Construction of a new high-rise addition to the Hilton Hotel in Universal City has been approved by the Los Angeles Planning Commission, removing a major obstacle to the long-planned expansion.
The move comes as Universal Studios and other popular tourist destinations in the region are attracting hoteliers, even as other properties in California’s urban centers struggle to fill rooms.
The commission recommended last week that the City Council approve construction of an 18-story addition to the 24-story Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City hotel, which opened in 1984. The addition would include 395 rooms, bringing the total between the two structures to 890 rooms, making the Hilton among the largest hotels in Los Angeles County.
Hotels near popular leisure destinations such as Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood are outperforming California hotels catering to business travelers and meetings, said hotel consultant Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group.
“Large full-service hotels have been really impacted by the work-from-home movement and the decline in convention and meetings activity,” Reay said.
Universal City is “a small island that’s doing incredibly well,” he said, with an average occupancy rate of 92% at the Hilton last year.
“I don’t know of any other hotel that offers this type of occupancy rate” at a similar price point, he said. “It speaks volumes about the strength of the location and the brand.”
“It makes sense to add rooms,” said Reay, who is not involved in the planned development.
The addition would include three restaurants, two swimming pools and an expansion of the existing three-level parking garage.
(Ankrom Moisan)
The expansion is being proposed by Sun Hill Real Estate, owner of the Hilton-operated Universal City hotel.
Sun Hill chairman Mark Davis said the company was “extremely pleased” to have received approval from the Planning Commission.
“We continue to believe in the future of Los Angeles and the continued growth of our primary demand driver, the Universal Studios theme park, the key magnet for attracting tourism to the City of Angels,” he said in a statement.
If approved by the City Council, construction would take about 30 months, according to city documents recommending the development. An expansion of the Hilton has been first proposed in 2017while it was estimated that more than 70% of visitors were there to visit the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, home to the $500 million Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The extension’s design by architectural firm Ankrom Moisan also includes a spa, three restaurants, an indoor-outdoor bar, two swimming pools and an extension of the existing three-level car park.
The planned expansion, which Sun Hill aims to complete in time to serve the 2028 Olympics, comes as Hotel sales are down in Los Angeles County and across the state, amid high interest rates and smaller transaction sizes that are holding back the market, according to a recent report from Atlas Hospitality.
Times staff Writer Caroline Petrow-Cohen contributed to this report.
