variety arts center could become ‘mini nokia theatre’
Plans to bring South Park’s historic Variety Arts Center up to speed with the rest of the neighborhood have come to a crossroads.
The five-story Italian Renaissance-style theater, built in the early 1920s at 938 S. Figueroa Street to house a political and social club for women, was last purchased by developer David Houk in late 2006 to become a venue for dramatic arts.
As a former owner of the Pasadena Playhouse, Houk told the Downtown News in the beginning of 2007 his intentions were to restore the structure for musicals and other stage performances — a use that had been approved by AEG, the developers of LA Live who sold the building to Houk.
While those plans could still be carried out, Derrick Moore of CBRE tells angelenic the property has been listed for sale “with the hope that a new operator will come in and take it over as a mini Nokia Theatre.”
Houk, whose development company is working to break ground on Park Fifth at 5th and Olive, confirms today that a new buyer could be sought if a financial partner cannot be found to carry the project through.
Inside, aside from periodic film shoots, a 1,000-seat theater, night club space, banquet rooms and library remain unused, and renovations have yet to begin.
Even with a change of hands, the Variety Arts Center will eventually be utilized as prime event space to supplement the entertainment district forming around it. Until then, the real Nokia Theatre will have to deliver all the action.
6 comments
to me it shouldnt take a rocket scientist to see that they should try to land a company like LiveNation, I think they run alot of live venues/events including the nearby Nokia, Hollywood Palladium and H.O.B locations. And I’m sure they would keep that venue poppin non-stop therefore further establishing the area as a premiere “Sports & Entertainment District”!
I am guessing that a Live Nation run concert hall, AEG/Golden Voice’s largest competitor is not going to be an “approved use”.
#2, that isn’t necessarily true, the larger entertainment companies (Goldenvoice, AEG, Live Nation, Bill Silva Events) have often co-branded events together. I do think that if they did turn Variety Arts Center into a live venue, whether it be the arts, or music, it would be a good thing for Downtown. I think the goal is to centralize “the action,” rather than having it spread across Los Angeles. Of course the opposition (El Rey, Wiltern, etc..) may have a difference of opinion. I heard that there was to be a mini Nokia Theatre in LA Live already, a House of Blues of some sort(smaller concert venue), is this true? If so, it would probably effect any dealings with AEG in regards to the Variety Arts Centers future.
#3, this is true, it is called Club Nokia:
http://www.livedaily.com/news/14933.html
I was wondering what they were gonna do with that building. An amazing piece of architecture just opposite the Figueroa hotel.
David Houk is worthless as a developer. He has no experience aside from being a partner in the Pasadena Playhouse. He was removed from that partnership and thought he could achieve the same results with the Variety Arts Center but obviously wasn’t able to. Instead, he put all his attention on Park Fifth, which he is simply not qualified to be a developer of such a project. Fortunately, it’s his own incompetence that will keep Park Fifth from being built. Downtown doesn’t need a 76 story Edsel.