Leaders: Wrapbook cofounders Ali Javid, left, and Cameron Woodward.
Wrapbook, a Burbank-based payroll startup, announced in late September it raised $20 million in equity financing, valuing the company at $750 million.
Bessemer Venture Partners provided the funding. The new valuation represents a decline from Wrapbook’s $1 billion valuation in 2021.
Wrapbook is part of a growing number of companies focused on bringing enterprise business-to-business offerings to the once-impenetrable Hollywood. Wrapbook was cofounded in 2018 by Cameron Woodward and Ali Javid, the latter of whom spent his post-grad career on the financial side of enterprise technology companies before starting Wrapbook.
“If you look at what’s happening with studios, they’re going through this major restructuring, trying to figure out streaming. The industry is in absolute flux,” Wrapbook chief executive Javid said. “And I think it’s been putting a ton of pressure on production companies because there are less productions and there is higher scrutiny.”
Wrangling Hollywood
The chaotic, hyper specific and short-term nature of Hollywood is perhaps difficult for tech companies to automate and scale. When a new project starts, production companies have to hire temporary workers and then end all their contracts on the same date. Workers have to be paid according to different union guidelines and also in accordance with laws of whichever state or municipality the shoot is taking place. Rules change depending on scheduling changes and how the project is distributed – is it a television show, commercial or movie, and is it released via streaming or theaters?
Production companies also need to keep track of tax credits and understand which they qualify for.
“You need a very purpose-built organization, because it’s not only software, it’s also the service experience,” Javid said. “If you’re Rippling, you onboard a client, you’re going to train a payroll person once and then the client is onboarded forever. If a production company adopts Wrapbook, every single freelance producer that gets hired for each new production is going to have to learn about Wrapbook.”
Wrapbook has no plans to expand its offering outside of the entertainment industry. Per the company, four studios used Wrapbook’s software in their productions in 2023 (“I can’t name the studios. I’d love to,” Javid said) and more than 40 talent agencies like the Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor have made profiles for actors and other talent on the platform.
“Wrapbook’s technology fundamentally enhances the capacity and impact of production finance teams,” Mary D’Onofrio, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, said in a statement. “We’ve been pursuing this investment for years, recognizing its potential to reshape entertainment finance.”
The company plans to grow its 280-and-something remote employee base into 400 people as it goes up against giants in its niche: Burbank-based Cast & Crew, which began in 1976 and went through a series of acquisitions between private equity firms, and Burbank-based Entertainment Partners, another private equity-owned payroll tech firm that started in 1976.
“I think an unfortunate model of private equity is they buy a company, they want to sell that company three years later, and they’re going to cut every single thing possible to maximize profit to sell in three years,” Javid said. “And that three-year window is not a long window to think about, well, what does the industry need? What should they go build?”
FOR THIS SPECIAL SECTION OF INSIDE THE VALLEY, we feature insights and commentary from two of the leading employment attorneys in the region to get their assessments regarding the current state of labor legislation, what changes have come to the labor law landscape in light of recent challenges, the new rules of hiring and firing, and the various trends that they have been observing, and in some cases, driving.
L.A. County’s unemployment rate rose again to 5.8% in September from 5.6% in August, its highest level since early 2022. The uptick came despite modest growth of 6,100 payroll jobs for the month.
Those are the key takeaways from the monthly Los Angeles County unemployment and payroll jobs data release on Oct. 18 from the state Employment Development Department.
The rise in the unemployment rate was due in part to an increase of 17,000 in the size of the labor force compared to August. That follows an increase of 19,000 in August compared to July. The data appear to indicate more Los Angeles County residents are entering or re-entering the labor force.
In September of last year, the unemployment rate stood at 5.2%.
The county’s unemployment rate was above the statewide average for September of 5.3% and well above the national average of 4.1%.
The Employment Development Department also released a breakout of August unemployment rates by city, though unlike the countywide average, these are not adjusted for seasonal factors. The rates for the two largest cities in the county – Los Angeles and Long Beach – were identical at 6.1% – down substantially from 6.8% in August.
Among cities with labor forces exceeding 10,000, Lomita had the lowest seasonally-unadjusted unemployment rate of 2.5% in September, while Calabasas had the highest rate at 8.6%.
For cities in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Antelope and Conejo valleys with labor forces exceeding 10,000, the city of San Fernando had the lowest seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate in September of 4.6%, followed by Santa Clarita (5.6%) and then Glendale (5.8%).
At the high end in the quad-valley area, after Calabasas and its 8.6% unemployment rate in September, next were Lancaster (8.2%) and Palmdale (8.1%). Burbank’s rate came in at 7.3%.
