CGI Drops Villa Carlotta Hotel Bid

Villa Carlotta is located in Hollywood.

LOS ANGELES—CGI has withdrawn its application to operate the historic Villa Carlotta in Hollywood as a boutique hotel. The investor purchased the property in 2014, and filed an application with the city earlier this year to convert the property to a boutique hotel, which was met with strong opposition from the community. CGI has not announced its future plans for the asset.

CGI declined to comment on its decision to withdraw, however, Carl Muhlstein, the regional director at JLL and a market expert, says that this is indicative of the growing anti-development sentiment in the city and the lack of housing. “This continues to show that there is no clear path to land use in this city, and it is failing everyone,” Muhlstein, who was not involved in the project, tells GlobeSt.com. “It is failing affordable housing and market-rate housing. Everyone is scared and combative, because our vacancy factor for Hollywood is 3% citywide, and our leadership has no idea how to create more housing.”