Hollywood paves way for downtown office building
Eager to see construction cranes back downtown, Hollywood officials said yes to a developer’s long-running plans for a $10 million mid-rise office building that would sit just west of Young Circle.
“I absolutely don’t want to stop any development that will bring foot traffic downtown,” Commissioner Linda Sherwood said. “We’ve got to bring people downtown.”
Commissioners, sitting as the board for Hollywood’s Community Redevelopment Agency, gave final approval to the project Wednesday in a 4-3 vote.
Developer Steve Berman plans to break ground early next year on the four-story Class A office building at 1895 Tyler St.
The building will include up to 200 parking spaces that can be used by downtown visitors at night and during the weekends, said Robin Robins, leasing director for Berman’s FIRM Realty.
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Earlier plans called for a six-story building, but market forces required the scaling back of the project, Robins said.
Tenants would likely include a bank and “another large user I can’t talk about yet,” she said.
Commissioners Patricia Asseff, Peter Hernandez and Traci Callari voted against the project, citing reservations about the size and the look of the building.
“I don’t think anyone up here went to architecture school or art school,” Commissioner Dick Blattner said. “I don’t want to hold this project up.”
Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober urged officials to have faith in Berman, who has a proven track record in Hollywood.
“I can’t tell you how many [developers] have come up here and promised us the moon — then not shown up,” Bober said.
Berman built the Radius condo tower on Young Circle, a mixed-use project with 311 condos and 40,000 square feet of commercial space.
In 1998, Berman built La Piazza, a two-story building at Young Circle and Hollywood Boulevard with rental apartments above ground-floor shops.
He also built the Harrison Executive Centre, a six-story Class A office building completed nine years ago.