Efforts to Designate Faculty Center as Historic Structure Continuing

CurbedLA reports that in the aftermath of the controversyover demolishing the UCLA Faculty Center for a hotel/conference center (nowproposed to be located elsewhere), the LA Conservancy is continuing efforts toprotect the building.  In part it isdoing so by holding events there – see below. In part it is trying to get a designation of the Faculty Center as anhistorical resource – also see below.  The photo shows tea on the opening day of the Faculty Center in 1959.

WESTWOOD: The LAConservancy's Modern Committee is giving out its third annual set of ModernMasters Awards tonight, to honor "Major contributors to SouthernCalifornia mid-20th Century architecture." The recipients tonight areVictor Cusack, James Delong, WA Sarmiento, and Edward Fickett. They'll alsohave a special tribute to the recently-deceased Robert Burman and an appearancefrom Harry Gesner to pick up the award he won last year. The awards are being given out at ModCom's holiday party at UCLA's FacultyCenter, which was designed by Austin, Field and Fry in 1959. According to apress release, "The Faculty Center is a rare example of residentialranch-style architecture applied to a civic building and is highly unusual fora university and public institution setting. The post-and-beam structure wasrecently a preservation issue, but is no longer threatened with demolition. TheConservancy is currently working on a California Register of HistoricalResources nomination for the building."

Full article at http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/12/hollywood_community_plan_makes_its_debut_modcom_honors_midcentury_greats_in_midcentury_great.php

An LA Conservancy article on the Faculty Center is at http://www.laconservancy.org/issues/issues_ucla.php4

Thanks for Bette Billet who found the CurbedLA article.

Audio of Scoping Hearing on UCLA/Hotel/Conference Center: 11-14-11

This evening (11-14-11), a public hearing was held on the scoping report on the proposed hotel/conference center - primarily an environmental review. See earlier posts on this blog. Most speakers were representatives of neighborhood groups and representatives of local hotels. One retired and recalled faculty member spoke. Major themes were the lack of a business plan, incompleteness of architecture and design features, parking, and traffic issues. The UCLA architect repeatedly stressed that the various designs shown on PowerPoint slides were conceptual, not final. Some of those who made comments noted that it was difficult to evaluate a project without final design plans or a business plan. Hotel owners pointed to exemption from local taxes as unfair competition. They supported a conference center but not a hotel and expressed doubt that the project as described could break even. They were dubious about the notion that the project would generate business for them rather than reduce it.

Some speakers noted that they were pleased that UCLA found a new location that did not involve demolishing the Faculty Center. However, there were concerns about parking issues, traffic issues, and exactly how the hotel traffic could be made to integrate and accommodate the municipal bus station which is right across from the proposed project.

The hearing lasted just under an hour. You can hear the audio of the event using the option below:

Alternative links to the audio in three parts are at:
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

UPDATE: The Daily Bruin's report on the meeting is at http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/11/plans_for_new_ucla_hotel_and_conference_center_get_negative_responses_from_community#comments

Waiting for the Scoping Report

As a prior post indicated, there is supposed to be a "scoping" report regarding the revised and relocated proposal for a UCLA hotel/conference center.

The presentation of the scoping report is scheduled for a week from today. It will take place on Monday, November 14, 7-9 PM, at the Faculty Center.

It is getting late to release the report so there can be a public examination of it prior to November 14.

We are waiting patiently, but it would be nice to see the scope up on the web.

If you are interested in attending the November 14 meeting, send an RSVP message to mrule@support.ucla.edu.

Scoping! And you can attend

A session on the proposed and revised hotel/conference center will be held - where else? - at the UCLA Faculty Center. See notice below. RSVP by Nov. 9 to mrule@support.ucla.edu See earlier posts on this project.

Questions, Answers, & Comments Needed on Hotel/Conference Center

Now that we have arrived at the morning after on the hotel/conference center plan, it is important to consider what we don't know.

We don't yet have a business plan. So we don't have yearly projections of assumed revenues and expenditures. We don't know what assumptions are being made about the demand on campus for conferences and overnight stays. We don't know how the facility will be operated. Will it be staffed by UCLA employees? Contracted out?

There appeared to be an error in the initial press release about assumed future local area competitive hotel rates. What are the actual assumptions?

We do know that a large parking structure will be demolished. Exactly what are the parking plans for the displaced cars? We know there will be considerably fewer parking spots in the new project. Presumably, those new spots will be underground and expensive to construct. Will the costs be absorbed by the project in some way or will the costs be spread to all parkers around the campus through higher parking fees?

