Winning Universal raves

NBCUniversal's $1.6 billion development plan is about commerce—and community.

Universal City is one of L.A.’s most famous destinations. It is also a member of a famously complex community.

Part movie studio, part theme park, part corporate campus, part international tourist attraction, the 391-acre site—which lies both in the city and county of Los Angeles—plays almost as many roles as the entertainers who work there.

Its operations impact millions of Southern Californians, from workers and shareholders to homeowners and commuters. No wonder, then, that when NBCUniversal began talking about a master plan for the property, and then about a major expansion, it took more than seven years for all the stakeholders to reach the consensus that came before the Board of Supervisors this week.

NBCUniversal’s Evolution Plan, endorsed unanimously on Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, is a big deal. And that’s not just because the $1.6 billion final product promises to create more than 30,000 jobs while expanding production facilities and bringing “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” to L.A.

With a new trailhead park and a nearly $14 million investment in the L.A. River Bike Path, it jumpstarts the riverfront’s revitalization. It paves the way—literally—for a long-dreamed-of bike route from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach. 

Its $100 million in transit improvements will ease congestion in the long-suffering southeast San Fernando Valley even as NBCUniversal adds 1.88 million square feet of net new space for studios, offices, tourism and entertainment. Overall, the project is expected to generate some $2 billion in economic output, and add $15 million in new tax revenues to the county annually.

Talk about a stimulus package. And we can expect it to pay dividends for generations to come.

But what impressed me most was that at a time when all the talk is about how impossible our politics are as a nation, this was a case study in democracy with a “small d”. Projects of this magnitude often leave communities feeling railroaded and businesses feeling thwarted. Negatives are forced on one side or another in the name of progress, or as a necessary cost of doing business.

But on details big and small, NBCUniversal and its community collaborated to make this plan work for all sides.

When some—myself included—balked at the idea of replacing a large chunk of crucial backlot with 3,000 apartments and condos, the company scrapped the housing and doubled down on its core entertainment business. When potential glare from office lights posed a concern to homeowners, NBCUniversal agreed to 10 p.m. lights-out in unoccupied offices in key buildings.

Digital signage was dramatically scaled back, and neighbors’ views were protected with new landscaping. Perhaps most significantly, the plan establishes a community advisory panel to maintain the partnership on a regular basis.

Working together in a place with this many moving parts isn’t always easy. And compromise is famous for happening away from the limelight.

But when it does happen, it’s almost as thrilling as the words, “Lights! Camera! Action!” There was applause this week as the Board approved this project, and I suspect that the way it came together will be winning raves for a long, long time.

Posted 4/23/13