The pedestrian action in West Hollywood's Boystown area comes to a dead stop on the south side of Santa Monica Boulevard and east of San Vicente, but now it may finally seem some life with a huge new mixed-use complex. Metro, which owns a bus depot southeast of that intersection, has signed an agreement with Pacific Design Center owner Charles Cohen to create a master plan for that space--the project would cover the 8.4 acre lot plus 2.5 acres of the adjacent West Hollywood Sheriff's Station lot, Wehoville reports. It could potentially put Metro's buses in an underground garage and construct "400,000 square feet of commercial office space in two high-rise towers, 600,000 square feet of residential/hotel space, 120,000 square feet of retail shops, a 2,500-seat movie theater complex and an 800-seat open amphitheater, plus a 50,000-square-foot sheriff's station" above it. Damn.
Cohen has long eyed the prime space at Santa Monica and San Vicente, which greets the sidewalk with a long, mean wall. Apparently, he submitted an unsolicited proposal for the land back in 2011 and Metro hired his company, Cohen Brothers, without asking for other offers (and WeHo had its eye on the bus lot, too, hoping to create more there than parking for mass transit).
Cohen is working with architecture firm Gruen Associates on the master plan; Gruen worked on the PDC with Cesar Pelli.
If built, the project would go up in stages, with the underground bus lot built first. The subterranean depot will have to be operational during construction and if Metro incurs costs because of the work, Cohen will be responsible for covering them.
· Cohen Brothers, MTA Reach Exclusive Agreement For Proposed Mega Complex at WeHo Depot [Curbed LA]
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