Turning to employer payrolls, September’s increase of 6,100 jobs was a drop from the 13,700 jobs added on net in August and brought the total nonfarm payroll jobs tally in the county to 4,577,200.
The biggest increase came in the education sector – no surprise given that many schools began their academic year in September. The sector posted an addition of 15,600 payroll jobs across the spectrum from K-12 public schools, state colleges and universities and private schools.
To account for this expected seasonal increase, the state also released a seasonally adjusted payroll jobs figure for September that showed a slight drop of 1,600 jobs compared to August.
Returning to the unadjusted figures, the only other industries registering a significant increase in payroll jobs in September were health care/social assistance (up 4,000 jobs), retail trade (up 1,300 jobs) and transportation/warehousing (up 1,200 jobs).
On the downside, the accommodation/food services subsector posted the biggest drop of 5,800 payroll jobs in September as the summer tourism season wound down. Next was the motion picture/sound recording industry (down 2,800 jobs) followed by construction (down 1,300 jobs).
For the 12 months ending in September, employers in the county added on net about 60,000 jobs for a year-over-year increase of 1.3%. That year-over-year increase figure is markedly lower than the 1.7% posted for the 12 months ending in August.
More than half of the 12-month job gain came from the health care/social assistance sector, which added nearly 37,000 payroll jobs. Other major gainers included accommodation/food services (up about 9,000 jobs), motion picture/sound recording (up nearly 7,000 jobs) and retail trade (up 4,700 jobs).
The professional/business services sector posted the biggest drop in payrolls (down 8,800) for the 12 months ending in September, nearly identical to the drop for the 12 months ending in August. Most of those came in the administrative/support services subsector, which posted a drop of 5,000 jobs.
Not far behind was the manufacturing sector, which on net shed about 4,500 jobs during the 12 months ending in September. This continues a decades-long sectoral decline: the total of 313,000 employed in manufacturing in September was down by nearly 500,000 jobs from the total recorded in September 1990, representing a drop of more than 60%.
EV: Revel signed its first ever Los Angeles lease to develop 42 fast charging stalls in downtown.
Downtown’s office vacancy rate increased to 30.3%, up from 26.8% the previous year. Rents fell to $3.86 a square foot, down 4 cents year over year and 10 cents quarter over quarter. There was 225,000 square feet of negative net absorption and no new office product was under construction during the quarter.
Southern California Gas Co. signed a 199,000-square-foot lease at City National 2CAL, a 52-story office tower in Bunker Hill. CIM Group is the owner and operator of its new digs.
An 80,000-square-foot landmark building at 612 S. Broadway sold for $16 million. The six-story creative office and retail property sale was brokered by Cushman & Wakefield.
Urban electric vehicle infrastructure provider Revel signed its first lease in Los Angeles with SPK Enterprises LLC at 1233 S. Grand Ave. The company will develop 42 fast charging stalls on the lot.
Los Angeles County agreed to acquire the Gas Company Tower, a distressed property in downtown. The Board of Supervisors voted to move forward, but said the deal could not exceed $200 million. The sale is far below the property’s estimated value of $632 million just three years ago.
Hollywood
Listed: The famous Hollywood Mountain went online.
Hollywood’s office vacancy rate rose to 29.8%, up from 28.9% the previous year. Rents fell 19 cents year over year to $4.83 a square foot. Net absorption was nearly 42,000 square feet and nearly 84,000 square feet was under construction.
Content creator platform Passes moved into a new office at 720 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Hollywood Mountain, a historic site famous for films, entered the market. Avison Young was selected to broker the sale of the 7.3-acre compound at 1999 N. Sycamore Ave. According to Avison Young, the property could yield offers of more than $100 million.
Optimus Properties LLC purchased a 19,900-square-foot retail strip center in Hollywood for $9.5 million via a court ordered sale. The center is shadow anchored by a box retail space that was formerly 99 Cents Only Store’s number one location in the county by number of visits.
A 10-story, 156-key Hollywood hotel, located at 1719 N. Whitley Ave., moved forward after a neighborhood appeal was denied. The project will replace a 1920s courtyard apartment complex.
A&G Real Estate Partners and Onyx Asset Advisors listed a 10,000-square-foot development parcel just steps away from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The site is currently a parking lot.
Westside
Traded: A Beverly Hills six-story office and retail asset sold for $211 million.
The Westside office vacancy rate rose to 28.3%, up from 25% the previous year. Asking rates for Class A properties climbed 23 cents year over year to $6.05 a square foot. Century City had a much higher asking rent of $7.59 a square foot. More than 1.8 million square feet was under construction during the quarter, largely in Century City and West L.A.
Tinder’s founder Justin Mateen and brother Tyler Mateen acquired Wilshire Rodeo Plaza, a 300,000-square-foot office and retail property in Beverly Hills, for $211 million. The Mateens plan to rebrand the Golden Triangle business center as “One Rodeo.”
Founder and Chief Executive of Fashion Nova Richard Saghian purchased a Beverly Hills building for $118 million which will serve as its headquarters.
KFA Architecture completed The Laurel, a 58-unit residential community dedicated to providing supportive housing for individuals earning between 30% and 50% of the area median income in Santa Monica.
North Beverly Drive Retail Collection, a two-building retail portfolio spanning 11,100 square feet, sold in Beverly Hills for $39.2 million.
The Los Angeles City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve Hackman Capital Partners’ Television City Project, a project that will modernize the studio’s production facilities.
Santa Clarita Valley
Completed: Construction wrapped on the 1.7 million-square-foot The Center at Needham Ranch.
Santa Clarita Valley’s office vacancy rose to 35.2%, up from 28.3% the previous year. Net absorption was more than 16,000 square feet but no new office product was under construction during the quarter. Asking rents fell 13 cents year over year to $2.82 a square foot.
Trammell Crow Co. and Clarion Partners completed construction at The Center at Needham Ranch, a 1.7 million-square-foot industrial park in Santa Clarita. Construction began on the industrial park, which is made up of 11 buildings, in 2017 and the center was fully leased by May 2024. Oltmans Construction Co. served as the general contractor for the project and its architect was HPA Inc. CBRE Group Inc. marketed and leased out the industrial property.
San Fernando Valley
Traded: GPI Cos. acquired a 292-unit apartment complex in North Hollywood.
San Fernando Valley’s office vacancy rate rose to 26.3%, up from 25.4% the previous year. Rents increased 7 cents year over year to $2.99 a square foot. Net absorption was negative 116,000 and nearly 148,000 square feet was under construction during the quarter.
GPI Cos. acquired The Lofts at NoHo Commons, a 292-unit multifamily community in North Hollywood. The transit-oriented, mixed-use property was originally built in 2006 and was extensively renovated in 2017.
A fully leased 151,000-square-foot distribution facility sold for $41.5 million in Chatsworth. California Realty Group represented the seller, NBP 9401 De Soto, in the sale located at 9401 De Soto Ave. The buyer was Center Capital Partners, which was represented by CBRE Group Inc.
Tri-Cities
Multifamily: A 70-unit permanent supportive housing complex for seniors opened in Pasadena.
First-quarter office vacancies increased in the Tri-Cities submarket of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena to 31.9%, up from 26.5% the previous year. There was nearly 219,000 square feet of negative net absorption and no new office product under construction. Rents increased 2 cents year over year to $3.93.
Nonprofit developer Bridge Housing unveiled its latest affordable housing development called Heritage Square South, a 70-unit permanent supportive housing complex for seniors in Pasadena.
Burbank-based ACSCO Products Inc. signed a new 29,300-square-foot lease at a manufacturing facility warehouse in Burbank. NAI Capital represented the building’s landlord, Howard Business Park, in the transaction.
Wilshire Corridor
Overhaul: CMCT completed a partial office to residential conversion in Mid-Wilshire.
Wilshire Corridor’s third-quarter office vacancy rate rose to 37%, up from 35.7% the previous year. Nearly 104,000 square feet of negative net absorption occurred and no new office product was under construction. Asking rents rose to $2.98, up 20 cents quarter over quarter and 31 cents year over year.
A subsidiary of Mid-Wilshire-based CIM Group completed a partial transformation of a low-rise office building in Mid-Wilshire to accommodate residential units. The building now features 68 luxury apartments above 30,000 square feet of creative office space.
Maya Apartments, a 72-unit multifamily property in Koreatown, sold for $30 million to a private investor. The property is a 70,000-square-foot class A complex.
South Bay
Rendering: Meta Housing broke ground on 1400 Long Beach, a new affordable housing development.
South Bay’s industrial market vacancy increased to 6.1%, up from 4% the previous year. Roughly 1.7 million square feet sold or leased during the quarter while 1.8 million square feet was under construction. Rents were $1.69 per square foot, down 27 cents year over year.
El Segundo-based toymaker Mattel Inc. purchased a creative office campus next to its headquarters for $59.2 million. The property, known as Grand + Nash, is located at 2160 E. Grand Ave. Mattel plans to use it as a design center.
Affordable housing developer Meta Housing broke ground on 1400 Long Beach, a 163-unit affordable housing community near downtown Long Beach. It will deliver housing to low- and moderate-income families.
San Gabriel Valley
Sold: A 163-unit mixed-use apartment complex in Monrovia traded for $87 million.
The San Gabriel Valley’s third quarter industrial vacancy rate increased to 5.6%, up from 2.2% the previous year. Asking rents were $1.51 a square foot, down 21 cents over the previous year. Roughly 3 million square feet sold or leased during the quarter and more than 908,000 square feet was under construction.
Paragon at Old Town, a 163-unit multifamily asset with retail sold in Monrovia for $87 million.
NAI Capital Commercial completed the $28.2 million acquisition of two multi-tenant office investments in the San Gabriel Valley. The buildings include 21680 Gateway Center Drive, an 81,000-square-foot office building in Diamond Bar, and 1100 Corporate Center Drive, a 39,000-square-foot office building in Monterey Park.
This article has been revised and corrected from the original version.
At a time when overall real estate transaction volume is slim, one interesting player has emerged active – universities.
“Universities need real estate to function,” Stuart Gabriel, professor of finance and the Arden Realty Chair at UCLA Anderson School of Management as well as the director of UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, said. “And as the capacity and aspirations of universities expand, they typically need more real estate.”
While University of California, Los Angeles has made headlines over the past few years with its numerous real estate acquisitions, other universities have expanded their campuses too such as University of Southern California and even out-of-state schools including Arizona State University have tapped in for a slice of Los Angeles real estate.
“Each university has its own particular story and rationale,” James Birkey, a senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. who leads the firm’s dedicated government, education and nonprofit practice group in the Western U.S., said. “However, to generalize or at least speak about some certain things that we’ve seen is that a number of universities are looking at the ways that they can expand their reach and their economic capabilities.”
Some schools are landlocked
Take UCLA for example. With 48,000 total students – including 33,000 undergraduates – enrolled in the 2023-2024 academic year, UCLA is the most attended university in California and was recently ranked the top public university in the U.S. for the eighth year in a row by U.S. News & World Report.
Yet, out of all the nine University of California schools offering undergraduate programs – University of California, San Francisco is the exception in that it only offers graduate degrees – UCLA has the smallest campus by far.
The campus sits on 419 acres at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, just 5 miles away from the Pacific Ocean. It’s not even half the size of the next smallest UC campus, University of California, Merced, which is 1,026 acres.
“UCLA is the most densely developed of the University of California campuses and there’s literally not a square foot left on campus for significant new development,” Gabriel said. “By definition, universities have to go beyond what is oftentimes their initial footprint to further these strategic goals.”
In doing so, UCLA has racked up an estimated $820 million worth of real estatein trying to achieve that expansion to meet the needs of its increasing student body, most notably by acquiring non-adjacent parcels. Although hefty, experts estimate this is likely more cost effective and efficient than pursuing ground-up construction on campus.
“It’s way more expensive to go up than it is to go out,” Mark Tarczynski, an executive vice president at Colliers specializing in downtown Los Angeles and urban redevelopment, said. “Finding good real estate outside of your campus to bring the class to the people rather than vice versa I think just makes all the sense in the world. I think the biggest challenge is finding good real estate.”
UCLA buys satellite buildings
In September 2022, UCLA bought its first ever real estate asset of scale in a string of numerous to come when it acquired the former Marymount California University campus for $80 million in Rancho Palos Verdes, set to become UCLA South Bay, a satellite campus focused on sustainability and climate change.
Less than a year later, in June 2023, the university purchased the historic Trust Building downtown, an 11-story Art Deco building which sold for $40 million. In March, it announced the 31 entities selected to move into the new UCLA Downtown site – many of them centered around civic engagement, social justice and advocacy.
And in January of this year, UCLA was in the limelight after spending $700 million on the former Westside Pavilion Mall, set to become the UCLA Research Park. It is the most expensive acquisition in UCLA’s history. Funding also came from the state and other donors.
Google was originally set to lease the Westside building for 14 years, converting it into a 584,000-square-foot office campus, but decided it no longer needed the space. UCLA was able to take advantage of market softness and acquire the building at a discounted rate, according to experts.
Interim UCLA chancellor Darnell Hunt in front of Royce Hall.
“One of the issues we always face is how to keep up with the growing demand to come to UCLA,” Darnell Hunt, interim chancellor of UCLA, said. “I think these recent acquisitions are really an important change for us that allow us to thrive as we move forward.”
