CBS Columbia Square
Encyclopedia
CBS Columbia Square, located at 6121 Sunset Boulevard
in Hollywood, Los Angeles
, California
, was the home of CBS
's Los Angeles radio and television operations from 1938 until 2007. The building housed the CBS Radio Network
's West Coast facilities, as well as CBS' original Los Angeles radio stations, KNX
and KCBS-FM
. KNXT-TV, Channel 2 (now KCBS-TV
) moved into the complex in 1960, and the CBS Television Network's West Coast operations were based there until it moved to the larger CBS Television City
in November 1952. After its purchase by CBS in 2002, KCAL-TV
moved to the Square from studios adjacent to CBS' then-corporate sibling Paramount Pictures
. Between 2004 and 2007 all of these operations moved to other facilities in the Los Angeles area.
eventually took over operation of Nestor Studios
and filmed comedies on the site, originally the location of an early Hollywood roadhouse. Prior to moving to Columbia Square, KNX had been situated at several Hollywood locations.
Columbia Square was designed by Swiss-born architect William Lescaze
in the style of International Modernism
and built over a year at a cost of two million dollars — more money than had ever been spent on a broadcasting facility.
Lescaze's sweeping streamline motifs, porthole windows and glass brick were true to Modernist design, though CBS President William Paley insisted the Square's form follow function. In his dedicatory speech, he remarked, "It is because we believe these new Hollywood headquarters, reflecting many innovations of design and acoustics and control, will improve the art of broadcasting that we have built them and are dedicating them here tonight."
Columbia Square opened on April 30, 1938 with a full day of special broadcasts culminating in the star-studded evening special, "A Salute to Columbia Square" featuring Bob Hope
, Al Jolson
and Cecil B. DeMille
. Crowds thronged Sunset Boulevard and a blimp bathed in searchlights hovered overhead as the program was carried coast-to-coast on the Columbia Broadcasting System, beamed to Europe via short wave, and carried across Canada on the CBC
. On that premiere broadcast, Hope joked that Columbia Square looked like "the Taj Mahal
with a permanent wave." Jolson quipped, "It looks like Flash Gordon
's bathroom."
The Square's original configuration included eight studios. Studios 1 to 4 were to the left of the main entrance. Upstairs were Studios 5 and 6 as well as Studio 7. At the back of the forecourt was the large auditorium referred to as the "Columbia Playhouse" and it seated an audience of 1050. In 1940 to the east of the auditorium were constructed two new audience theatres which were called "Studio B" and "Studio C" with each seating approximately 350 people. Shows such as Jack Benny's "Lucky Strike Program" and "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" emanated from Studio B. Lucille Ball's "My Favorite Husband", "Blondie", and "Dr. Christian" are a few of the shows that used Studio C. When B and C were built, the Columbia Playhouse then took the letter designation of "Studio A". Studio A was home to "The Silver Theatre", "The Swan Show starring George Burns and Gracie Allen", "The Lady Esther Screen Guild Players" and countless others. The complex included Brittingham's Radio Center Restaurant, a men's clothing store, and a branch of the Bank of America
. Tours of the studios cost 40 cents and passed by a glass-windowed control room housing Columbia's West Coast master control.
"Columbia Square was one of the glories of radio. It was somewhat sacred to those in the industry. There was nothing comparable to its splendor in New York" says writer-producer Norman Corwin
whose most famous broadcast, On a Note of Triumph, originated from the Square on VE Day, 1945.
In early 2009, CBS Columbia Square Studios were designated as a historic-cultural monument
by Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission and the City Council
.
, Burns and Allen
, Edgar Bergen
, Red Skelton
, Eve Arden
"(Our Miss Brooks
)," "Blondie
," Jack Oakie
and Steve Allen
sparked to the airways from the Square.
Dramas included "Suspense," "Gunsmoke
," "Dr. Christian," "The Whistler
," "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
," "The CBS Radio Workshop" (author Aldous Huxley introduced a production of "Brave New World") and "Columbia Presents Corwin" (dramas produced by Norman Corwin
.)
Musical acts performing at Columbia Square included Eddie Cantor
, Rosemary Clooney
, Bing Crosby
and Gene Autry
. Composer Bernard Hermann frequently scored and conducted Columbia Square broadcasts. Through the facilities of KNX, the Columbia network broadcast big band music from nearby ballrooms including the Hollywood Palladium
and the Earl Caroll Theater.
