Summary Memorandum: Conceptual Approach to Near Term Development Opportunities at Universal City

In October 1988 Harrison Price Company was retained by MCA Development Company to review preliminary planning work for the continued develop­ment of Universal City. The proposed program is an ambitious one that includes approximately 9 million square feet of office space, 903,000 square feet of retail/entertainment, a 43,000 square foot travel center, 1.8 million square feet in hotels and a conference center, 175,000 square feet in community and cultural facilities, and a major investment in infrastructure. The first increment of the program, scheduled to begin this year, is Main Street, a mixed-use area connecting the Cineplex with the Studios Tour Entrance Plaza. HPC was asked to respond to the overall plan from the point of view of leisure time facilities, and to provide spe­cific input for the Main Street plan. To begin this assignment, Nick Winslow and Harrison Price met with the client and were briefed on the objectives of the work and the nature, scope and phasing of the Universal City program. HPC next compiled rele­vant data from the client, its own files and other sources for use in an in­house charrette. The purpose of the charrette was to evaluate the enter­tainment and leisure components included in the current plan, and to identify other product types which appear to have merit in the Universal City scheme. The results of the HPC in-house charrette were then reviewed with the client. Finally, HPC participated in an inter-disciplinary charrette at the clients offices on December 28, 1988. The following summary memorandum is intended as a distillation of the work performed under this contract