As was pointed out in the first round on this project, the Faculty Center - which now has been spared - has its own internal financial problems. Adding new conference facilities presumably will divert business from the Faculty Center, aggravating those problems. Were those impacts on the Faculty Center (or - for that matter - on other conference venues) modeled in formulating the new plan?

The site of the project, shown above, is opposite a municipal bus station. What happens to those buses during the construction period? There seemed to be a plan in fact for moving the bus station behind the Faculty Center to the central location. Is that plan now dead since the hotel/conference center won't be where the Faculty Center is?

So far, what we have is general assurances. We are told that there is plenty of campus parking so not to worry about the demolished parking structure. We are told that there will be so much campus conference activity that other venues and private area hotels won't be adversely affected. Indeed, local hotels will have more business. But assurances are not formal projections that can be independently evaluated.

There may well be more questions to be asked and blog readers should feel free to add comments and questions using the blog's comment option.

Bottom line to the project's planners. Are you sure? If so, let's see the numbers.

Hotel/Conference Center: We await details

We now know the general outlines of the hotel/conference center revised plan but the devil is in the details. We know the project is not replacing the Faculty Center. But at least one error in FAQ section - reproduced in the prior post - has been found. The earlier proposal for the Faculty Center site had a projected room rate of $360/day when put on a basis corresponding to what the recent FAQ response says would be $185 before inflation. But the FAQ put that number as $270, not $360. So there is an inconsistency, apparently, that someone will have to explain. And is it really likely that hotel room rates in the local area will almost double in nominal dollars in 4 years? That's a lot of inflation for a depressed economy - one which the UCLA Anderson forecast suggests will be with us for some time.

More generally, we lack the business plan. We don't yet have available a business plan that indicates, for example, what the assumed occupancy rate is projected to be. That rate matters a lot, given the size of the project: 250 rooms (down from 282, but still big). As the FAQ notes, the hotel/conference center cannot take commercial business. We don't know what kind of forecast of (overnight) UCLA conference activity is being made.

It is important that the project have a viable business plan. Otherwise, the campus in some way or other will pick up the losses. If the project displaces existing parking and new parking must be built, will the cost be shifted into overall parking rates? It will displace an existing parking structure, according to the info made available.

Presumably, someone will eventually make the detailed plan available. Sooner would be better than later. In the meantime, below is a photo of the location where the new hotel/conference center will be.


Update: The LA Times story on the plan is at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla-hotel-20111102,0,2528189.story

UCLA Hotel-Conference Center Plan Announced

As indicated in yesterday's post, UCLA has announced its plans for the hotel/conference center (which does not displace the Faculty Club). Below are some highlights:

Location: Central campus, at the end of Westwood Plaza near Pauley Pavilion, in the space currently occupied by Parking Structure 6

Projected Groundbreaking and Demolition: Summer 2013

Projected Completion: Winter 2016

Estimated Project Cost: Roughly $152 million ($40 million from UCLA donors Meyer and Renee Luskin and approximately $112 million in financing)

Square Feet of Meeting Space: 25,000

Number of Guest Rooms: 250

Number of Stories: Seven

Amenities: Restaurant, business center and fitness center

Planned Room Rate (based on today’s market): $185

Underground Parking Spots: 125

Press release http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/luskin-conference-center.aspx

From the FAQ section of http://luskinconferencecenter.ucla.edu/

Q: What about neighbors’ concerns?

A: We surveyed our neighbors and found no widespread opposition to the project, with concerns largely focused on traffic issues. In fact, we were very pleased to learn that our neighbors think we’re a good neighbor and that they have a very positive image of UCLA.

Q: Previously, UCLA said rates would be $270 per night. Why is it $185 now?

A: The previously referenced rate included food and conference fees and also factored in inflation, out to a completion date of 2015. This made for inaccurate comparisons with current hotel rates. The $185 rate applies to rooms only and represents what we would charge if the center was opened today, allowing for a fair and accurate comparison with existing area hotel rates.

Q: We’re visiting L.A. for our vacation. Can we get a room while we’re in town sightseeing?

A: No. All guests must have business with the university in order to book a reservation.

Q: What if an academic department wants to host a conference but can’t afford the center’s rates?

A: The Luskins have provided a $10 million endowment to assist academic departments in hosting conferences.

Trick or Treat? Hotel/Conference Center Plan Coming Tomorrow

Word has it that the revised proposal for the hotel/conference center will not replace the Faculty Center. The plan - apparently to be announced tomorrow - is reported to put it where Parking Structure 6 is now located, near the West Center. See map to the left.

