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That Big Redevelopment Project For NoHo's Laurel and Valley Plazas? It's Not Gonna Happen After All
It is one of the saddest patches of languishing land in the East Valley, and now comes the news that it's not going to get better anytime soon. A half-billion dollar redevelopment project long in the works for Valley and Laurel Plazas in North Hollywood is not going to happen, according to the Daily News, thanks to recession woes and defaulted note from one of the investors.
The "investor group that paid $30 million for 12 acres at Valley Plaza defaulted on the note and the lender, New York-based iStar Financial, now owns the property." And, oh, what a sad property it is, with its many storefronts that have been boarded up for a few years. (The Daily News gets cinematic and calls Laurel and Victory "the intersection of broken promises." They're kinda right. It's downright depressing.)
Over at Laurel Plaza, also slated at one time to be part of the Community Redevelopment Agency's 248-acre Laurel Canyon Commercial Corridor Redevelopment Project to revitalize the area, the option held by the then-developer J.H. Snyder, gave up on the Macy's-owned property. Macy's would not offer comment on their plans for the land--if any.
Snyder reportedly has plans, but will not reveal details. The original Snyder plans were ambitious, though plagued with some real estate troubles, and proposed a premiere East Valley shopping and recreation destination to rival Rick Caruso's The Grove. The CRA says they're willing to work with Snyder on their new, modified plans. For now, sadly, the "ghost town" of Valley Plaza and the depressing ugliness of Laurel Plaza persist.
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