In the 2005 KNX broadcast, "A Salute to Columbia Square," announcer George Walsh recalled crowds jamming the Square's forecourt for tickets to live broadcasts. (Ushers would sometimes walk down Sunset Blvd. to NBC's studios at Vine Street to urge audience members to watch a Columbia Square broadcast instead.) After their on-air appearances, actors would dash to the Radio Actors Telephone Exchange in the Square's lobby to check with their agents about their next bookings.
Bob Crane
was a top-rated KNX deejay at Columbia Square in the 1960s. James Dean
was an usher. The pilot for I Love Lucy
was filmed on the Square's stages in TV's early years. Some of the Square's once-luxurious radio theaters were converted to recording studios for Columbia Records
where Bob Dylan
and Barbra Streisand
, among many top stars, recorded albums.
neighborhood on L.A.'s Wilshire Boulevard
which it shares with CBS Radio stations KFWB, KTWV
, and KRTH. KNX, the last radio station to operate in Hollywood, moved after 67 years of operation at the Square just after 11:00 p.m. on August 12, 2005 following a farewell broadcast from its Columbia Square studios. On April 21, 2007, KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV left the building and moved their operations to the CBS Studio Center
in Studio City, thus ending Columbia Square's status as a broadcast facility, one of a very few remaining in Hollywood.
The Square fell into disrepair during the years in which Laurence Tisch
was at the helm of CBS, and asbestos
problems have been cited as a reason to demolish the broadcasting venue. Columbia Square was acquired for $15 million by Sungow Corp in 2003. In August 2006, the property was acquired by Las Vegas
-based developer Molasky Pacific LLC, for $66 million. It plans to redevelop the 125000 square feet (11,612.9 m²) complex to continue to attract entertainment industry tenants. It is considering options that would include adding some residential units to the office and broadcasting facility. The project is valued at $850-million and is the largest development project in Hollywood, California. Developers plan a major mixed-use project that will take up an entire city block and restore the 105000 square feet (9,754.8 m²) historic CBS building as creative office space. Other proposed elements include a 380000 square feet (35,303.2 m²) office tower, 400 housing units, 12200 square feet (1,133.4 m²) of retail and a 125-room boutique style hotel. Groundbreaking is hoped for 2009.
Helmi Hisserich, regional administrator for the City of Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency, says redevelopment of Columbia Square will provide new housing, office and entertainment uses “while preserving the key historical elements of the property.”
In the fall of 2007, the location was chosen for the site of MTV's Real World: Hollywood
, which is a Viacom owned show. (Viacom owned CBS until 2006, when the companies split in two, but National Amusements is still owner of the two firms.)
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
and Los Angeles Conservancy
have been actively engaged in efforts to preserve the Hollywood landmark.
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
in Hollywood, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, was the home of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Los Angeles radio and television operations from 1938 until 2007. The building housed the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
's West Coast facilities, as well as CBS' original Los Angeles radio stations, KNX
KNX (AM)
KNX is an all-news radio station in Los Angeles, California, USA. The station operates on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio. KNX broadcasts from facilities shared with sister stations KFWB, KCBS-FM, KTWV, and KAMP on Los Angeles' Miracle Mile...
and KCBS-FM
KCBS-FM
KCBS-FM is a radio station in Los Angeles, California broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area on 93.1 FM. KCBS-FM airs an adult hits music format branded as "Jack-FM"....
. KNXT-TV, Channel 2 (now KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...
) moved into the complex in 1960, and the CBS Television Network's West Coast operations were based there until it moved to the larger CBS Television City
CBS Television City
CBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
in November 1952. After its purchase by CBS in 2002, KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...
moved to the Square from studios adjacent to CBS' then-corporate sibling Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. Between 2004 and 2007 all of these operations moved to other facilities in the Los Angeles area.
Architecture and dedication
Columbia Square was built for KNX and as the Columbia Broadcasting System's West Coast operations headquarters on the site of the Nestor Film Company, Hollywood's first movie studio. The Christie Film CompanyChristie Film Company
Christie Film Company was an American pioneer motion picture company founded in Hollywood, California by Al Christie and Charles Christie, two brothers from London, Ontario, Canada....
eventually took over operation of Nestor Studios
Nestor Studios
The Nestor Motion Picture Company was a motion picture studio/production company located in Bayonne, New Jersey, and Hollywood, California, which was owned and operated by David Horsley and his brother, William Horsley....
and filmed comedies on the site, originally the location of an early Hollywood roadhouse. Prior to moving to Columbia Square, KNX had been situated at several Hollywood locations.
