California Apparel News

It seems that Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif.—the grande dame of retail—has gotten a little dowdy along the edges and city officials are calling for a facelift.

The city plans to float an $18 million bond before some 150 property owners on Sept. 23 to pay for its Urban Design program. The proposal will improve the streetscape within the city’s Business Triangle, a five-block region bounded by Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards and Crescent Drive.

If the measure passes by a two-thirds vote, property owners would be assessed a levy on their property taxes based on the size of their real estate holdings over a 25-year period, which would pay for benches, widened sidewalks, mid-block crosswalks and other street enhancements.

It’s a decision that took a while to reach, said David Lightner, the deputy city manager/development, since it’s daunting to fix something that isn’t necessarily broken.

“We have a very successful area here so you have to be careful about making modifications,” he said.

Motivation also grew from the city’s infrastructure needs, he said. The city would earmark $1.5 million of the bond for improvements such as street light conduit and fiber optic trenching.

Merchants, too, welcome the long-overdue makeover in an effort to stay competitive among such lustrous shopping newcomers as the Grove at Farmers Market and Hollywood and Highland.

“This will update Rodeo Drive and give it a little polish— we’ve become a little tarnished,” said Peri Ellen Berne, president of the Rodeo Drive Committee and manager of La Perla.

Wally Marx, whose buildings include tenants David Orgell and Theodore, agreed, saying the investment is modest. The assessment will average 60 to 70 cents a square foot, which is manageable for both landlords and tenants, he said.

“We’ll get it back in spades,” Marx said. “I mean we’re talking Beverly Hills here, where the rents are steep anyway.”

Street improvements will occur on Rodeo, Canon and Beverly drives as well as Dayton and Brighton ways. Along Rodeo, improvements will include widening the median from 3.9 feet to 8 feet, widening the sidewalk at select locations to 18.5 feet from 12 feet and beefing up the foliage. King palms will dot the sidewalk and date palms will fill the median.

Mid-block crosswalks will be installed on Canon as well as new street lights and palms and tabebuia trees. The other streets will also receive new trees, furniture and lights.

Upon the bond’s passage, construction would begin in two 10-month phases in early 2003 with a break in between for the holiday season, Lightner said. Most construction will be done at night to mitigate the impact on business, he said, such as those experienced during the dramatic streetscape improvements along Santa Monica Boulevard in nearby West Hollywood, which prompted the closure of some merchants.

“Everybody understands it will be a little messy at first, but we have to get through it,” said Ron Michaels, general manager of Louis Vuitton on Rodeo. “We’re the jewel in the crown. We need to have an incredible look.” —Nola Sarkisian-Miller