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Sep 27, 2006 3:34 pm US/Pacific
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Decades-Old Shop To Be Part Of Redevelopment Plan
Bernard Luggage Building Will Be Incorporated Into Project At Hollywood And Vine
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
A decades-old Hollywood luggage shop will be incorporated into a redevelopment project aimed at sprucing up the famed intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, it was announced Wednesday.
Developers want to revamp the intersection with the $400 million, 4.6-acre redevelopment project to include a 300-room W Hotel, 350 apartment units, 150 condominiums and 61,000 square feet of retail space.
Plans initially called for demolishing the Herman Building, also known as the Bernard Luggage Building. The structure, built in 1928, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to Robert Blue, who inherited the business from his father.
Blue filed suit March 30, alleging that city officials violated his due process rights by using eminent domain to try to take his property. The city's
Community Redevelopment Agency, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Legacy Partners and Gatehouse Capital were also named in Blue's court papers.
Negotiations over the last six months between Blue, Councilman Eric Garcetti, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the project's developers led to an agreement that will allow the historical building to be incorporated into the redevelopment project.
The Los Angeles City Council approved the revised plan Wednesday morning.
"We will keep that business there to be part of the development that will actually be built around him ... and a generations-old family business will be able to be kept there," said Garcetti, whose 13th District includes the legendary crossroads.
"I am really proud of this decision and the agreement everyone was able to come to," Blue said. "I think this is a benefit, not only for Hollywood, but for all of L.A., and I think it's a plan that the rest of the state can look at as a way to do business."
But more than 20 other businesses will be forced to leave to make way for the project.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)