The Paramount Pictures lot has been a presence in the Larchmont area since the 1920s, but they've only relatively recently begun to try and create a master plan for the multi-parcel studio complex. The Larchmont Buzz takes a look at the plan's draft environmental impact report, released last month, and finds that there are some big changes on the horizon if Paramount's long-term vision comes to be. Within the footprint of their existing lot, the studio is hoping to add a total of 1.4 million square feet of space for offices and production, replace a parking lot on the corner of Van Ness and Melrose with an eight-story building, and put up a 15-story office tower close to Melrose and Gower.
The master plan also envisions a lot more advertising in the area. Paramount would like to see the 15-story structure wrapped in giant ads (aka supergraphics) and wants the city to designate a sign district along Gower and Melrose that would see the old RKO billboards turned into digital ones "that will change image every 8 seconds." (The studio moved to the eastern part of its Melrose site in 1926; it bought the western part, the former RKO lot, in 1967.)
Though the master plan is meant to be spread out over 25 years, with completion scheduled for 2038. But the DEIR is one of the earliest steps on the road to approval and some local residents are very unhappy with certain features of the plan, namely the 15-story building, the plan to cover that building with a giant ad, and the swapping of the old RKO billboards for blinky new digital ones.
· Paramount Pictures Master Plan [Larchmont Buzz]
· Paramount Planning Big Upgrade to Melrose Lot--Check Out the Bronson Gate Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow [Curbed LA]