The Los Angeles City Council approved the final piece of the NBC Universal Evolution Plan, giving the studio the $1.6 billion project another step toward building the project that will be completed over the next two decades.
The city council already gave a thumbs-up to the overall project, but only one-third of the project is located in the city limits. The city council, particularly local council representatives Paul Krekorian and Tom LaBonge, have worked closely with County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to make sure that all the plans fit together. The county must now approve their parts of the project.
"Modernizing and expanding production facilities will help ensure that Los Angeles remains the leader in film and television production,” Council member Krekorian said. “This project will create 30,000 good paying jobs, provide $1.6 billion in economic investments, and deliver $100 million in transportation and transit improvements, of which nearly $40 million will be in my Council District."
Krekorian was instrumental in taking the residential aspects of the project out of the plan, along with adamant support from the Studio City Neighborhood Council.
"The Evolution Plan truly has evolved, and it has become a win-win project that I'm proud to support," Krekorian said. "This is a good example of how a developer of even the largest of projects can work with a community instead of trying to steamroll over a community, for the mutual best interests of both the project and the residents."
Corinne Verdery, the planning officer for NBC Universal, said she is pleased about this next step for the project and said the studio is "ready to go" to put local people to work on the project.
Universal first came up with the idea seven years ago, and met with initial opposition, but then worked closely with the Neighborhood Councils and resident associations that would be most impacted.
Councilman LaBonge, said the project "will be a great economic engine for the San Fernando Valley.''
The plan will include two hotels and the studio will begin construction on a new Harry Potter theme park attraction as well as the production facilities upgrades. Plans for digital signs on the outlying areas facing the residential area will be eliminated, but they will be erected inside the Universal grounds.
For details from Universal about the plan, see:
