Hollywood retail center receives $100 million renovation

Los Angeles-based DJM Capital Partners and Hong Kong-based Gaw Capital are renovating the Hollywood and Highland retail center  into a mixed-use development with restaurants, entertainment and retail.

The $100 million development is being renamed Ovation Hollywood and is expected to be completed later this year.

The developers purchased the 463,000 sq. ft. property on 7.5-acres from CIM Group for $325 million in 2019, Spectrum News1 reports. The sale did not include the nearby Loews hotel and Dolby Theater.

Before COVID-19, the Hollywood and Highland complex was one of Hollywood’s main tourist attractions, attracting more than 25 million visitors a year.

The companies say the renovation should be completed later this year.

The group said they wanted to move away from the retail center’s outdated architecture, lack of identity and confusing layout.

They also wanted to get rid of some of the racist legacy attached to the center. The center’s original Babylonian design is based on D.W. Griffith’s 1916 movie “Intolerance.” Griffith is the director of the controversial silent film, “The Birth of a Nation.”

“The Babylonian-themed courtyard is a replica of an antiquated film set from an intolerant time that we’ve always planned to remove for the reimagining of the property,” DJM chief creative officer Chad Cress told Spectrum News. Cress. “Our goal for Ovation is to create a space that is forward-looking and celebrates Los Angeles’ diversity, history and optimism.”

“The (old) design is not relevant for today’s consumers, ” Cress said.