So we will await the details. How scary could it be? By the day after tomorrow, you will know:

How Big?

How big would a 282 room hotel be? That is the size of the old proposal for a hotel/conference center that was originally slated to replace the Faculty Center. To give you an idea of its size, a new hotel has just opened in Santa Monica with only 164 rooms. 164/282 = 58%. The picture above shows that the Santa Monica hotel is quite large despite the much smaller number of rooms. As prior posts have noted, none of the private hotels in the Westwood area are as big as 282 rooms.

While awaiting the revised proposal for the hotel/conference center from the administration, you can read about the Santa Monica hotel at http://www.smmirror.com/#mode=single&view=33239

So how big will it be?

Groundhog Hotel?

Are we about to repeat - and repeat? Supposedly, we are going to be receiving (soon?) a revised (?) plan for the hotel/conference center. Yet on the UCLA Newsroom website - screenshot taken today - we find an entry about the hotel/conference center which includes:

Q: What is the UCLA residential conference center project?

A: UCLA is planning a 295,000-square-foot residential conference center featuring 33,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, a 9,000-square-foot conference hall, a 250-seat dining room and at least 282 guest rooms. The plan also includes a new 22,500-square-foot faculty club with a separate entrance and meeting space, a 300-seat dining room, a lounge, a café and bar, outdoor seating for 130 and an event lawn.

From: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/residential-conference-center-191983.aspx

Seems like we are repeating old history, again and again. Reminds me of:

Bel-Air

A news note on the UCLA hotel/conference center issue.

The Hotel Bel-Air, just north of campus, is about to reopen, albeit with a labor dispute in progress. And Marilyn Monroe (at left and in the video below from a 1953 visit to the Hotel) won’t be staying there this time around.

From the LA Times:

When the Hotel Bel-Air reopens next week after a two-year renovation, the resort's mascot swans — Chloe, Athena and Hercules — will still occupy the lush 12-acre property visited by presidents, movie stars and other dignitaries. But absent will be most of the union workers who washed dishes, made beds and laundered towels at the hotel. They were laid off when the hotel closed, and many of them will return only to march and protest outside the hotel entrance. The historic hotel, closed in 2009 for the multimillion-dollar upgrade, will reopen Friday with only about a dozen of its former union workers on the staff of 275, dealing a blow to the hotel workers union and its members. The protest will be organized by the hospitality workers union Unite Here Local 11, which contends the hotel used the construction project to oust the union from the hotel…

Full article at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1008-hotel-bel-air-20111008,0,6877709.story

Bottom line: More local hotel rooms coming on line – although these will be swanky ones. Presumably, the long-awaited review of the campus hotel/conference center project will take account of such developments. We are patiently waiting.

Not to Worry: Follow Up on Hotel Plan

Yesterday, we posted a reminder that we are all waiting for the revised UCLA hotel plan. From a Fox TV News press release comes word that if UCLA goes ahead with a grand hotel/conference center plan that then flops, there will still be hope. Help will be on the way:

After over a decade of running restaurants in some of the top hotels around the world, traveling the globe and running an award-winning boutique hotel in London, (Gerald) Ramsay knows firsthand the crucial importance of surpassing guests’ highest expectations. In the series, Ramsay and a team of hospitality experts will travel across the country to fix struggling hotels, mediocre motels and just plain bad bed & breakfasts. FOX and Chef Gordon Ramsay have checked into HOTEL HELL (working title), a new unscripted series from Ramsay’s One Potato Two Potato Inc. From dirty bedrooms and mold-ridden bathrooms to incompetent staff or customer service that’s not up to par, Ramsay and his team will work with the hotel employees to turn these hapless establishments around. As he tries to turn these “No”-tels into successful hotels, Ramsay – in his own inimitable style – will go head-to-head with the owners and staff, raising the tension to maximum capacity. With reputations on the line, one thing is certain: if they can’t meet Ramsay’s high standards, they will never check out of HOTEL HELL…

Full release at http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/09/21/fox-orders-new-gordon-ramsay-series-hotel-hell-working-title/104397/

So not to worry. We can now rely on reality TV from Fox in case of problems with our hotel. Yours truly was afraid the only reality TV we might have to rely on was NBC's "Biggest Loser." Or maybe there is still some other TV alternative, if you get my message:

Hotel Plan: We're Waiting

The fall quarter is getting under way and (soon???) there should be a re-studied plan from the UCLA administration on the Grand Hotel project that was proposed - but halted after protests from the Academic Senate - to replace the Faculty Center. We are waiting patiently for the (revised???) plan.

