Rick Caruso cites state law he bashed to sue Television City

Mayoral candidate Rick Caruso lambasted the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, calling the environmental law a major obstacle to development across Los Angeles.

Now The Grove, a Fairfax shopping center owned by the billionaire developer, has used the 55-year-old state law to try to block the $1.25 billion redevelopment of the Television City studios next door at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Caruso’s Grove filed a lawsuit attempting to overturn the city’s approval last month of Hackman Capital Partners’ 980,000-square-foot studio redevelopment project.

Hackman and its backers said the revamped studios would provide a needed boost to film and TV production in a city that has lost filming to other states, and where many in the industry are out of work.

In a 43-page complaint, attorneys for The Grove said city leaders showed a “stunning disregard” for CEQA when they approved the 25-acre project. They call it “frustratingly undefined,” making it impossible for the public to figure out its size and environmental impacts.

The project had faced opposition from Caruso and A.F. Gilmore, owner of the Original Farmers Market, who claimed it violated zoning rules and environmental laws. They said it would flood the area with traffic, while doing little to address the ebb of entertainment production in L.A.

The lawsuit calls for a judge to block Television City and overturn city approvals and an environmental impact report. It alleges the city violated not just CEQA, but also state housing law and Measure HLA, which requires bus and bike lanes on certain corridors.

Lawyers for the popular outdoor shopping mall also said the redevelopment of the former CBS Television City would cause more traffic, “increasing the risk of pedestrian injury or death.”

The Grove lawsuit adds to three others seeking to overturn the approval of a new Television City — including suits filed by the Beverly Wilshire Homes Association, Save Beverly Fairfax and A.F. Gilmore, which in its filing said the city had “run roughshod over CEQA.”

Hackman’s Zach Sokoloff called the quartet of lawsuits an “unfortunate but predictable abuse of CEQA,” according to the Times.

Hackman, the Culver City-based firm led by Michael Hackman that owns and runs nearly two dozen studio properties, went through a lengthy review process, winning support from neighbors, business groups, historic preservationists and people in film and TV production, he said.

“Despite these continued efforts to block this investment into the entertainment industry, we remain steadfast in our commitment to keeping Hollywood in Hollywood,” Sokoloff said in a statement.

— Dana Bartholomew