And not only does expanding its footprint promote longevity from the university’s perspective, but the choice to purchase real estate in areas other than Westwood inevitably opens the pool of students and increases educational access to those neighboring communities.
Sonnet Hui, general manager and vice president of Project Management Advisors Inc., said this model could be very attractive for mid-career professionals hoping to sharpen their resumes and pursue additional education.
“I think what UCLA is doing is really encouraging because part of their goal for the year is to be able to provide access to the local community,” Hui said. “They’re expanding their reach to other parts of Los Angeles to not be just a silo in West Los Angeles.”
In October last year, UCLA released the “UCLA Strategic Plan 2023-28,” a five-year plan that outlines the modern goals of the university – including deepening its engagement with Los Angeles, expanding its reach as a global university, enhancing its research and creative activities, elevating its teaching and becoming a more effective institution – all of which funnel into making real estate decisions.
Hunt said UCLA’s Westwood campus isn’t going anywhere and rather the satellite campuses are geared toward specific programs and tracks – intended to expand the university’s reach and amplify its expertise at large.
“We think each of these new acquisitions – UCLA Downtown, UCLA Research Park and UCLA South Bay – will build on our strengths as a university, create opportunities for our students to have unique experiences and really redefine what a great public research university is the 21st century,” Hunt said.
Branching out beyond L.A.
And while UCLA is surely making its mark on Los Angeles’ landscape, some local universities are geographically expanding even further – such as USC, which recently opened a campus in Washington D.C. called the USC Capital Campus.
The USC Capital Campus acts similar to a study abroad experience for USC students – where they can spend a semester or full academic year – specifically designed for students pursuing degrees related mostly to the following fields: political science, international relations, public policy, communications, journalism, music, theater, film, screenwriting and business.
The school acquired the 60,000-square-foot D.C. building for $49.4 million in March of last year and opened it in April, planting its flag.
“USC is a brand and so exporting your brand to new markets is only logical from a business standpoint,” Tarczynski said, stating D.C. is a target-rich environment for the school.
D.C. marks USC’s first out-of-state real estate purchase, although it also has properties in downtown, Boyle Heights, Playa Vista, Marina del Rey and Catalina.
“Everything that we do within our real estate department and portfolio is with the university’s mission and strategic goals in mind,” Laurie Stone, associate senior vice president of real estate and asset management at USC, said.
Smaller schools expand, too
Some smaller Los Angeles universities have also been active in expanding their campuses.
In 2020, Pepperdine University purchased the Miramar office complex in Malibu, marking its own first-ever commercial real estate purchase. Occidental College has made several real estate purchases over the last decade including purchasing five housing structures in 2018 and a commercial building in 2015, all within Eagle Rock.
Although Loyola Marymount University purchased a small adjacent parcel in Westchester for $5.75 million last year to reportedly be used for administrative offices, and also has campuses downtown and in Playa Vista, Jeffrey Zychowski, director of real estate and property management at LMU, said the university is not right now looking to scale its footprint but is instead interested in expanding nearby affordable housing solutions to the university’s faculty.
Other schools buy in L.A.
And while some are expanding out, other out-of-state schools are filtering in, namely Arizona State University which acquired the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising last year and has three downtown properties, including the former FIDM building itself.
“Los Angeles is one of two global cities in the United States, really two in North America,” Michael Crow, president of ASU, said. “Phoenix is in the economic orbit of Los Angeles. We’re trying to take strengths that we have and overlaps that we have and desires to grow that we have and bring them together by a deep connection in California.”
Fashion: ASU FIDM is located in downtown. (Photo by Samantha Chow/Arizona State University)
In 2018, ASU announced its plan to renovate and move into the former Herald Examiner newspaper building downtown, now known as ASU California Center Broadway. The university is a major tenant and investor in the property, which houses its Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
And in July last year, ASU acquired the 200,000-square-foot downtown property from FIDM it took over in April. The building now goes by ASU California Center Grand. It also leases 21 units at Broadway Palace, a luxury housing complex for ASU students downtown.
“It elevates the offering of the institution at the same time as gives them access to professionals that work in Los Angeles and would be interested in teaching but may or may not be willing to do that from Arizona,” Birkey said on ASU’s decision to enter the Los Angeles market.
According to Crow, these acquisitions allow ASU to expand its reach while also deepening its connections to certain areas of study that are more accessible in Los Angeles, namely the fields including fashion, film, television, communications and aerospace.
