Get the Updates on New Projects for Beverly Hills: Shops, Homes, a Hotel and More

EDITOR’S NOTE: Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse gave the annual ”state of the city” address Wednesday evening at the historic Greystone Mansion Formal Gardens. Because of the speech’s length, Patch is presenting it to you in parts. Today is Part II. Read Part I here.

I also want to briefly mention just a few of the many outstanding local businesses that have opened, expanded or undergone major renovations in the past year – many of which we have visited on our Walks with the Mayor.

As I share this PARTIAL list, please reflect on the amazing VARIETY of businesses that are prospering in our city: Planet Beauty, Rite Aid, Compliment Wine and Spirits, Tevana Tea, the Beverly Hills Courier, Mitchell Gold Furniture , Catimini Children’s Couture, Comoncy Cafe, Shiki Japanese Restaurant, Raymond James Financial Services.

New businesses coming to town soon, include: Kate Spade, The Palm Restaurant, Ocean Prime, Spaghettini and Acura.

Now – THAT is a HEALTHY business community!!!

So far, I have focused on retail and service-oriented businesses in town. But, as our economy has improved – so has IMPORTANT development activity. Here is a brief update of some of the larger projects:

9900 Wilshire – The former Robinson’s May site – is currently entitled as a mixed-use project with 235 luxury condos, private landscaped gardens, and commercial space, including a restaurant. Demolition is complete and there will be some additional site work to re-locate a water line.

The new owners are the Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate, who are excited to bring this project to life and see it reach its potential as a world-renowned residential destination. They closed escrow on the project yesterday! The City Council met with them and we look forward to welcoming this fabulous addition to our community.

Demolition is complete for the Waldorf Astoria Hotel project and preparations are underway for shoring and excavation. That phase is expected to be complete by the end of December. If all goes according to plan, the hotel will open in early 2018.

The 9200 Wilshire development is entitled as a mixed-use, five-story building with 54 luxury condominium units and 20,000 square feet of commercial retail space. The owner reportedly is ready to break ground once financing is secured.

The fabulous new Burberry on Rodeo Drive is scheduled to open in early November – in time for the holiday shopping season.

Also, Barney’s New York and Neiman Marcus are well underway for exciting renovations to their fabulous stores.

All of this activity, plus a big jump in tenant improvement and residential projects, has intensified the demand for services from our Community Development team.

To meet this demand, we’ve added staff to the front counter area and we are in the process of hiring more building inspectors to expedite the process.

Currently, approximately 30 percent of permits are completed over the internet – we want that number to grow substantially by making more permits available online – this will save time for everyone – and, do I have to say it? TIME IS MONEY.

We have completed the in-lieu parking study , and it is our goal to go forward with more flexibility to help businesses to meet their parking needs and complete their approval process sooner.

END OF PART II

PHOTO Credit: DVR Productions.