Columbia Square was designed by Swiss-born architect William Lescaze
William Lescaze
William Edmond Lescaze was a Swiss-born American architect, and is one of the pioneers of modernism in American architecture....
in the style of International Modernism
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
and built over a year at a cost of two million dollars — more money than had ever been spent on a broadcasting facility.
Lescaze's sweeping streamline motifs, porthole windows and glass brick were true to Modernist design, though CBS President William Paley insisted the Square's form follow function. In his dedicatory speech, he remarked, "It is because we believe these new Hollywood headquarters, reflecting many innovations of design and acoustics and control, will improve the art of broadcasting that we have built them and are dedicating them here tonight."
Columbia Square opened on April 30, 1938 with a full day of special broadcasts culminating in the star-studded evening special, "A Salute to Columbia Square" featuring Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
and Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
. Crowds thronged Sunset Boulevard and a blimp bathed in searchlights hovered overhead as the program was carried coast-to-coast on the Columbia Broadcasting System, beamed to Europe via short wave, and carried across Canada on the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
. On that premiere broadcast, Hope joked that Columbia Square looked like "the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
with a permanent wave." Jolson quipped, "It looks like Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
's bathroom."
The Square's original configuration included eight studios. Studios 1 to 4 were to the left of the main entrance. Upstairs were Studios 5 and 6 as well as Studio 7. At the back of the forecourt was the large auditorium referred to as the "Columbia Playhouse" and it seated an audience of 1050. In 1940 to the east of the auditorium were constructed two new audience theatres which were called "Studio B" and "Studio C" with each seating approximately 350 people. Shows such as Jack Benny's "Lucky Strike Program" and "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" emanated from Studio B. Lucille Ball's "My Favorite Husband", "Blondie", and "Dr. Christian" are a few of the shows that used Studio C. When B and C were built, the Columbia Playhouse then took the letter designation of "Studio A". Studio A was home to "The Silver Theatre", "The Swan Show starring George Burns and Gracie Allen", "The Lady Esther Screen Guild Players" and countless others. The complex included Brittingham's Radio Center Restaurant, a men's clothing store, and a branch of the Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
. Tours of the studios cost 40 cents and passed by a glass-windowed control room housing Columbia's West Coast master control.
"Columbia Square was one of the glories of radio. It was somewhat sacred to those in the industry. There was nothing comparable to its splendor in New York" says writer-producer Norman Corwin
Norman Corwin
Norman Lewis Corwin was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing...
whose most famous broadcast, On a Note of Triumph, originated from the Square on VE Day, 1945.
In early 2009, CBS Columbia Square Studios were designated as a historic-cultural monument
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites in Los Angeles, California, which have been designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria.-History:...
by Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission and the City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
.
Programs
Columbia Square became home to some of the best-known comedies of radio's golden age. Jack BennyJack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.-Vaudeville:...
, Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
, Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
, Eve Arden
Eve Arden
Eve Arden was an American actress. Her almost 60-year career crossed most media frontiers with supporting and leading roles, but she may be best-remembered for playing the sardonic but engaging title character, a high school teacher, on Our Miss Brooks, and as the Rydell High School principal in...
"(Our Miss Brooks
Our Miss Brooks
Our Miss Brooks is an American situation comedy starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high school English teacher. It began as a radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television , it became one of the medium's earliest hits...
)," "Blondie
Blondie (film)
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
," Jack Oakie
Jack Oakie
Jack Oakie was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television.-Early life:...
and Steve Allen
Steve Allen (comedian)
Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...
sparked to the airways from the Square.
Dramas included "Suspense," "Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
," "Dr. Christian," "The Whistler
The Whistler
The Whistler was an American radio mystery drama which ran from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. It was sponsored by the Signal Oil Company: "That whistle is your signal for the Signal Oil program, The Whistler." The program was adapted into a film noir series by Columbia Pictures in...
," "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was a radio drama of "the transcribed adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account — America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator." The show aired on CBS Radio from January 14, 1949 to September 30, 1962...
," "The CBS Radio Workshop" (author Aldous Huxley introduced a production of "Brave New World") and "Columbia Presents Corwin" (dramas produced by Norman Corwin
Norman Corwin
Norman Lewis Corwin was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing...
.)
Musical acts performing at Columbia Square included Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
, Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
. Composer Bernard Hermann frequently scored and conducted Columbia Square broadcasts. Through the facilities of KNX, the Columbia network broadcast big band music from nearby ballrooms including the Hollywood Palladium
Hollywood Palladium
The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an 11,200 square foot dance floor with room for up to 4,000 people.-History:...
and the Earl Caroll Theater.
