Six buildings at Valley Plaza, a once thriving and highly influential regional shopping center in the San Fernando Valley, were declared a public nuisance Tuesday.
In a unanimous vote, the city Board of Commissioners of Building and Safety made its decision after hearing remarks from Los Angeles City Councilman Adrin Nazarian, who represents the Second Council District, and residents of the area. According to Nazarian, the dilapidated site located at Lauren Canyon and Victory boulevards has drawn crime and caused headaches for his constituents.
“These ruined buildings have cast a pall on the entire community, depressing commerce for our small businesses, degrading the quality of life for an entire neighborhood, and creating a real danger for the community,” Nazarian said in a statement.
“Once this shopping center was a source of pride to our community; now it’s become a blight on the neighborhood and a constant danger to the public,” Nazarian added. “The people of North Hollywood have waited too long. Enough is enough.”
The commissioners’ vote will allow the city to demolish six buildings in the plaza.
During the hearing, Nazarian emphasized that the plaza has strained police and fire department resources.
Fred Gaines, an attorney for plaza owner Charles Company, said the firm tried to obtain demolition permits from the city, but have not received them because they required so-called replacement plans with approval by city officials. However, an inspector with the Building and Safety Department said the owners didn’t fully complete the required documents.
Gaines also argued the company has been unable to sell the property due to encampments and unhoused people.
The Valley Plaza opened in 1951. At the time, it was reported to be the largest shopping center on the West Coast, and the third-largest in the country, according to the Valley Times.
The plaza was home to a McDaniels supermarket, Thrifty Drug Store, Bond’s clothing store, and a Sears.
“It included office buildings as well as retail and service businesses, representing a new type of commercial development for the rapidly expanding Valley,” according to the Los Angeles Conservancy’s website.
In 1960, the Los Angeles Federal Savings and Loan Tower, known as the Valley Plaza Tower, was completed, beckoning visitors and customers to the plaza. The building is now occupied by Wells Fargo Bank.
The tower was not included in Tuesday’s action.
It was one of the first skyscrapers built in Los Angeles after the city repealed a 150-foot height limit ordinance in 1957.
After Valley Plaza’s closure, its derelict buildings have been used in films such as “Nightcrawler,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Captain Marvel” and “Pineapple Express.”
Diann Corral, president of the Laurel Grove Neighborhood Association, emphasized that North Hollywood is their neighborhood, and not a movie set.
“While the Charles Company profits from the property’s decay, the neighborhood suffers the consequences,” Corral said during the hearing.
Nazarian has discussed the possibility of transforming the site into housing, new retail development or both.