“Between Phoenix and Los Angeles, we can build a global footprint for the areas of education that we’re working in,” Crow said. “What we’re trying to do in Los Angeles is be a part of a vibrant unbelievably important, global city that happens to be a few hours away.”
Mutually beneficial
Despite a range of intentions, many experts believe all this real estate play is mutually beneficial, in terms of promoting healthy competition among universities as well as making education more accessible by broadening its reach.
“Education leads to a much better society,” Tarczynski said. “I think we’re going to see a lot more competition amongst universities. Universities are understanding the value of their brand, and they are looking to grow by exporting their brand.”
“It would be a dream to compare Los Angeles to Boston, for example,” Birkey added. Boston, one of the biggest college towns in the U.S., is home to more than 30 colleges and universities in its metropolitan area.
ASU’s President Crow, on the other hand, denies claims of competition.
“We’re not in California to compete with anyone,” he said. “We don’t have competitors. We’re trying to advance a national university called Arizona State University. We have a very different view of universities. We believe that universities should not be bounded. They should have technological capability to project themselves.”
Nonetheless, universities are generally seen as making positive impacts on their surrounding communities – in terms of fostering community engagement, driving economic development and contributing to increased safety – and some experts believe all further university expansion should be welcomed.
“I think that the roles of these institutions in our communities hopefully will also become more politically important to us in Los Angeles,” Birkey said. “We want to be able to elevate the things that make our city successful. And I think being able to appreciate and respect that we have may go a long way for us in terms of our local identity around the universities that we have.”
Wiring: Rendering of new Harris Health Hospital building; Tutor Perini subsidiary Fisk Electric has been selected for electrical work on the new building.
Sylmar-based civil construction company Tutor Perini Corp. began this month with a flurry of contract activity.
First, on Oct. 2, came the announcement that Tutor Perini, in a joint venture with Guam-based subsidiary Black Construction Corp., has been awarded a $113 million contract from the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Pacific, for a missile integration test facility at the United States Naval Base on the island of Guam.
Then, the next day, on Oct. 3, Tutor Perini announced that its subsidiary, Fisk Electric, which was founded in Houston, has been awarded a subcontractor contract from St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. for electrical work for a new Harris Hospital building on the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital campus in Houston. The $29 million contract is for the first phase of the electrical work; the entire electrical portion of the hospital project has a maximum price contract of $147 million.
Finally, on Oct. 8, Tutor Perini announced that it completed the execution of a $1.66 billion contract with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation for the construction of a light rail line segment in Honolulu, Hawaii. The three-mile elevated rail segment will include six new stations. The initial contract award was announced on Aug. 15.
Project design for the rail segment was expected to begin this month while construction is slated to begin late next year. Construction of this segment is expected to be substantially completed in 2030.
Missile test facility construction
For the Guam missile test facility contract, the joint Tutor Perini-Black Construction venture will construct a single-story concrete 57,664 square-foot structure on a deep pile foundation that will serve as the missile test facility. The building will support missile processing spaces, a missile test cell with a test control room, an administration area and storage and utility rooms. It will also come with the typical full array of ventilation, plumbing and lighting systems, along with an emergency power generator.
The scope of work also includes demolition of an existing building, associated site improvements and all other necessary supporting facilities.
Work is expected to begin shortly with substantial completion anticipated by the end of 2028. The contract value was added to the company’s backlog in the third quarter of 2024.
Black Construction was acquired by Tutor-Saliba Corp. (a predecessor to Tutor Perini Corp.) in 1995.
Hospital electrical work
The new Harris Health hospital building in Houston is slated to be 12 stories and contain 1.3 million square feet of space. It will feature 390 private rooms, with the space to add 60 more as additional capacity is needed. With a rooftop helipad, 15 dedicated operating rooms and a hybrid operating room, the hospital is designed to accommodate a wide range of medical needs from routine procedures to the most complex emergency surgeries. It will also serve as Harris County’s third Level 1 trauma center.
Tutor Perini subsidiary Fisk Electric’s scope of work includes electrifying the core and shell and tenant finish-out electrical and fire alarm components for the ground-up construction of the new hospital tower.
Work is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024 with substantial completion of the entire electrical contract anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2028.
The initial $29 million portion of the overall contract value was added to Tutor Perini’s backlog in the third quarter of 2024 with the remaining portions to be added to its backlog as subsequent phases are awarded.
An Avelo Airlines plane lands at Hollywood Burbank Airport in 2021. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Avelo)
Faced with months of slowing growth in passenger counts – culminating in August with the first year-over-year drop in passengers since the initial pandemic shock – officials overseeing Los Angeles International Airport have created a new unit that aims to lure more airline flights to the airport.