In the 2005 KNX broadcast, "A Salute to Columbia Square," announcer George Walsh recalled crowds jamming the Square's forecourt for tickets to live broadcasts. (Ushers would sometimes walk down Sunset Blvd. to NBC's studios at Vine Street to urge audience members to watch a Columbia Square broadcast instead.) After their on-air appearances, actors would dash to the Radio Actors Telephone Exchange in the Square's lobby to check with their agents about their next bookings.
Bob Crane
Bob Crane
Robert Edward "Bob" Crane was an American actor and disc jockey, best known for his performance as Colonel Robert E...
was a top-rated KNX deejay at Columbia Square in the 1960s. James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
was an usher. The pilot for I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
was filmed on the Square's stages in TV's early years. Some of the Square's once-luxurious radio theaters were converted to recording studios for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
where Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, among many top stars, recorded albums.
Today
KNX moved into new studios in the Miracle MileMiracle Mile, Los Angeles, California
The Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, California, is an area in the Mid-Wilshire region consisting of an almost two-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Western Avenues...
neighborhood on L.A.'s Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
which it shares with CBS Radio stations KFWB, KTWV
KTWV
KTWV is a commercial radio station located in Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside–San Bernardino and Ventura County areas on 94.7 FM. KTWV airs a hybrid Smooth AC radio format branded as "94.7 The Wave"...
, and KRTH. KNX, the last radio station to operate in Hollywood, moved after 67 years of operation at the Square just after 11:00 p.m. on August 12, 2005 following a farewell broadcast from its Columbia Square studios. On April 21, 2007, KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV left the building and moved their operations to the CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It is located at 4024 Radford Avenue and takes up a triangular piece of land, with the Los Angeles River bisecting the site...
in Studio City, thus ending Columbia Square's status as a broadcast facility, one of a very few remaining in Hollywood.
The Square fell into disrepair during the years in which Laurence Tisch
Laurence Tisch
Laurence Alan "Larry" Tisch was an American businessman, Wall Street investor and self-made billionaire. He was the CEO of CBS television network from 1986 to 1995...
was at the helm of CBS, and asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
problems have been cited as a reason to demolish the broadcasting venue. Columbia Square was acquired for $15 million by Sungow Corp in 2003. In August 2006, the property was acquired by Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
-based developer Molasky Pacific LLC, for $66 million. It plans to redevelop the 125000 square feet (11,612.9 m²) complex to continue to attract entertainment industry tenants. It is considering options that would include adding some residential units to the office and broadcasting facility. The project is valued at $850-million and is the largest development project in Hollywood, California. Developers plan a major mixed-use project that will take up an entire city block and restore the 105000 square feet (9,754.8 m²) historic CBS building as creative office space. Other proposed elements include a 380000 square feet (35,303.2 m²) office tower, 400 housing units, 12200 square feet (1,133.4 m²) of retail and a 125-room boutique style hotel. Groundbreaking is hoped for 2009.
Helmi Hisserich, regional administrator for the City of Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency, says redevelopment of Columbia Square will provide new housing, office and entertainment uses “while preserving the key historical elements of the property.”
In the fall of 2007, the location was chosen for the site of MTV's Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood is the twentieth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships. It premiered on...
, which is a Viacom owned show. (Viacom owned CBS until 2006, when the companies split in two, but National Amusements is still owner of the two firms.)
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
and Los Angeles Conservancy
Los Angeles Conservancy
The Los Angeles Conservancy is an historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California. It works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. The Conservancy is the largest membership based historic preservation organization in the country...
have been actively engaged in efforts to preserve the Hollywood landmark.
External links
- CBS corporate website
- CBS Radio website
- Columbia Broadcasting System at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
- 2005 KNX farewell broadcast, "A Salute to Columbia Square"( audio) from Michael Linder
- KNX 1070 moving from Columbia Square in Hollywood, KCBS 2's Lisa Sigell reports ASFAdvanced Systems FormatAdvanced Systems Format is Microsoft's proprietary digital audio/digital video container format, especially meant for streaming media...
WMVWindows Media Video'Windows Media Video is a video compression format for several proprietary codecs developed by Microsoft. The original video format, known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other formats, such as WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater...
Streaming mediaStreaming mediaStreaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
(open Link with VLCVLCVLC may refer to:* Valencia Airport , an airport near Valencia, Spain* VLC media player, a free software cross-platform multimedia player and framework...
)