Hows Markets Steps Into NoHo Commons

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA-The second phase of the J.H. Snyder Co.'s $200 million NoHo Commons mixed-use project has reached 80% pre-leased with the signing of the Hows Gourmet Market grocery chain as the anchor tenant. The project, next to the North Hollywood Red Line subway station, is due to open in 2006 with Hows in 32,000 sf. The NoHo Commons store will be one of one of six Southern California locations for Hows, which was founded by grocery industry executives Roger Hughes, Mark Oerum, Dave Wolff and Steve Strickler. The grocery store will join a tenant roster including Wells Fargo Bank and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. NoHo Commons is being developed at the site of North Hollywood's Metro Rail Red Line station at the corner of Chandler and Lankershim boulevards. In addition, the NoHo Commons is next to a newly opened stop on the Metro Orange Line, a 14-mile exclusive transit-way featuring super-sized, aerodynamic "Metro Liner" buses traveling the alignment between North Hollywood, Woodland Hills and Warner Center. The NoHo Commons development is a project of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, along with private and public sources, including $14 million from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, with Los Angeles-based Snyder as the lead developer. The project will offer 438 class A apartment units, 278 loft residential units, 20,000 sf of live-work space and 60,000 sf of retail space. NoHo commons will surround the MTA subway station to the south and the east, with the retail fronting the street and the housing above. VanTilburg, Banvard and Soderberg of Santa Monica are designing the development, with project construction led by Hill Contracting Group as general contractors.