The group is called an “air service development unit,” and was launched in July, according to Doug Webster, chief of operations and maintenance officer for Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that oversees LAX. Webster provided no further details on the unit or the steps it is considering to stimulate more flights to and from LAX.
Nonetheless, the move represents airport administrators’ first attempt to stem the ebbing tide of passengers. It comes as growth in passengers has ground to a halt over the past year, led by several year-over-year drops in domestic passenger counts.
In fact, August numbers released late last month showed a 0.6% drop in total passengers coming through the gates at LAX compared to August of last year. That’s the first year-over-year drop in passengers since March 2021, the last month where pre-pandemic passenger counts were part of the equation. (Airlines began shutting down flights in response to the pandemic in March 2020; by April 2020, passenger counts had dropped to the lowest levels since 1955.)
That contrasts with the soaring performance in August at the three regional airports serving Los Angeles County: Hollywood Burbank, Ontario International and Long Beach. Those airports collectively reported late last month nearly 13% more passengers in August than in the same month last year and 13% more than in pre-pandemic August 2019.
The August stats come after an even more impressive July, during which these three regional airports reported year-over-year growth of nearly 16%.
“The impressive growth we’ve seen this summer demonstrates the confidence passengers have in Long Beach Airport,” said Long Beach Airport Director Cynthia Guidry. “We are thrilled to set a new benchmark and remain committed to providing an exceptional travel experience.”
Ontario International, which was the first local airport to fully recover from the pandemic, is now seeing passenger tallies running about 30% above pre-pandemic levels.
“Demand for travel through Ontario International Airport remained strong in August, particularly among domestic passengers,” said Atif Elkadi, chief executive of the Ontario International Airport Authority. “The population and economy of the Inland Empire continue to flourish as many Southern Californians along the coast move inland seeking lower cost of living and enhanced quality of life. Airlines are responding to this favorable trend by adding more flights and destinations from our airport.”
Domestic passenger drop at LAX
As has been the case for much of the past year at LAX, the tally of domestic passengers fell 2.5% in August compared to August of last year. For the year-to-date, domestic passenger counts at LAX are down 0.4% compared to the first eight months of last year.
Webster said much of the downturn in August was attributable to structural changes at two primarily domestic airlines: Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. (passenger tally down 20% in August compared to last year) and New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. (passenger tally down 33%).
“These are results from structural shifts for both airlines who are dealing with changes to their system strategies from a network and product perspective,” he said.
International passenger counts, which until the second quarter had been increasing at a double-digit percentage clip, grew by only 4% in August compared to the same month last year. That was not enough to offset the drop in domestic passengers.
As a result, not only was the total LAX August passenger count of 6.98 million down from the same month last year, it was also 14% below pre-pandemic August 2019. Given the current trends in passengers going through LAX, recovery to pre-pandemic passenger levels appears to be years away.
Cargo levels continue rebound
Nearly 280,000 metric tons of cargo were handled at the four airports in August, up 5% from the same month last year. Roughly 98% of the cargo is handled at LAX and Ontario International airports.
Cargo tonnage has been rebounding for some time, but the August figures may have been helped by the prospect of a work stoppage at East and Gulf Coast ports that forced shippers to move up delivery dates so that retailers and other companies could stockpile their products. While the twin San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have handled much of this stockpiling, there may have been some additional cargo diverted to aircraft.
The port strikes turned out to be very short-lived as shipping companies and dockworkers reached a temporary agreement after just three days.
The Hollywood Professional Association is getting its first female president.
The board of directors of the Burbank organization announced on Sept. 25 that Kari Grubin will replace Seth Hallen as president starting on Jan. 1.
An expert in post-production services, technology and consulting, Grubin possesses the experience and vision to help drive the association through the next phase of the entertainment industry’s evolution according to a release from the association.
Grubin said she was honored and excited to be part of the leadership team of a great organization that means so much to her.
“Now more than ever, HPA is a critical and hyper-relevant partner for the individuals and companies at work in our industry as we face the significant change, challenge and opportunity ahead,” Grubin said in a statement. “I’m assuming the leadership of a thriving organization, and I look forward to shepherding it through its next powerful new phase. I encourage our community to join us in the work ahead and look forward to the upcoming collaboration.”
Grubin and Hallen will work together in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.
