The NoHo Arts District Makes Room for The Art Institute of California - Hollywood

Online, October 21, 2009 (Newswire.com) - October 21, 2009 (North Hollywood,CA)- The Art Institute of California - Hollywood completed its recent move to North Hollywood's NoHo Arts District. The college celebrated its new LEED Gold-precertified home with a community grand opening on Tuesday, October 20, 2009.

In May 2007, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled his Green LA Plan where he challenged the city to drop its carbon footprint to 35% below 1990 levels by 2030. In that same period, local developer JH Snyder was working on the NoHo Commons Project which included a green business building in the NoHo Arts District. Simultaneously The Art Institute of California - Hollywood began its search for a more accommodating home. The two sides came together in 2007 and JH Snyder broke ground that August.

As part of the NoHo Commons project, the school occupies over 60,000 square feet of the first LEED Gold New-construction business building in Los Angeles County. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was developed by the US Green Building Council and sets standards for environmentally sustainable construction. "LEED-certified structures typically use resources more efficiently when compared to conventional buildings, which are simply built to code", explains Pat Irvine of JH Snyder Company. "Development of LEED-certified buildings means energy efficiency, low water usage and recycled or locally sourced materials; all construction methods that have a positive global impact."

"The decision to move The Art Institute of California - Hollywood here was made to provide students with improved facilities, align with an energetic arts community, and accommodate the increase in its program offerings" explains Gregory J. Marick, President of The Art Institute of California - Hollywood. The NoHo Arts District is a pedestrian-friendly community of performing arts theaters, art galleries, recording studios, artist lofts, and entertainment companies. With the development of the North Hollywood Metro Station and Orange line, the largest transportation center in the San Fernando Valley, the district continues to attract major businesses, residential complexes and expansion. Surrounded by giants like Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, NBC, CBS Studio Center, Nickelodeon Animation, and Disney helps lend to the resurgence and vitalization the North Hollywood Business Improvement District and the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles have encouraged. The inclusion of The Art Institute of California - Hollywood in Phase III of the NoHo Commons project benefits both the community and the students who attend there. "The educational experiences students may gain as a result of partnering with the community are priceless and the business the school provides to the local area strengthens the economy here" stated East Valley Regional Administrator Margarita H. de Escontrias of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles.

Over 100 staff and faculty and several hundred students welcomed the North Hollywood neighborhood, city officials, and broader Art Institutes community on October 20, 2009 to join them in celebrating this new location. Speakers including The Art Institute of California - Hollywood President Gregory J. Marick, Jerry Snyder and Pat Irvine (JH Snyder Company ), student Ben Black, North Hollywood resident and entertainer Allee Willis, and Alice Ramirez Roth, Deputy District Director, Fourth District, all of whom arrived by Prius. Guests enjoyed live music, locally catered food, and tours of the school facilities. Program demonstrations educated visitors on the scope of design, media, culinary, and fashion work that students encounter while at The Art Institute of California - Hollywood.