Hilton Universal City Construction to Begin in 2023

Expansion of the Hilton Universal City hotel now has a timeline.An environmental study filed with the city of Los Angeles has shed some light on an adjusted construction schedule for the 17-story, 395-suite addition to the Hilton Universal City at 555 Universal Hollywood Drive in Universal City. Construction is expected to start in 2023 with a 2025 wrap-up.“We are in full mode of CEQA Full EIR process. We anticipate both a delay in completion of EIR process as well as construction due to COVID impacts, but remain committed to move forward,” Mark Davis, chief executive Sun Hill Properties Inc., which owns the hotel, told the Business Journal Monday.Developer Sun Hill announced in 2017 that it intended to add 395 new rooms to the 24-story hotel’s existing 495 suites by building the new addition on an adjacent site. The plan also calls for the creation of a parking garage that can accommodate 408 vehicles as well as a restaurant, conference rooms and rooftop pool. Completed in 1983, Universal City Hilton stands adjacent to the Universal Studios theme park and has long benefited from that proximity.The hotel extension, designed by Large Architecture, will scale 230 feet high.Davis added about the timetable: “There is simply too much unknown ahead, navigating through different times. We hope to escalate the schedule; however, these dates are an aggressive ‘hope’ to an unpredictable reality of the times.”