But in the meantime - a modest??? musical contribution - to salute the UCLA construction empire:

Construction and Demolition

The narration on the video below says that UCLA has a plan to convert from a "commuter campus" to a "residential campus." Hence, there must be a lot of new construction and demolition of old buildings.

In addition, there is a large building going up near the old hospital. The Daily Bruin recently carried an article discussing and illustrating the demolition and replacement of an engineering building:

http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/08/engineering_1a_building_demolished_to_be_replaced_by_modernized_facility Other construction is going on in mid-campus.

Might the empire have enough to do with these various projects without demolishing the Faculty Center and replacing it with a 280-room hotel? Just asking.

Wilshire-Gayley Hotel Plan Reported to be Moving Right Along

As previous posts on this blog have noted, a local developer bought and cleared the old Hollywood video store site at the corner of Wilshire and Gayley with plans to open a new Westwood hotel.

LAObserved reported yesterday that the Wilshire-Gayley plan is moving along, with an architect hired to deal with the odd triangular shape of the site. (There is a further link in the LAObserved article to a more detailed piece on the proposed hotel.)

You can find the article at http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2011/08/westwood_village_hotel_wo.php

Readers of this blog will also know that UCLA has been proposing to build a 280-room hotel/conference center where the Faculty Center is now located. If built, that hotel would have to compete for business with existing Westwood-area hotels, possibly including this new one.

In short, in Westwood Village things are moving along. On campus, with money tight, it might be advisable to slow down.

How to Turn $70 Million into $63 Million in 7 Years: Build a 210-Room Hotel Adjacent to Campus

A straw in the wind about the Estancia Hotel in La Jolla next to UC-San Diego:

The seven-year-old, 210-room Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa, located adjacent to UC San Diego, has been put up for sale. The owner, Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises, is not saying why it's marketing the property nor did it divulge an asking price, but an online real estate publication estimates the luxury property could fetch more than $60 million. The hotel and conference center, which sits on a nine-acre site known at one time as the Black Family La Jolla Stables, was developed at a cost of $70 million. The Real Estate Alert newsletter estimates that the property could sell for $63 million...

Full story at http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/02/luxury-la-jolla-hotel-up-for-sale/

Maybe a lesson to be learned about the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center to replace the Faculty Center? Just a thought.



Anyway, as the song says, build it and "bring your alibis":

Who Owns It?

As the 1951 fundraising letter above indicates, the UCLA Faculty Center began with contributions from various sources. (Click on the image for a clearer look.) The Regents apparently contributed less than half, perhaps a third, of the original funding. However, documents available do not make it clear who owns the building (as opposed to the land under it which clearly is university property). What is known is that over the years, there were discussions of a formal contract (Memorandum of Understanding – MOU) between UCLA and the Board of the Faculty Center.

Below you can find a draft of an MOU from 2005 – one which was never signed. It contains a statement on page 2 (of the MOU, not the pdf) that the university owns the building. So it appears that the university wanted a statement that it owned the building. But the Board never agreed to this MOU or any other version.

Open publication - Free publishing - More faculty center

As the song goes:

How to Have a Major Conference Without a Campus Hotel

As a follow up, readers of this blog will recall an earlier entry about the 2-day Governor's Conference on Local Renewable Energy Resources which was held at UCLA recently without the need for a new hotel/conference center.

If you don't recall it, check out http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/07/rooms-at-inns.html

The first day of the governor's conference was held at Covel and the second at the Faculty Center, the very Faculty Center that was slated to be demolished for the hotel/conference center.

For a more complete photo montage, below is a full collection of pictures of the event. Click on the arrow to start the automatic show:

An official statement about the event reports that "The conference embodied the Governor's vision along with the Luskin Center for Innovation's purpose to unite the intellectual capital of UCLA with forward-looking civic leaders to address the most pressing issues confronting our community, nation and world."

Auditor Looks In: Now that the audit is out, a money-losing hotel would not be advisable

Undoubtedly, the headline on the audit report for UC released today will be the generalized call for more “transparency.” The report produced a nasty back and forth between UCOP and the State Auditor as to whether what the report found was significant or not with UCOP effectively suggesting that the audit was a waste of money. The audit was the product of a request by state senator Leland Yee – now running for mayor of San Francisco – who has made something of a career out of criticizing the university.

