The venerable Century Plaza will close March 1 to accommodate a restoration and development project also featuring two 46-story residential towers, restaurants and retail shops, it was announced today.
Woodridge Capital Partners founder and CEO Michael Rosenfeld, who is
leading the $2.5 billion project, said the hotel — where Ronald Reagan
routinely stayed during his presidency — is expected to re-open in early 2018.
Situated in the heart of Century City at the intersection of Avenue of
the Stars and Constellation Boulevard, the 1.5 million-square-foot hotel and
mixed-use development is adjacent to the Westfield Century City Mall and more
than 10 million square feet of offices, residences, restaurants, retail and
entertainment venues.
The crescent-shaped hotel designed by Minoru Yamasaki will be
“meticulously restored” as a five-star property with 394 guest rooms and
suites and 63 residences, according to Rosenfeld.
The open air lobby will be transformed by the design firm Yabu
Pushelberg to connect public plazas and fountains to a central two-acre garden
surrounded by restaurants and retail shops.
In total, there will be 100,000 square feet of retail space on the site.
The two 46-story towers designed by Pei Cobb Freed will feature 290 luxury
residences.
Rosenfeld also announced the successful completion of a $450 million
funding package for the project.
“Mayor Eric Garcetti and his staff were instrumental in paving the way
with their strong international outreach,” he said, noting that the project is
expected to create thousands of construction and permanent jobs and
substantially increase tax and sales revenues to the city.
Hyatt will no longer manage the hotel after it closes in March, but an
agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11 provides its members with an opportunity to
return to the hotel upon its reopening, according to Rosenfeld.
Rosenfeld’s Next Century Associates, LLC worked on the project with
input from Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, the Los Angeles
Conservancy, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, neighboring
homeowners associations, Century City business stakeholders and organized
labor.
The Century Plaza opened in 1966. Rising from the backlot of 20th
Century Fox Studios, the hotel has hosted a wide range of politicians, foreign
dignitaries and celebrities over the years, as well as every United States
president since its opening.
The hotel was the residence of choice for Reagan, who stayed at the
hotel so often that the press named it the “Western White House.” He chose a
high-rise nearby for his penthouse offices after leaving Washington.
The hotel has hosted the Grammy Awards and the “Dinner of the Century”
in 1969 honoring the first astronauts to reach the moon.
Los Angeles-based Woodridge Capital Partners owns hotel, resort,
residential and commercial properties throughout the country, including the
Fairmont San Francisco hotel, the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel and
Stanford Court in San Francisco and the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua, Maui.
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