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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Snyder Ready to Begin Final Phase of NoHo Commons

The third and final phase of the $375 million NoHo Commons project from developer J.H. Snyder Company was ceremonially launched March 24, breaking ground for the coming Laemmle movie theater, a Class A office complex and the refurbished Phil’s Diner. The $79.4 million final phase of the project sits on nearly three acres bounded by Lankershim Boulevard and Weddington Street and is a joint project with the Community Redevelopment District/L.A. Jerry Snyder, the developer’s senior partner, said they will be filing for permits this week and expect to begin construction in about 90 days. The parking and office complex will start first upon an estimated 15-month timeline. The seven-screen movie house is planned to have a seven-month construction plan, geared to open by Thanksgiving in 2009; or missing that intense movie-going period, it will be set to open by the following summer, officials said. Present to promote the ground-breaking were Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Tom LaBonge, Laemmle Theaters owner Bob Laemmle and Snyder, in addition to CRA/LA officials Cecilia V. Estolano and Bruce Ackerman. Estolano, the CRA/LA chief executive officer, celebrated the project’s “sustainable urbanism” with its entertainment anchor. The mayor spoke with enthusiasm about the mix of offices, the diner and the art-house nature of the theater chain. “Laemmle is a coveted treasure that most cities would give an arm and a leg to have and we did,” Villaraigosa said. As part of the financing agreement, the CRA provided the site to the developer for $1, and will refund $3 million in land acquisition payments. The CRA will also pay the company $4.2 million to provide public parking for 45 years. The project also includes a One Stop Employment Center to be run by the L.A. Valley College Job Coalition. The J.H. Snyder Company is donating $1.5 million to the Valley College Family Resource Center to train child care professionals and $3.25 million to Valley Community Clinic to upgrade their clinical space. Specifics of the third phase include 182,000 square feet of office building with 10,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space; 30,000 square feet of movie complex and a 700-space parking garage. The 1920s-era Phil’s Diner will be relocated from its previous location at Chandler Boulevard onto the project site. The landmark’s original neon sign, now missing, will be recreated. The diner was designed by Charles Amend in the classic, railroad car style.

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