NORTH HOLLYWOOD TRANSIT-ORIENTED DISTRICT PLAN

North Hollywood, CA: 199_

Sponsored by the L.A. Department of City Planning and Community Redevelopment Agency, as well as the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, this project was executed to serve as a case study to illustrate how to build higher density, pedestrian-oriented, mixed use communities within a 1/4 mile radius of the stations belonging to L.A.’s nascent subway system. The site in this case is centered on the intersection of Lankershim and Chandler Boulevards in North Hollywood, the northern terminus of the Metro Redline, which extends from downtown Los Angeles into the San Fernando Valley, and from which connections to bus transportation to points throughout the wider region may be made. The area is populated by a high concentration of post-production houses for the film and music industry and small (equity waiver) theatres. Once a vibrant commercial corridor, Lankershim suffered near-total devastation of its one and two-storey retail/commercial frontage during the 1994 Northridge quake, which left the boulevard blighted and absent of significant commercial activity.

The programming of the site is predicated upon a scenario that envisions the subway station’s future role as the main distribution and transfer point for commuters throughout the Valley who will take the train into and out of downtown L.A., especially on their way home in the evening. The proposed mixture of land uses capitalizes upon the existing entertainment orientation of the area, showcasing that talent in order to entice commuters exiting the station in the evening to window shop galleries and take in a performance prior to transferring to a bus or car. For many of the same reasons, the plan also anticipates that entertainment companies seeking less expensive office space nearby their post-production facilities would also provide a steady source of daytime patronage for local businesses. Called for is over 700,000 sf of new commercial/production space; 92,000 sf of additional retail (primarily along Lankershim); the relocation of the nearly 30 equity waiver theatres (2,700 seats) in the area to the Lankershim corridor, offering them more collective visibility; 73 new single family and artist's live/work dwellings; 2,400 new public parking spaces. Over 650,000 sf of pedestrian-oriented open space is also newly provided, including a farmer's/antique/flea market, and regional recreation/greenway (occupying the former Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way). RSAUD conducted extensive interviews with and in-progress presentations throughout the programming and planning process to community leaders and City and County agency staff.

The multifaceted land use program led to a flexible design approach which employs five constituent tactics rather than a single overall site strategy. The first of these is the conversion of the former Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way that runs east-west thru the project area into an undulating linear park. The second consists of a constellation of four mid-rise (12-story) office buildings suited to house entertainment industry interest in the area. A third proposes the insertion of a series of long mixed-use “sheds” which plug into the gaps in Lankershim’s westside frontage. These accommodate commercial (post)production space and art galleries at the ground level, open parking on the second floor and double-height artists' live/work spaces above. Lankershim's east side frontage, meanwhile, would be reconstituted with two-storey commercial infill, occasionally broken by passages leading to a series of triangular pedestrian-oriented spaces made of the formerly back alleys (the fourth design tactic). Along the north side of each of these passages is one of the numerous small theatres called for to be relocated along the east side of Lankershim. The triangular “backlots” would be defined on their eastern edges by public parking structures. Along their north faces are larger theatres, whose stages open to the outside for performances to a wider urban audience. Finally, the fifth “mini-plan”, in an effort to tie the existing lower-income Latino neighborhood north of the station in to the area’s revitalization, extends one of that neighborhood’s streets southward to join the pedestrian backlot network.

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