Howard Hughes Headquarters

WRITE A SUPPORT LETTER TO PLUM COMMITTEE:

1. Email a letter of support for the building’s nomination to the PLUM Committee. Due by 10:00pm Sunday, September 12, 2021.

email: Gilbert.Cedillo@LACity.org, Gerald.Gubatan@LAcity.org, Council.Harris@LAcity.org, Kidada.Malloy@LAcity.org, Councilmember.Ridley-Thomas@LACity.org, Hakeem.Parke-Davis@LACity.org, Councilmember.Lee@LACity.org, Councilmember.blumenfield@LACity.org, Andrew.pennington@lacity.org, nithya.raman@lacity.org; contactCD4@lacity.org; Meg.Healy@lacity.org, mashael.majid@lacity.org

cc: afine@laconservancy.org; ken.bernstein@lacity.org; artdeco@adsla.org

Subject Line:

PROPOSED HCM: HOWARD HUGHES HEADQUARTERS.

CASE NO.: CHC-2018-3614-HCM / ENV-2018-3615-CE

What to Say:

Letters in your own words are the best, but if you aren't sure what to say, here is an idea. If you have a connection to the building or a business that operated out of it, please include that too.

Dear PLUM Commission: I am writing to express my support for the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles's nomination of the Howard Hughes HQ Building (7000 Romaine in Hollywood) as a Cultural Heritage Monument in the City of Los Angeles. It meets the criteria for an HCM and is a terrific, intact example of Art Deco architecture. Furthermore, it is connected with the famous film producer and aviator Howard Hughes and is a contributor to Hollywood’s Industrial District - a neighborhood that still houses many support services for the film industry today. The 1930 building was originally a motion picture color film manufacturing site.

The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles believes that the owner is a good steward of the building, but it must be protected beyond its current ownership.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your address, neighborhood, or zip code very important if you live in the area]

CURRENT STATUS

LANDMARKED!

September 29, 2021: The Howard Hughes Headquarters was declared an Historic Cultural Monument by a vote by full Los Angeles City Council. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that the building had been sold to Omni Group.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021: After a four-year quest to designate the Howard Hughes Headquarters Building an Historic-Cultural Monument, the Planning and Land Use Committee voted this morning (as a consent item) to support our nomination. The owner of the building filed his agreement of the nomination in an email to the PLUM Committee yesterday. The next step in the process is for the City Council to officially adopt the nomination by a vote at a regularly scheduled City Council Meeting.

ABOUT THE HOWARD HUGHES HEADQUARTERS

The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles goes through a nomination process for buildings that we identify as being “historically significant.” We are now in phase 3 of this process with the Art Deco Howard Hughes Headquarters in the Hollywood Industrial District. We need YOUR PARTICIPATION to finish the process as a preservation victory. Please read on.

To be effective, we need the public to get behind our nomination, by writing letters of support to key decision-makers and advisors in this process and/or appearing (by Zoom or telephone) to express encouragement to the city to landmark the building.

Now, a bit about the building.

Built in 1930-1931, the Howard Hughes Headquarters property is significant as an early entertainment industry support service facility (color film manufacturing plant) in Hollywood. It is also significant as the longtime headquarters of the Howard Hughes business empire, which occupied the building between 1930 and 1976, and is closely associated with iconic entrepreneur, film producer, aviator Howard Hughes during the most productive period of his career. The building also embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Art Deco architectural style, making it inherently valuable for a study of 1930s architecture in Los Angeles.

The Howard Hughes Headquarters (7000 Romaine, Hollywood) meets the following criteria for designation as a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument (HCM):

• It is identified with important events of national, state, or local history, or exemplifies significant contributions to the broad cultural, economic or social history of the nation, state, city or community;

• It is associated with the lives of historic personages important to national, state, city, or local history;

• It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction.

• In addition to meeting multiple eligibility criteria, the building retains a high degree of integrity.

Preservation History:

The Howard Hughes Headquarters was recommended by the Cultural Heritage Commission for a site visit on September 29, 2020 as the next step in the process, but the owner stalled this from happening. The visit was originally scheduled for November 12, 2020.

On March 18, 2021 during a Cultural Heritage Commission meeting we heard from the city, that the owner had agreed to a virtual tour, perhaps in May 2021. The virtual tour happened without our knowledge and based on the photos you can see in the staff report, it was an in person visit.

The site visit accomplished, our SECOND HEARING was scheduled for June 2, 2021! We have been pursuing this HCM since 2018!! The application was originally submitted as a trio of nominations for Hollywood industrial district buildings, following the unfortunate demolition of the Mole Richardson building. The other two buildings, the Commercial Laundry and AGFA ANSCO building, were designated as Cultural Historic Monuments in 2019.

