Hollywood Site Targeted for Large Music-Themed Project
Seizing on the hype and momentum of a still-unfolding Hollywood comeback, a Century City musical production company is planning to build a $60 million shopping, dining and entertainment attraction directly across Highland Avenue from TrizecHahn Corp.’s massive Hollywood & Highland project.
Dubbed Musitopia, the project is designed to be a 160,000-square-foot music-themed development with restaurants, retail shops, recording studios and entertainment venues that would complement the Hollywood & Highland behemoth and play off L.A.’s role as a foundation of rock ‘n’ roll heritage.
“The most important thing that really solidified it is that Hollywood doesn’t have a real music attraction,” said Barry Summers, president of DBS Entertainment and mastermind of Musitopia.
The company is assembling property along the east side of Highland Avenue between Hollywood Boulevard and Yucca Street. Two of the three parcels that comprise the targeted project site are already in escrow.
The project is a departure for DBS Entertainment, which Summers said has produced live musical revues for the likes of Dick Clark Productions Inc., Harveys Resort Casino in Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and Donald Trump.
Summers said he plans to turn over the project to a developer to build and bring in a management team to program and operate Musitopia, though he said he would play a primary role in programming the space. Summers and DBS vice president for development David Schwarcz will have an ongoing role as investors.
Schwarcz and Summers declined to disclose the names of other members of the investment group that will help underwrite the project, but they said the roster of financial partners will feature music industry celebrities. They also promised that industry personalities would use their celebrity to assist in promoting and programming the development.
DBS has not yet come to terms with the owner of the third parcel comprising the proposed project site. That parcel is owned by a Burger King franchisee, whose fast-food outlet now operates on the site.
“We have to approach Burger King (franchise owner) and negotiate that piece of land and property and figure out what kind of deal we can work out,” Summers said. “My understanding is they’re open to seeing something new happen in that area.”
The Burger King franchise owner was unaware of Summers’ proposal and wouldn’t speculate about the franchise’s potential role.
Project timetable
If a deal can’t be put together for the Burger King site, Musitopia would still move forward, Summers vowed. Phase one of the project would go up around the restaurant, he said. A second phase, which would involve 50,000 square feet fronting on Yucca, might feature a specialty hotel with a music theme and would go up after the main Musitopia complex opens.
Schwarcz estimated that the entitlement process would take 18 to 24 months to complete and construction would take another 12 months.
DBS has already secured a letter of intent from a tenant interested in leasing 22,000 square feet of space at the project. That tenant is Old Glory Inc., a Westbrook, Conn., dealer of licensed music merchandise. No other deals are in place, though Summers said there is “strong interest” from a number of other retail and restaurant tenants, as well as entertainment venue operators. If all deals came through, they would account for 75 percent of the space, he said.
Old Glory President and CEO Glenn Morelli said Musitopia would further his company’s efforts to expand its national presence.
“We’re looking to put up our signature store,” Morelli said.
Just as Hollywood & Highland intends to host movie premieres, awards ceremonies and celebrity functions, DBS expects to provide a venue for record release events, in-store autograph sessions, press conferences and live performances. There are plans for a 360-degree club venue that would allow patrons to look on through glass separations and video screens as recording artists lay down tracks for real records.
Envisioned tenant mix
In addition to Old Glory, Summers said, tenant deals are being pursued with record stores and retailers of musical instruments. Still, the development would not compete with local music stores, such as Guitar Center on Hollywood Boulevard, where serious and professional musicians turn out for a new axe or professional attention.
“We are about creating a music entertainment experience for the average person, not just someone interested in buying a musical instrument,” Summers said. “A majority will be marketed to tourists.”
While the Hollywood proposal is new for DBS, Musitopia is not a new concept. Summers said the concept has been around in much larger form since 1993. DBS wanted to build an $80 million, 500,000-square-foot Musitopia project in Atlantic City, N.J., but couldn’t get the necessary clearance to use Atlantic City Convention Hall. So, DBS shopped the concept to Las Vegas in 1998, but never found the right property on which to build.
Schwarcz and Summers decided to scale back the project and found what they consider the perfect site in Hollywood.
Kerry Morrison, executive director of the Hollywood Entertainment District Property Owners Association, said she was not aware of the plans for Musitopia, but that many plans have been made over the years for the property that DBS is targeting. She cautioned that any development should take into account the need for hotel space in Hollywood and must include parking, particularly since the project would be built over what is now surface parking. Summers said the proposed project calls for three levels of underground parking.
While themed developments have been successfully executed by the Walt Disney Co. and Universal Studios, theme restaurants have struggled and, in many cases, have failed in recent years.
Summers is not concerned. With TrizecHahn’s $615 million Hollywood & Highland as a neighbor and plenty of other redevelopment activity around the neighborhood, Summers is convinced the time is right.
Russ Joyner, vice president and general manager of Hollywood & Highland, conceded that Musitopia could present some competition, but added it could just as well complement TrizecHahn’s movie-themed project and that it would definitely broaden the overall Hollywood experience. Joyner said he and TrizecHahn recognize that Hollywood & Highland cannot bring back Hollywood by itself.
“I think music is a symbiotic opportunity,” Joyner said. “It would be good business sense for us to look for ways to cross-promote and brand the area.”
In the end, Schwarcz and Summers hope Musitopia becomes a nationally recognized brand. They already have plans to build Musitopias in Chicago, New York and Orlando.
