Los Angeles, Hollywood Undergo Reconstructive Surgery

<B>Los Angeles, Hollywood Undergo Reconstructive Surgery</B>

Los Angeles is following in the footsteps of many other major U.S. cities as it embarks on major revitalization efforts, both downtown and in Hollywood. With projects totaling several billion dollars, these two well known, but lately neglected, neighborhoods are being transformed into areas that business travelers and meeting planners may find very desirable.

Take Hollywood, for example. A series of projects, costing some $2.5 billion, will change the face of one of California's most famous places. "We're on the verge of a second Golden Era for Hollywood," said Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. "Hollywood & Highland is the catalyst for the development."

Hollywood & Highland, a $567 million development that includes the 640-room Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, shops, restaurants and the 3,500-seat Kodak Theater, future home of the Academy Awards, is located next to Mann's Chinese Theater, the most visited site in Hollywood. The hotel is scheduled to open in December.

The Renaissance's location above a Metro Red Line subway station means that business travelers with appointments downtown will be able to stay in Hollywood. "We're in the middle, between the movie studios of Burbank and downtown Los Angeles. We're just 15 minutes by subway from downtown," said Tom Santoro, the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel's director of marketing.

The hotel also is targeting the meeting and incentive market, which Santoro expects to make up between 50 percent and 55 percent of its business. Although the Renaissance can handle groups of between 10 and 600 attendees, he expects the average to be 400 to 600 rooms per night. The hotel will offer about 23,000 square feet of meeting space, including an 8,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and 15 breakout rooms. Also within the complex is the 25,000-sq.-ft. Grand Ballroom, which can accommodate 3,500 for receptions and 1,800 for banquets. Catering for events at the Grand Ballroom will be overseen by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.

Meanwhile, downtown Los Angeles is going through a renaissance of its own. "The opening of the Staples Center in October 1999 caused a resurgence in downtown," said Joanne Worthington, vice president of western region sales of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. That resurgence has brought residential and restaurant development to downtown, encouraging Angelenos to reconsider the area as a possible place to live.

Several projects planned or in development will further strengthen downtown's appeal as a business travel destination. The first of these to be completed is the Downtown Standard Hotel, scheduled to open in the fall in what was previously the Bank of California building. Inspired by the success of hotels like the W, the Standard will appeal to a hip corporate clientele and is being developed by hotelier Andre Balazs, whose other Los Angeles properties include The Standard, Chateau Marmont and The Mercer.

Another property in the making, the El Dorado Hotel, is the latest reincarnation of what started out in 1913 as the Stowell Hotel. The El Dorado will target Generation Xers and be located on South Spring Street in the heart of Los Angeles' newly named "Old Bank District." Old Bank District is a neighborhood of converted loft residences and a designated historic district. The 150-room El Dorado is expected to open in 2003.

A hotel will be a part of another newly developing downtown area, the L.A. Entertainment District. Plans for the estimated $1 billion private development, located near the convention center, include a 1,200-room convention center hotel, residential and office space and a 7,000-seat performance theater, as well as restaurants and retail outlets.

The project is expected to be complemented by a hoped-for convention center expansion. "The convention center expansion will go on the ballot in the spring of 2002 as a bond issue," the CVB's Worthington said. "I expect it to be approved. If we're going to stay competitive, we need more convention center space." The plans call for increasing the center by 350,000 square feet. It currently measures 900,000 square feet.