Hackman Capital rolls out updated plan for Television City redevelopment

A proposal which would add new soundstages and offices to the landmark Television City campus is moving forward with a redesign by Foster + Partners.

The updated plan, announced today by developer Hackman Capital Partners, comes two months after Los Angeles City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky issued a letter requesting reductions to the scale and height of the project, which encompasses a 25-acre site at the southeast corner of Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.

When announced in 2021, the project had been envisioned with 1.1 million square feet of new development on the parking lots surrounding Television City's original, William Pereira-designed buildings -a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument since 2018. The updated plan cuts the total amount of office space planned by 150,000 square feet by removing one of two planned 15-story towers from the project. That change, along with revised transportation plans, is expected to reduce the number of daily car trips generated by the development by 5,000.

According to the Los Angeles Times, that results in a project which would add 980,000 square feet of space to the campus. Combined with existing and new construction, that would result in 700,000 square feet of offices to support productions on the lot and 550,000 square feet of space to be rented by entertainment and media firms.

Foster + Partners, which is best known locally for designing a large high-rise development now taking shape next to the Beverly Hilton hotel, is joined on the design team by Adamson Associates, Inc. and landscape design firm Rios.

The updated plan softens the complex's appearance around the perimeter of the site, trading out fencing for landscaping, trees, and buildings with habitable spaces - including commercial uses shown along both Fairfax and Beverly. Likewise, the new design shortens perimeter-facing buildings, while maintaining views of the historic buildings where television shows ranging from All in the Family to American Idol have been filmed.

Hackman Capital, which paid $750 million to acquire Television City in 2018, has previously estimated that its plans for the site would cost more than $1.25 billion and generate more than 18,000 jobs. The Times reports that the updated project is on track for completion by 2028.

While project backers have touted support from dozens of local organizations, including the local neighborhood council, the LA Conservancy, Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Holocaust Museum, it has been met with a chillier reception from the Beverly Fairfax Community Alliance, an organization with financial backing from Grove developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso. Although Caruso has publicly denied that he opposes the project, The Grove has also challenged the Television City environmental impact report, submitting a 374-page letter which describes the project as "“fatally flawed."

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