Beverly Hills Residents March to Deliver 3,200 Signatures

Starting last month, the Beverly Hills City Council voted to approve a series of amendments to city ordinances and laws, including the General Plan -- the bible of city planning. The changes were set to help pave the way for the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and condos, which will replace the current Beverly Hilton with a 170-room, 12-story hotel and an additional 110 condos that are said to be each sold for an average of $5.6 million (Trader Vics is opening a downtown location). Many residents of Beverly Hills, already sick of traffic and congestion, are opposed to the dense project, which is slated for the city's most congested intersection. So yesterday, after a 20-day petition drive, LAist Photographer Tom Andrews followed as they marched to city hall and delivered around 3200 signatures to place the issue on the November ballot. If enough signatures are verified, the fate of the project will be left up to Beverly Hills voters.

At the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica: "Hilton Hotels Corp., which owns the Waldorf-Astoria brand, plans to demolish all structures on the nine-acre Beverly Hilton property except the existing hotel's main eight-story tower, said Beverly Hilton Vice President Corinne Verdery, who is in charge of the project," reported the Associated Press.

However, opposition leader Larry Larson says that "the current Hilton is not coming down. It is remaining. Trader Vics is being demolished, as are the office buildings along Wilshire and Merv Griffin Way. In addition to the existing Hilton, there will be three new high-rise towers. One is the Waldorf and the two other towers are the condo towers, one about 150’ and the other 200’. The smaller condo tower is directly across the street from an elementary school, El Rodeo." (Tom Andrews/LAist)

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