollywood Sign Saved: Group Makes Deal To Protect Adjacent Land
Mr. Hole the Magnificent
LOS ANGELES — A nature conservation group said Monday it has reached a
deal that would protect a huge swath of land near the world-famous
Hollywood sign from being developed into luxury homes.
Trust For Public Land president Will Rogers said the group secured an
option to buy the rugged 138-acre parcel known as Cahuenga Peak for
about $12 million from Chicago area-based Fox River Financial
Resources.
The consortium put the land on the market two years ago for some $22
million.
"The real estate meltdown has brought a number of properties that
should never have been developed back onto the market at very
favorable prices," Rogers said.
But, he added, "not everything that we're seeing is as iconic as
Cahuenga Peak, being the backdrop to the Hollywood sign."
Fox River did not answer a call seeking comment. Real estate agent
Ernie Carswell, who had been handling the property, did not return a
message.
The Trust for Public Land has already raised about $6 million. Rogers
says he's confident it can raise the rest before the option expires in
mid-April, although he acknowledged that the same economic forces that
were driving down land prices also made fundraising more difficult.
If it succeeds, the group intends to transfer the land to the city of
Los Angeles, so it can be incorporated into the adjacent 4,200-acre
Griffith Park.
The sage-covered mountaintop property, which begins just beside the
sign's "H" and continues west along the Hollywood Hills' scenic ridge,
was once owned by movie producer and industrialist Howard Hughes. The
property remained undeveloped in the billionaire's trust for decades.
Most hikers and residents assumed the land was part of Griffith Park
until Fox River quietly purchased the peak from Hughes' estate in 2002
and had the property zoned into four palatial home sites.
The new owners pitched the sites to well heeled prospective buyers by
advertising their 360-degree panoramas of the Los Angeles Basin and
the San Fernando Valley.
But city officials and many residents said that building homes on the
peak would ruin one of the city's most famous views.
"The city of Los Angeles wants to acquire this land, not only to
maintain the view of the Hollywood sign, but also to preserve open
space, hiking trails and wildlife corridors for the future health of
our great city," Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose district includes
Cahuenga Peak, said in a statement.
The money already raised for the land's purchase come from city and
state park funds, as well as private donors, including a $1 million
contribution from jeweler Tiffany & Co.'s philanthropic foundation.
"The Hollywood Sign ... cannot be separated from its untrammeled
setting of hiking trails and wildlife corridors," Tiffany chairman and
CEO Michael J. Kowalski said in a statement. "Preserving both means
that future generations may gaze on this parkland and know the
California frontier before freeways and urbanization."
The Trust plans to kick off the final stage of fundraising at a press
conference Thursday in Hollywood, spokesman Tim Ahern said.
The group is seeking permission to cover the Hollywood sign for the
occasion with giant lettering that reads "Save the Peak," he said.
If the group fails to raise the final $6 million before April 14, the
property will go back for sale on the open market.
"There's always a concern when you have a deadline," Rogers said. "I'm
optimistic, but there's always that chance."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/09/hollywood-sign-saved-grou_n_454557.html
jessica_smith_nyc
--
http://www.moviesitearchive.com
On Feb 9, 7:30 pm, "Mr. Hole the Magnificent"
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/09/hollywood-sign-saved-grou_n_...
Invid Fan
<5d5a9430-ebfb-4f70...@e19g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
jessica_smith_nyc <uwalu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Isn't the Hollywood Sign protected by landmark status?
>
But probably just the sign, so there's nothing to prevent you
surrounding it with condos or whatnot.
(landmark status can be a double edged sword: when Shea's Theater in
Buffalo started refurbishing, they found that battered 1960's era items
like carpets could only be replaced by expensive recreations of the
1926 originals)
--
Chris Mack "If we show any weakness, the monsters will get cocky!"
'Invid Fan' - 'Yokai Monsters Along With Ghosts'
Stone me
"Invid Fan" <in...@loclanet.com> wrote in message
news:090220102325053696%in...@loclanet.com...
As usual Wiki has an interesting summary of it's history.
Here is the old picture of the "Hollywoodland" sign.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oldhollywood.jpg
Stone me.