Woo Sees Hollywood as ‘Hot’ Commercial Area

Thanks to real estate and development pressures from the Westside and Glendale/Pasadena, Hollywood is poised to be the next “hot commercial area of Southern California,” according to Los Angeles Councilman Michael Woo, whose 13th District includes Hollywood.

In a breakfast meeting last week at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Woo told 85 developers, real estate brokers and financiers that Hollywood is conveniently located to major population centers, has good public transportation, worldwide name recognition and is ethnically diverse.

The area lacks a regional shopping center, and Woo suggested that developers might consider an internationally-themed mall. “There certainly is a market for a regional center,” he said.

Woo said he plans to do everything he can to make sure the motion picture and television support industries and post-production businesses stay in Hollywood.

“One way to encourage this is to provide modern, convenient space in a specialized industrial park-type development in Hollywood,” Woo said.

In a related matter, the councilman said he is supporting efforts of acting unions to establish affordable housing developments in Hollywood for actors and others in movies and television. Housing could be developed as part of a mixed-used project, he suggested, adding that “we are assisting several interested developers” in projects of this kind.

Woo added that he is particularly interested in projects designed so they encourage pedestrian traffic: “I value this because it encourages the cosmopolitan street life which exists in Hollywood, due to its layout and density.”