That being said, there is material in the report about “auxiliary enterprises” and whether they are subsidized or not. The specific cases raised are 1) use of student fees for the Pauley renovation at UCLA (and another building, see pp. 57-58 of the report; these are report pages, not pdf pages) and 2) a subsidy UC-Berkeley provided to its money-losing athletics program.

On a listing of the number of “funds” (accounts) for such enterprises and functions, UCLA has more of these accounts than other campuses and they are concentrated in housing, hotel, conference services, etc. (See page 54.) The auditor notes that UCOP’s position is the campus auxiliary enterprises are the responsibility of the campuses and that it does not get much involved in them. (p. 53)

In the back and forth sniping between UCOP and the auditor (which begins on p. 79), there is an interesting statement in the auditor’s reply (page 90, item marked “15”).

The auditor says that UCOP’s critique of the audit overstates its (the auditor’s) concerns about auxiliary enterprises, assuming that there are no plans within UC to provide subsidies to such enterprises more frequently than is now the case. The auditor assumes that the Berkeley case is a rare occurrence. It disagrees with UCLA as to whether the Pauley diversion was/is legit but, again, seems to assume that the Pauley situation was a unique event. It would be a Bad Thing for UCLA and UC if – following such an audit – it turned out that there were more money-losing enterprises in the works that would need some kind of subsidy or diversion.

All of which takes me to the hotel/conference center UCLA has planned to replace the Faculty Center. As has been pointed out by the Academic Senate Committee on Planning and Budget, the hotel’s business plan is a money loser. If we commit to a money-losing enterprise after the state auditor raises concerns about subsidizing such enterprises or diverting funds to them – but seems to have been assured that such decisions were rare anomalies that are not expected to happen in the future – we are asking for trouble.

So maybe we shouldn’t ask for it. You think?

You can read the state auditor’s report at http://bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2010-105.pdf

You can find a media account of the report at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/07/audit-says-university-of-california-should-be.html

Note: Ultimately, UCLA did not use the student fee for Pauley after complaints. But it defends its rights to have done so. See http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/audit-finds-ucla-misused-23-million-student-fees-11813

Rooms at the Inns

UCLA (Covel on the first day) is the site of a conference sponsored by Governor Jerry Brown on "Local Renewable Energy Resources." You can find the agenda for the event at:

http://gov.ca.gov/s_energyconference.php

Now here is an interesting side note to the conference. Apparently, the participants and guests can be accommodated without a big hassle (and without a new on-campus hotel).

If you click on the website above, you will find the statement:

Hotel information: The nearby Luxe Hotel is providing rooms at a group rate. Call (800) 468-3541 and provide the group code UCLAGOV to book a room.

Below that, if you don't want to stay at the Luxe, you are told:

For other hotels in the area, check out http://www.travel.ucla.edu/new/HOTELS/LosAngele_Vicinity.shtml

If you click on that link, you will find a listing of area hotels with rates as low as $89. You can also find the cost of staying at the Luxe at the UCLA rate which turns out to start at $139 per night. Here is the listing if you don't want to bother to click:

Best Western Gateway Hotel Santa Monica UCLA rates start $84.00* Courtyard LAX, Century City and Beverly Hills UCLA rates start at $99.00 - 129.00* Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills UCLA rates start at $109.00 - $279.00* Doubletree Guest Suites Santa Monica UCLA special rates start at $179.00* Doubletree Los Angeles - Westwood UCLA rates start at $149.00 - $379.00* Hilton Los Angeles Airport UCLA rates start at $89.00 - $450.00* Holiday Inn Brentwood/Bel-Air UCLA special rates start at $109.00* Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard UCLA special rates start at $139.00* Oakwood UCLA rates start at $103.00* The Huntley Hotel UCLA special rates start at $189.00* Renaissance LAX UCLA special rates start at $125.00* Residence Inn Beverly Hills UCLA rates start at $110.00 - $249.00* Sheraton Santa Monica UCLA rate $159.00* The Los Angeles Athletic Club UCLA special rates start at $110.00* UCLA Guest House UCLA special rates start at $109.00* W Hotel Westwood UCLA special rates start at $199.00*

Oh. I noted above the location of the first day of the conference. Did I mention where the second day of this event will be held? It will be at the UCLA Faculty Center.

Bottom line: A major conference held at UCLA can be serviced by existing area hotels at room costs well below the room cost projections for the 280 room hotel/conference center UCLA proposed to replace the Faculty Center. And even in its current state - which clearly needs improvement - the Faculty Center can service the conference.