PCD Supports the Vision of Capping the Hollywood Freeway
If you build it, they will come…
On the night of January 5, the Friends of the Hollywood Central Park (FHCP) presented the 3rd annual “For the Love of Hollywood” gala that benefits the vision of the Hollywood Central Park. Government officials, community and business leaders gathered to support FHCP, a non-profit organization created in 2008, to raise funds for the creation of a Hollywood central park on top of the 101 Freeway in Hollywood. The goal of this annual gala dinner is to help this very ambitious plan move forward.
Amongst the many friends of the FHCP, the vision of the Hollywood Central Park is also shared by the Folb Family, owners of the Paramount Contractors and Developers which manages 6464 and 6565 Sunset Buildings. Brian Folb was at the Hollywood Chamber board meeting in 2006 when new board member Don Scott presented his vision of a park over the 101 Freeway to him on his, now famed, napkin drawing. This was the actual beginning of the process. Brian is one of the founding members of the HFCP Board of Directors.
For the past 50 years Paramount Contractors & Developers (PCD) has been one of Hollywood’s staple office and retail leasing companies. The family-owned company offers businesses many great amenities at their two buildings located at 6464 and 6565 Sunset Blvd. “The concept of having a park built next door on top of the Hollywood Freeway, is better than the icing on the Hollywood Redevelopment cake,” Brian Folb said.
PCD offices provide great mountain views of Mount Lee, the Hollywood Sign and the new skyline of the Hollywood community. But the Hollywood Central Park will bring much-needed green space into the heart of Hollywood, right where PCD is located and where green space is needed most!Brian and wife Kate attended the gala and invited several of their PCD tenants. “Hollywood has one of the lowest resident-to-park space ratios in the State. This park will change that and we want our tenants to see where our passion is and what we are hoping to build for our community,” said Brian. “We are one of the many supporters of the HFCP, and we want our tenants to recognize the audacity of this plan and encourage them to take part in this effort.”
The plan is to create a 44-acre street level park by “capping” the Hollywood Freeway as it winds its way through Hollywood. It will link communities which have been separated by the freeway and change the landscape of an entire region for the better. Building this monumental infrastructure will create 4,500 jobs, improve air quality, provide 40,000 children in the area with much-needed open green space, and spur immediate and long term economic security. When completed, the park will serve as a national model of utilizing space and creating green space in dense urban environments.
Jonathan Tessler is a Senior Consultant at The Tax Credit Company and a tenant at 6464 Sunset Blvd. He attended the gala and commented that the idea of having a Hollywood Central Park is intriguing for so many reasons, not the least of which is just how much the open space is needed in Hollywood. “It creates a destination point for all parts of the city of Los Angeles and the Valley,” said Tessler who is a bike enthusiast. “There is nothing better than clean, safe, green space to bring family and meet friends. I especially like the sheer size of it, and the proposed activities that can be organized in the park. As an avid cyclist, I love the idea of having a place that could be the actual destination of the ride that I can hang out at afterwards with my family.”
The gala event honored the “real stars” of Hollywood: Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, actress and environmental activist Daryl Hannah, the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering, and the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.
Among the Friends were Congressman Adam Schiff who considers the proposal as “truly visionary, and represents the exact kind of thinking we have come to expect from Hollywood – unquestionably the source of countless creative ideas!”
This plan has been executed successfully all around the world, so start spreading the news… In short years to come, Hollywood plans to do it here too—right in the heart of the City.
Learn how you can become a Friend of the Hollywood Central Park and be part of history-in-the-making. For more information about the Hollywood Central Park go to www.hfcp.org.
