North Hollywood's blighted Valley Plaza approved for demolition

Los Angeles Times

6 hours ago

Valley Plaza in North Hollywood — once a centerpiece of 1950s commerce that drew John F. Kennedy — has descended into a swath of blight over the years, a collection of neglected buildings and empty parking lots that draw squatters and TV producers in need of an apocalyptic-looking settings.
On Tuesday, a panel of Los Angeles city commissioners appointed by Mayor Karen Bass voted to declare a swath of Valley Plaza a public nuisance after a hearing that drew neighbors who complain about decrepit conditions and crime at the site at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Victory Boulevard.
The commissioners' vote paves the way for demolition of six buildings in the plaza and ends a long-suffering chapter of commercial neglect in the San Fernando Valley.
While the demolition won't solve the greater problem of retail closings in Los Angeles — where neighborhoods grapple with empty storefronts and shuttered restaurants— local leaders are hopeful that another developer or retailer will take over the site.
The empty structures of Valley Plaza created a burden on the city's police and fire departments, who continually respond to calls, said City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian at a Building and Safety Department Commission hearing on the site Tuesday.
Just before he spoke, an unresponsive individual was found in one of the buildings, said Nazarian, whose eastern San Fernando Valley district includes North Hollywood.
'The people of North Hollywood have waited too long, enough is enough,' said Nazarian.
Fred Gaines, an attorney for the owner Charles Company blamed the city, telling the commissioners that his client sought demolition permits.
The developer has been unable to demolish the mall because replacement plans need to be approved first by the city. An inspector for the department countered the developer hadn't fully completed the application.
'We are ready, willing and able to go forward and demolish these buildings,' Gaines told the commissioners.
One of the San Fernando Valley's oldest outdoor shopping malls, Valley Plaza opened in the early 1950s and quickly become an successful retail site. Then-Massachusetts Senator Kennedy included the area on his itinerary during his 1960 presidential campaign.
In 1961, the Valley Plaza Tower was among the first skyscrapers built in L.A. following the 1957 repeal of a 150-foot building height limit, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. The tower is occupied today by Wells Fargo and not among the sites declared a nuisance under Tuesday's vote.
Economic fallout from the 1990s recession and 1994 Northridge earthquake, as well as competition from more modern shopping centers, helped end Valley Plaza's run.
During his 2012 run for president, Republican nominee Mitt Romney held a news conference on a dusty parking lot in front of derelict buildings and tried to link Valley Plaza's decline to President Obama's economic policies.
The mall's Sears, a staple in the neighborhood, closed in early 2020.
Jennifer Clark, who lives in the area, said the site has been an eyesore since she moved to North Hollywood 24 years ago.
Today, that the site is used as a filming locations for scenes needing a backdrop of dilapidated buildings, or a dystopian future, she said.
'Unfortunately, these fictional stories are our reality,' said Clark.
Suzanne Stinson, a homeowner who lives three blocks away, said she feared that a fire would be set on the property during the Santa Ana wind season.
'I do not wish my neighborhood to become the next Altadena or Pacific Palisades by burning to the ground,' said Stinson, who urged the structures to be demolished.
Charles Company, a real estate and development firm, is owned by Mark and Arman Gabaee. Arman Gabaee was sentenced in 2022 to four years in federal prison in what prosecutors described as one of the biggest corruption cases in L.A. history.
From 2010 to 2017, Arman Gabaee made monthly $1,000 payoffs to a L.A. county official in return for county leases, attractive rental terms, and nonpublic information. He also offered to buy the official, Thomas J. Shepos, a $1-million home in return for the county spending $45 million to lease office space at a Gabaee property in Hawthorne.
Gaines, the attorney for Charles Company, told the commission on Tuesday blamed problems at the site on a nearby homeless encampment behind the parking lot.
He said a national tenant, who he didn't name, visited the site but refused to sign a lease because of the encampment. The tenant said, 'Until this is cleaned up, we're not interested,' said Gaines.
Nazarian said that he hopes to see residential housing and retail built on the site, calling it a 'phenomenal location' for investment that is close to two freeways.
'We need retail business,' said Nazarian at a news conference before Tuesday's commission vote. 'This area lost a lot of retail taxes over the course of the last 30 years because all the residents would go to Burbank or elsewhere to shop.'
Nazarian blamed owner Charles Company for neglecting the site, describing Valley Plaza as a 'once-blossoming' corner of the San Fernando Valley.
'They don't care about the property,' said Nazarian.