We acknowledge this owner as a very good custodian of the building, but we want to landmark the Howard Hughes HQ to preserve it for the future.

On Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 8:00am a VIRTUAL HEARING took place. The Historic-Cultural Monument nomination for the Howard Hughes Headquarters Building (Council District 4) located at 7000 West Romaine Street, 930-956 North Sycamore Avenue, and 931-953 North Orange Drive is scheduled to be heard before the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee of City Council on Tuesday, September 14 at 8:00am. The agenda has not yet been posted, but will soon be available online here: https://www.lacity.org/government/follow-meetings/council-committee-meetings. The call-in details are as follows:

Members of the public who would like to offer public comment on the items listed on the agenda should call 1 669 254 5252 and use Meeting ID No. 161 644 6631 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. Once admitted into the meeting, press *9 to request to speak.

If you cannot attend the virtual hearing, please write a letter to the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee immediately. Details about letter writing are in the column to the left under the photo.

WRITE A LETTER OF SUPPORT

What You Can Do:

1. Email a letter of support for the building’s nomination to the Cultural Heritage Commission. Due by 3:00pm Tuesday, June 1.

email: chc@lacity.org

cc: afine@laconservancy.org; ken.bernstein@lacity.org; nithya.raman@lacity.org; contactCD4@lacity.org; Meg.Healy@lacity.org, mashael.majid@lacity.org, artdeco@adsla.org

Subject Line:

PROPOSED HCM: HOWARD HUGHES HEADQUARTERS.

CASE NO.: CHC-2018-3614-HCM / ENV-2018-3615-CE

What to Say:

Letters in your own words are the best, but if you aren't sure what to say, here is an idea. If you have a connection to the building or a business that operated out of it, please include that too.

Dear Cultural Heritage Commission: I am writing to express my support for the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles's nomination of the Howard Hughes Building (7000 Romaine in Hollywood) as a Cultural Heritage Monument in the City of Los Angeles. It meets the criteria for an HCM. The building is an intact example of Art Deco architecture, is connected with the famous film producer and aviator Howard Hughes and is a contributor to Hollywood’s Industrial District.

The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles believes that the owner is a good steward of the building, but it must be protected beyond its current ownership.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your address, neighborhood, or zip code very important if you live in the area]

VOICE YOUR SUPPORT AT THE CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION MEETING IS THURSDAY, JUNE 3 at 10:00 AM

Speak up for this Art Deco beauty! The Howard Hughes building’s next hearing is Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 10:00 AM. We encourage you to participate, by attending the Cultural Heritage Meeting, where the public can speak on the merits of the building.

At present, these meetings are virtual, so you can Zoom or call in to speak for ONE MINUTE. The more community support, the better.

If you are able to call into the meeting, please do. This is very helpful to the cause!

TO PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM:

To speak you will use the feature in Zoom to raise your hand. A meeting official will call your name and give you verbal instructions to unmute. You will NOT appear on camera if you connect on Zoom, but you will be able to see the presenters and the presentations. Click the green button below to connect. USE MEETING ID: 811 5667 2874 Password: 923851

CALL INTO THE MEETING:

You can call in by telephone to LISTEN to the meeting: 213-621-2489 or 818-904-9450 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. Use Meeting ID No. 811 5667 2874 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. You may use password: 923851.

You can call in by telephone to SPEAK. Either access the ZOOM link or call 1 (213) 338-8477 or 1 (669) 900-9128 and use Meeting ID No. 811 5667 2874 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. You may use password: 923851.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT:

Members of the public who wish to participate in the meeting and offer public comment to the Cultural Heritage Commission, can

Members of the public who wish to provide public comment will be able to listen or view the meeting via their phone or other electronic device. Each speaker’s audio will be unmuted as they are called upon. Speakers are typically given 1-2 minutes to speak and at the end of the time limit, you will hear a buzzer sound or verbal indicator. Soon thereafter, your audio will again be muted.

To comment on an agenda item online via Zoom, use the login information provided above for presenters. Following the Commission President calling the item, click the “Raise Hand” button at the bottom of your screen. Commission Office staff will call your name, if available, when it is your turn to speak. You will see a prompt stating, “The Host would like to unmute you.” Please click on “Unmute.”

To comment on an agenda item, press *9 to “raise your hand” virtually following the Commission President calling the item. Commission staff will call upon speakers using the last four digits of the phone number, if available.

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