“I have had the pleasure of working closely with Kari, and I have witnessed firsthand her vision, dedication, and unwavering commitment to the HPA community,” Hallen said in a statement. “Kari is an exceptional leader with the energy, expertise, and insight to guide HPA into its next era of growth and evolution. I have no doubt that under her leadership, HPA will continue to thrive and be a powerful force in shaping the future of our industry.”
Hallen called leading the association over the past nine years one of the most fulfilling experiences of his career.
Seth Hallen
“It’s been an honor to work alongside such dedicated and passionate professionals who continuously push the boundaries of creativity and innovation in our industry,” Hallen said. “I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together, from fostering new talent and expanding our educational initiatives to navigating unprecedented challenges with resilience and unity.”
Grubin currently serves as the member services director for the Motion Picture Association‘s Trusted Partner Network, which helps companies prevent leaks, breaches, and hacks of their customers’ movies and television shows prior to their release.
She has served on the association’s board since 2020 although her involvement with the organization spans many years. For instance, Grubin co-founded HPA Women in Post in 2011, which provides leadership opportunities and visibility for women working in professional content creation.
In 2016, under the leadership of Grubin and then-fellow board member Loren Nielsen, the Women in Post committee, of which Grubin still serves as a member, created the HPA Young Entertainment Professional program.
And in 2021, she and fellow board member Renard Jenkins collaborated to launch HPA All, an initiative supporting and highlighting career pathways and creating opportunities for underrepresented groups.
She headed up the HPA Tech Retreat Supersession in 2022 and is currently working with Hallen and the Program Committee on the supersession for next year’s retreat.
The association’s board also announced that Jenkins would assume the role of vice president of the board in January. At that time, a new Executive Committee will take over. The 2025 HPA Board Executive Committee includes Grubin, Jenkins, Craig German and Graylind Wherry.
Updates: The new Friese Building at Providence-Cedars Sinai Tarzana Medical Center.
Hospitals throughout Los Angeles County and the state were dealt a blow earlier this month when Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation that would have extended by five years a 2030 deadline for hospitals to upgrade their facilities to be able to remain in operation following a major earthquake.
The bill, SB 1432, would have granted any hospital that asked an extension until Jan. 1, 2035, to come into compliance with a 1994 law that requires all hospitals to certify that all their major facilities would be fully functional during and after a major quake. The bill had five authors, led by State Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Salinas.
The original 1994 legislation was one of a series of laws enacted following two devastating earthquakes in Los Angeles County: the 1971 Sylmar quake in which two hospitals had collapsed buildings and the 1994 Northridge earthquake, after which eight hospitals had to evacuate patients because of lack of power, water or other key life-safety components.
Hospitals have long sought to extend the compliance deadlines for the seismic upgrade mandates, arguing that their often precarious finances make the huge capital investments needed to comply very difficult.
According to information in 2022 from the California Hospitals Association, roughly 73 of the L.A. County’s 93 hospital campuses had one or more buildings that hadn’t yet met the 2030 requirements to remain operational following a quake.
Back in 2016, Santa Monica-based Rand Corp. estimated the total cost to upgrade/replace these L.A. County facilities could range from a low of $9 billion to a high of $39 billion; that study was conducted before recent spikes in inflation and construction costs.
In late 2022, a major seismic upgrade was completed with the opening of a $644 million new patient tower at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center. Also, a $1.7 billion hospital replacement project is under way at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in West Carson.
But lots of work remains at hospitals throughout Los Angeles County to meet the deadline. And most hospitals are not financially prepared to tackle the work: As of the end of 2022, according to Business Journal research, 47 of the 75 largest hospitals in the county had negative operating margins, meaning nearly two-thirds of those hospitals were losing money.
The California Hospital Association has repeatedly pushed legislation to extend the 2030 deadline, succeeding this year in passing SB 1432 out of the Legislature.
But Newsom vetoed the bill; in his veto message, he said hospitals have had 30 years to prepare for this mandate and urged “any hospitals at risk of non-compliance with the 2030 deadline to prioritize remaining work.”
Newsom also said that any extensions should be granted on a case-by-case basis and should be balanced with the pressing need to maintain adequate hospital operations in the aftermath of a major quake.
In a statement put out after Newsom’s veto, the California Hospital Association’s chief executive, Carmela Coyle, said hospitals that do not have the ability to meet the deadline could be forced to close.
The veto, Coyle said, “places communities across California at risk of losing access to vital emergency and acute health care services.”
A spokeswoman added that the association has not yet determined any future steps to attempt to extend the mandate.
One local hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in East Hollywood, sought an extension of the mandate through separate legislation; that bill, SB 1447, was still on Newsom’s desk as of Sept. 26.
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