The Los Angeles City Council today voted unanimously (14-0) to approve Next Century Associates’ $2 billion transformative redevelopment project at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, the result of a multi-year collaboration between the developer, City, conservation groups, neighboring homeowners and labor. The Council certified the project’s Environmental Impact Report and approved a 15-year development agreement for the 1.5 million square foot mixed use development on the six-acre site.
Next Century Associates, the owners of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, is a partnership between Michael Rosenfeld's Woodridge Capital Partners and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P.
The new project features two 46-story residential towers designed by renowned architects Pei Cobb Freed, a 100,000-square-foot retail plaza with shops and restaurants and over two acres of public open space with fountains and courtyards. The Century Plaza Hotel with its sweeping arc facade will be restored with 394 rooms and suites and 63 luxury residences. Next Century expects to start construction in early 2014, said Rosenfeld, managing partner of Next Century.
Located at the intersection of Avenue of the Stars and Constellation Boulevard in the heart of Century City, the Century Plaza project will connect over 10 million square feet of office space, residences, restaurants and retail stores including the Westfield Century City mall. Under the new plan, the hotel will reach out to Avenue of the Stars with retail, restaurants and public spaces. The project plan also includes a proposed Metro station for the future Westside subway.
Rosenfeld noted: "Our goal was to create a pedestrian friendly, transportation oriented, sustainable mixed use project that will serve the entire community, connect the elements of Century City and bring economic growth and jobs to Los Angeles."
Next Century worked with Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, the Los Angeles Conservancy, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, neighboring homeowners associations, Century City stakeholders and organized labor incorporating input from all interested parties. The result is a project that received universal support with no public opposition.
John Brady, the head of real estate at Oaktree Capital Management, commented, "The Oaktree real estate team is proud to be involved in an internationally significant development on the Westside of Los Angeles that has so thoroughly incorporated the contributions of a wide-ranging diversity of community stakeholders."
The project is expected to generate over 3500 construction and permanent jobs and substantially increase tax and sales revenues to the City. Along with Pei Cobb Freed, Next Century has retained Gensler as executive architect and Marmol Radziner and Associates as its preservation architect. Rios Clementi Hale Studios is the landscape architect.
About Woodridge Capital Partners, LLC
Woodridge Capital Partners (www.woodridgecapital.com), headed by its CEO Michael Rosenfeld, is a Los Angeles-based real estate investment and development company with hotel, residential and commercial assets throughout the United States. Woodridge and Rosenfeld have been active in the real estate industry for more than 25 years. Rosenfeld and his partners have numerous hotel interests including the Fairmont San Francisco Hotel, the Fairmont Orchid Resort on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, the Colony Palms Hotel in Palm Springs, and the Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara.
About Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree is a leading global investment management firm focused on alternative markets, with an approximately $78.7 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2012. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in distressed debt, corporate debt (including high yield debt and senior loans), control investing, convertible securities, real estate and listed equities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the firm has offices in 13 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit Oaktree’s website at www.oaktreecapital.com.
