Called Lucky Strike Lanes at Hollywood & Highland, the bowling alley and lounge features a "retro flair," according to Hollywood Entertainment officials, who call it an upscale alley with a "nightclub quality audio system."

The bowling alley joins new shops, restaurants, specialty stores, coffee houses and other establishments that are filling developments like the new Hollywood & Highland retail center as well as older buildings that are being rehabbed by developers, according to Kerry Morrison, executive director of the 18-block Hollywood Entertainment District Business Improvement District (BID). The district is funded by nearly $2.3 million in annual payments by area property owners, many of them entrepreneurs, Morrison notes. The BID runs along Hollywood Boulevard from La Brea Avenue to Gower Street and includes immediate side streets.

Even in the face of a slow economy, Morrison says, the property owners are "working hard to attract better tenants, fix their facades and improve their properties and the neighborhood overall."

Some of the recently opened or soon-to-open ventures cited by Morrison include:The Beat Market rare record store at 1606 N. Cahuenga Blvd.; Cahuenga Coffeehouse at the northeast corner of Cahuenga and Selma; Musician's Institute's recently renovated street-side performance space and music supply store next to the Green Room Coffee House at 6750 Hollywood Blvd.; the nearby Elegance International makeup school; and Drip by Antenna, a men's and women's upscale clothing store at 6374 Hollywood Blvd.

Morrison also cited Hillview Apartments, a renovation project at 6531 Hollywood Blvd. to return a neglected apartment complex to its former glamour, as recently reported by GlobeSt.com; and half a dozen other projects at office and retain venues along Hollywood Boulevard. While large-scale developments often garner much of the attention, Morrison says, many if not most of the new ventures in her report are the work of individuals and entrepreneurs banking on a Hollywood ending.