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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Sportsmen’s Lodge Awaits Renovation

Plans to raze Studio City’s iconic Sportsmen’s Lodge event center and build an upscale outdoor shopping mall on the property are officially underway after years of strained negotiations. The owner, New York-based real estate firm Midwood Investment and Development, shared plans for the development of The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge, a $100 million project that will bring 94,000 square feet of retail, dining, fitness and communal space to the property. The project is co-developed by Malibu developer Richard Weintraub. Midwood has already signed two anchor tenants for the center: specialty grocery store Erewhon will take 11,000 square feet, while fitness center Equinox will fill a 30,000-square-foot club setting that includes a member lounge, spa, café and athleisure shop. The center will house an estimated 23 stores. Additionally, the existing parking lot will be expanded to more than 450 spaces and moved to the edge of the property so as to not disturb the center’s outdoorsy aesthetic. Architectural firm Gensler and outdoor landscaping firm Olin are behind the center’s design, which will leverage the property’s parklike feel by retaining its landscaped pond and woodsy patches and adding access to the Los Angeles River. Groundbreaking is scheduled to commence in August, with an estimated opening set for fall 2020. The adjacent Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel, the construction of which was financed by Midwood in 1962, will remain open during the project’s development. “The redevelopment of The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge marks an important milestone for our firm and Studio City,” said John Usdan, Midwood’s chief executive, in a statement. “We are looking forward to making it a central gathering place for the community and provider of amenities for those who live and work in the area.” Sportsmen’s Lodge on Ventura Boulevard was founded in the late 1930s as a roadside trout fishing attraction and evolved over time into a social events center popular for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and business functions. It’s redevelopment into a mall has been on the table for years. Developer Weintraub, who owned the events center until 2017, first planned to turn the property into a shopping center called Sportsmen’s Landing. His plans were approved by the South Valley Area Planning Commission in 2015 but never moved forward due to legal disputes between Weintraub and Midwood, which owned land under the hotel. The issue was resolved two years later when Midwood purchased the entire property. Weintraub remained as a partner, and Midwood commenced with its plans for The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge. Last October, Midwood’s preliminary landscaping designs for the retail center were stymied by the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission, which felt the project was not made in the original spirit of the Sportsmen’s Lodge. Midwood quickly developed new plans based on the commission’s recommendations. These were approved in November. The Sportsmen’s Lodge events center was extensively damaged by an electrical fire in January and is currently non-operational, but a spokesperson said the fire had no material affect on the redevelopment plans.

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