While Hollywood and Vine is clearly the place to be at the moment, don't sleep on the Hollywood/Western neighborhood just down the street. Over the weekend, the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council took a look at plans for a new hotel on the vacant lot at the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and St. Andrews Place. The self-described "European Style Luxury Boutique Hotel," would rise six-stories, consisting of 80 guest rooms above a two-level, 31-car garage. An environmentally friendly development, the hotel would contain passive solar energy features, recycled materials, low water usage fixtures, green roofs, and parking for bicycles and electric vehicles. Catering to the "affordable luxury," market, rates would range from $180-220 per night. The hotel would also feature a ground-floor cafe with outdoor seating along Hollywood Boulevard.
Although a controversial gentrification wave began sweeping through Hollywood after the completion of the Red Line, few large scale developments have occurred near the Hollywood/Western subway station. Now, with fewer opportunities available near Highland Avenue and Vine Street, developers have started looking east of the 101 freeway. A 120-unit senior housing complex opened across the street from the site of the proposed hotel back in 2012. Local super-developer Sonny Astani has plans for an apartment-retail complex next-door to the historic Mayer Building. Kitty-corner to the subway station, the CIM Group is well into construction on a one-story shopping center. Further south on Western Avenue, an affordable housing project and a full-sized Target outpost are both under construction.
