February
16, 2008 Iconic Hollywood Sign
Threatened
by Private Development
Los Angeles
The world-famous Hollywood sign overlooking Los Angeles is under
threat from property developers, prompting an angry reaction from
residents and officials in the city.
Chicago-based investment firm Fox River Land Co. is hoping to sell
the 56-hectare hilltop parcel adjacent to the giant white letters
for $22 million.
That's almost four times as much as the $6 million the city valued
the land at and represents a remarkable increase on the $1.7 million
the company paid the estate of legendary magnate Howard Hughes in
2002.
Hughes had planned to build a palatial home there for his mistress,
dancer and actress Ginger Rogers.
Fox River says there is high interest in the property, which is
zoned for a single mega-mansion or five smaller houses. But city
council member Tom LaBonge vowed Friday to do everything in his
power to foil the plan, which he said would spoil the last
undeveloped ridge in the city.
"When you take virgin land it can never be virgin again," he told
DPA. "That peak should remain unmolested."
LaBonge appears to have strong support among his constituents in the
city's 4th District, which encompasses Hollywood and its famous
sign.
"It's the one symbol we have that's known the world over," said
accountant Vivienne Lifsher. "We'd be crazy to let someone destroy
it."
Local businesses are also up in arms.
"I think it goes without saying that it would be a mistake to build
homes there," said Leron Gubler, president of the Hollywood Chamber
of Commerce. "It would be very unfortunate."
The epic sign created in 1923 as an advertisement for the doomed
housing development Hollywoodland, is designated as a historic
monument, but the steep 600-meter ridge next to it is not. That
would allow houses to be built above and to the left of the sign.
Officially called Cahuenga Peak, the land offers unrivalled views of
the city and its environs and has been zoned for residential
building since 1940 when Hughes bought the property with plans to
build a palatial home for Rogers - the long-time dancing partner of
Fred Astaire in numerous films from the 1930s.
As such there might not be a lot that can be done to stop a sale,
LaBonge's spokeswoman Kane Galbraith conceded.
"We will do whatever we can to prevent it within the legal limits of
the city," she said. "But property rights are very strong here."
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