Land Use Team Wins Approval from City of Los Angeles to Adaptively Reuse and Preserve Rendon Hotel
Sheppard Mullin represented working artists, Ralph and Maria Greenshields-Ziman, in winning approval from the City of Los Angeles to adaptively reuse and preserve the historic Rendon Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District. The project will be a cultural hub for the arts including expanded programs for Art At The Rendon as well as a new hotel with 103 guest rooms, 15,907 square feet of commercial space, including artist studios and galleries, a cafe, a restaurant, and a bar. The project would also activate 42 much-needed affordable housing units off-site at the El Sol property.
The Rendon Hotel engaged Sheppard Mullin late in the entitlement process to solve their conundrum of a having a good project that stalled due to legal challenges by union groups. The firm crafted a strategy that enhanced the entitlement case and protected it from further challenge under the California Environmental Quality Act. Concurrently, the firm negotiated labor agreements that protected the Rendon Hotel operations while creating quality jobs and enabling hotel workers to live near their workplaces. The Sheppard Mullin team also resolved complex replacement housing obligations and creatively navigated compliance with the Wiggins Settlement Agreement, Residential Hotel Ordinance, and other housing requirements. Holistically, the firm assisted the Rendon Hotel team in regaining its leverage and successfully completing the entitlement process with unanimous approvals.
The Sheppard Mullin team that represented The Rendon LLC was led by Los Angeles partner James E. Pugh and associates Lauren Chang and Elijah Griffen.