82.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Hotel Developer Doubles Down

Sagar Kumar was recognized as a pioneer five years ago, when his PNK Group constructed a boutique hotel on Ventura Boulevard near the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. It was across from the 101 Freeway and the first in the area: a busy and not particularly attractive stretch of the thoroughfare. But business travelers and tourists alike have been attracted to his 58-room BLVD Hotel + Spa at 10730 Ventura Blvd., which he said boasts occupancy rates near 90 percent year-round. And the property’s success – combined with the improving economy – has sparked a rash of boutique hotel developments and remodels in North Hollywood, from The Garland at 4222 Vineland Ave. to the recently announced Burbank Hotel, in the 11100 block of Burbank Boulevard. Now, the Hollywood-based hotel developer thinks there is room for yet another and wants to build a stylish, $4.5 million boutique hotel adjacent to the BLVD – and in the process close a chapter on a 13-year-old family tragedy tied to the property. The plans for LIVE by BLVD, a 46-room boutique at 10740 Ventura Blvd., were unanimously approved last month at a hearing of the South Valley Area Planning Commission. The project won widespread support from neighbors eager to see it replace an aging motor court that has become an eyesore on the corner of Ventura and Fruitland Drive. The 26,383-square-foot hotel will rise four stories over a basement parking garage with 74 parking spaces and 16 bicycle stalls. Plans call for a 1,840-square-foot, ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop pool and bar. “We wanted a more modern spin,” Kumar said. “We included kitchenettes in 22 rooms and put the bar and pool on the roof. There’s a high demand for a restaurant at the BLVD, so we know this one will do well.” The new property will cater to the same kinds of visitors who stay at BLVD: Families vacationing at the expanding Universal theme park and corporate travelers in town to do business at NBCUniversal and the other nearby media companies and movie studios, Kumar said. Dark history Now that approval has been granted, PNK’s first order of business will be obtaining a permit to demolish the 75-year-old Universal Inn, a 17-room motor court that currently occupies the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Fruitland Drive. But Kumar’s eagerness to bulldoze the old motor court is not all about business: The 11,900-square-foot property was at the heart of a devastating rivalry that resulted in tragedy for his family. Beginning in the mid-1990s, his aunt and uncle operated an older motel on the property where he now operates the BLVD. They became embroiled in a dispute with the family that operated the adjacent motor court over who legally controlled the alley that ran between the two businesses. On May 4, 2002, the then-owner of the motor court, Pravin Govin, and his brother, Virendra Govin, went to the Kumars’ Hollywood Hills home and beat and strangled to death his aunt Gita Kumar, her two teenaged children and her mother-in-law, then burned down their house. In 2004, the Govin brothers were convicted of the quadruple murders and sentenced to death; they are currently on death row appealing their convictions. The Kumar family obtained the motor court, then valued at $1.3 million, in a wrongful death lawsuit in 2006, Sagar Kumar said. They have leased the property to a motel operator who has run the business ever since, but the lease will be terminated this year and the buildings demolished later this year or early next. Kumar, who was in his early 20s when the crimes took place, dislikes talking about the tragedy and said he has tried to move past the murders. But he said that he follows the Govin brothers’ legal appeals and admits demolishing the old motor court will bring some relief. “I don’t think we’ll ever have closure, but it will be good to see it finally gone,” he said. Niche market Greg Jackson, a principal at Jackson & Jackson Consulting, has worked with Kumar on the project. He said the aging motel “has long outlived its lifespan, with a clientele that does not please many people.” Kumar is more blunt, calling the property a “junky, crappy old motel” and said he has occasionally been notified by police about crime problems on the site. Bruce Baltin, senior vice president at PKF Hospitality Research in Los Angeles, said that despite the rush to bring new hotels online in the area, there’s no immediate danger of a glut that would lead to Valley hotel rooms sitting empty. “Universal is adding new attractions and the entertainment industry is still doing well, which brings people in,” he said. Like L.A. County as a whole, hotel occupancy rates in the San Fernando Valley this year are running around 78 percent, which tops the current nationwide average occupancy rate of 64 percent, Baltin said. Boutique hotels are increasingly popular with developers because they are cheaper to entitle and build, and it is easier to find the limited acreage needed to develop them in a region as densely developed as the San Fernando Valley, he explained. “They tend to be design-centric and focused, so you can target a very specific niche,” which is a plus when it comes time to marketing the properties to tourists and business travelers. The emphasis on design can be clearly seen in LIVE by BLVD’s architectural renderings, which were done by Irvine architect Nikhil Kamat, founding principal of nKLOSURES, who also designed the Burbank Hotel. The building’s modern façade will be broken into multiple planes to emphasize both the horizontal and vertical aspects of the structure. “The project incorporates multiple finishes including glass, metal panels and smooth plaster. The design provides for an active street, adding functions like the restaurant and lobby at grade level to connect with pedestrians,” Kamat said. He added that his design was meant to tie in to Kumar’s existing hotel property, while still protecting the privacy of adjacent homeowners. “We put the public spaces, like the restaurant and rooftop pool, facing Ventura Blvd. and away from the neighboring residences,” Kamat said. Kumar was proud when neighbors and a representative of L.A. City Councilman Paul Krekorian spoke in support of his new hotel at the planning commission hearing. And he noted a small but significant footnote to its ruling in favor of his development plan: The commission voted to vacate the alleyway that had been at the heart of the property dispute that turned deadly in 2002. He will now own the strip of land. “The whole reason why they killed my family is because of that alley,” he said.

Featured Articles

Related Articles