Christopher A. Joseph & Associates: News


	Who Killed the Beverly Connection?

More News from CAJA

July 24, 2005

Background: Christopher A. Joseph & Associates prepared the IS/MND for the Beverly Connection Project.

Lead Agency: City of Los Angeles
Project Applicant: Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Westrust

The Independent
July 7, 2005
By: Rosanna Mah

During the late 1980s, the Beverly Connection was the quintessential “in” place.

The place was alive night after night as long lines of cars clogged La Cienega Boulevard waiting to park at the mall and business at the Daily Grill thrived on the success of the AMC theatres packed with moviegoers.

Due to its regional attraction, the Beverly Connection drew a large weekend turnout up till the early-1990s as people visited both national chain and quaint neighborhood stores like Rexall Square Drug store, a historic landmark found at the corner of Beverly and La Cienega boulevards.

But today, the AMC theaters are gone. So are Starbucks, Strouds and even Rexall, now replaced by a Longs drugstore — all victims of a post-9/11 economic recession exacerbated by the dot-com collapse.

But what exactly happened to the Beverly Connection over the years as it suffered a long and drawn-out decline? How did the Beverly Connection, which aimed for great success, end up as the “Beverly Disconnection?”

“The mall is just old and ugly, as blunt as I can put it. There is no need to sugar coat it,” said Oded Mazor, general manager of the Daily Grill, a traditional American fare eatery, on a slow Friday afternoon.

But in the good old days, mall traffic was busy due to the success of the theaters, remembers Mazor, who landed his first managerial gig over six years ago at the Daily Grill.

“The vibe was amazing,” he fondly recalls. “The movie theaters were here and the mall was packed.”

But business at the eatery — which is expected to close on July 31 for mall renovations after a 15-year stint — has suffered tremendously in the last year, Mazor says, along with other center retailers.

The Beverly Connection, currently owned by Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Westrust which bought the land in July 2003 for some $110 million, is expected to undergo a 21st century facade makeover.

Plans include a redesign of the center as well as the construction of a 181-unit assisted living center along Third Street and over 60 luxury condominiums as well as a pedestrian-friendly walkway. Apollo is also developing the $400 million Sunset Millennium project in West Hollywood.

Ralphs, possibly the biggest attraction at the Connection, is also slated to close Aug. 6 for renovations.

According to Mazor, the success of the restaurant is also directly related to the popularity of the mall.

“Yes we have our regulars who never left, but the traffic that came from the mall being alive and kicking and the movie theaters before and after — all that dissipated,” he said. “It is very sad.”

When Diana Plotkin, a patron of the Beverly Connection for 30 years, shops at Ralphs for her groceries, she cannot help but reflect on what could potentially have been a wonderful project for the neighborhood.

But the awkward mall design, a confusing parking garage and management neglect, she believes, led to the center’s decline.

“It is intimidating for people who go in there,” said Plotkin, president of the Beverly-Wilshire Homeowners’ Assn. “The traffic would back up on La Cienega for people who were trying to get into the Connection. People don’t like to go to places that you can’t get in and out of easily.”

Longtime resident Harold Hahn, who witnessed the mall’s rise and fall since its inception in 1986, agreed.

“It never worked because at the time we realized the center architecturally didn’t hang together,” he said. “They were all different pieces. It was difficult to get in or out. Nobody knew where any store was.”

But some say that competition from the 871,000-square-foot Beverly Center across the street and the Grove located a mile east also contributed to the mall’s slow death.

Rexall was sold to a national chain. Strouds closed down and so did the popular Book Star, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble Inc., not long after the national book chain opened a store at the Grove.

The AMC Beverly Connection 6 theatres, which once drew hordes of crowds, started to fade into ignominy as visitors were turned off by the rundown seats and film showings that were months old.

However, Edward Hernandez, 29, of Hollywood, who was enjoying lunch at the center, believes the new development will entice visitors back to the area.

“It’s going to be different,” he said. “The Beverly Center is really nice, so the Connection has to [meet it at] the same level.”

But the fate of the Beverly Connection is still up in the air as opponents argue that the proposed redevelopment is “too big” and “too tall” for the area and are demanding environmental and traffic reports to study short- and long-term impacts on residential life.

According to Plotkin, the Beverlry-Wilshire Homeowners’ Assn. has sent out over 10,000 mailings to residents, citing traffic, noise, and quality of life concerns.

“We have serious problems with them trying to double the amount of development on that lot, on those 10 acres, because the impacts are so severe that we can’t take it anymore,” she said.

“No matter what you do to an white elephant, there is an old saying ... you can put lipstick on a pig, but you’ll never want to kiss it.”

(Excerpt copyright 2005 The Independent)