Robert Silverstein, who fought and won City Hall over Hollywood development, dies at 57

For more than two decades, attorney Robert Silverstein has inspired fear, and sometimes loathing, in the Hollywood real estate world.

In a legal battle, Silverstein persuaded a judge to stop construction of the Target building on the Sunset Strip, even though construction on the three-story building was well underway. In another case, he obtained a ruling overturning city approval of the Millennium Project, a pair of 39- and 35-story skyscrapers planned next to the Capitol Records building.

In another case, Silverstein was part of a larger legal team that helped persuade a judge to block the City Council’s approval of a Hollywood Neighborhood Plan update that called for taller, denser development along a transportation corridor. The city’s planning department spent nearly a decade rewriting the plan.

Silverstein died on November 13 at the age of 57, according to a family member of Silverstein. He is survived by his wife and three children, his mother and two brothers. The cause of his death was not disclosed.

Several of Silverstein’s former clients praised his keen attention to detail and cases against his larger, wealthier opponents.

“He always said he was trying to support the little guy against the government,” said Doug Haines, a Hollywood resident who has worked with Silverstein on more than a dozen lawsuits. “That’s his whole focus, and he means it.”

The son of a rabbi, Silverstein has handled cases across Southern California, focusing on what he believes are violations of zoning plans, public records laws, historic preservation rules, eminent domain proceedings and the state’s environmental laws, known as CEQA or see-quah. Silverstein represents clients in Baldwin Park, Culver City, Glendora, Palmdale, Pasadena, Santa Ana and other communities.

Still, his influence in Hollywood was not as great as elsewhere, and he scored a series of victories during the terms of mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Eric Garcetti.

In 2012, Silverstein won a ruling that overturned approval of a 20-story apartment tower at Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street. A judge concluded that the city violated CEQA because it did not provide the parking analysis for review until one day after the City Council Planning Committee approved the project.

Two years later, Silverstein persuaded a judge to invalidate a building permit for a 299-unit high-rise on Sunset Boulevard. In that case, the judge held that the developer was required by the city to preserve a 1924 restaurant building but failed to do so. (The company built a replica, saying the original structure was too shabby.)

Silverstein’s aggressive advocacy has prompted real estate companies and city planning departments to become more stringent about the documents they submit, said Jerry Neuman, a land-use attorney who has represented developers in several of Silverstein’s cases. But he said the high-stakes legal environment has also had a chilling effect on Hollywood’s economic development, with national real estate companies seeking projects elsewhere.

“This leads to a loss of investment,” he said.

Some of Silverstein’s critics accuse him of using frivolous lawsuits as a delaying tactic to force real estate developers to capitulate or risk huge financial losses.

Fran Offenhauser, co-founder of the historic preservation group Hollywood Heritage, said those descriptions are inaccurate.

“He wouldn’t take a case unless it had merit,” said Offenhauser, who has worked with Silverstein on several cases. “He would say, ‘Unless you give me a specific instance of a violation of a specific law, I’m not going to accept it.'”

Silverstein was born on October 24, 1968. He received his bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA in 1990 and his law degree six years later from UC Hastings (now UCSF School of Law).

Silverstein opened his own law firm in 2005 to take on clients challenging eminent domain, the process by which government agencies acquire private property from owners unwilling to sell.

Haynes praised Silverstein for defeating the Los Angeles Unified School District’s plan to acquire and demolish a large number of homes near Highway 101 to make way for a new middle school in Hollywood. The district ultimately abandoned the proposal, he said.

“He saved the community from losing all of these homes and saved people from being displaced,” Haynes said.

Silverstein also represents Robert Blue, whose luggage store has been the target of a takings suit from the city’s redevelopment agency.

City officials hope to build on the site of the Hollywood and Vine Street project, which would include a 300-room W hotel and hundreds of residential units.

Silverstein questioned the legality of the redevelopment agency’s vote, arguing that the property and surrounding area were not “destroyed.” Eventually, redevelopment officials struck a deal with Blue to build the project around his trunk business, which his family had owned since 1946.

Silverstein also represents the Molly’s Burgers restaurant on Vine Street that the city’s redevelopment agency hopes to convert into an eight-story office building.

The Times reported in 2010 that the agency originally planned to spend $120,000 to relocate the burger stand. After Silverstein challenged the proceedings, the redevelopment agency and developer agreed to provide a total of $1.1 million to the property owners.

“Robert is an old-school lawyer,” said Bill Delvac, the attorney who represented the developer in the Hamburg Stand case. “If his client wants to fight, he will fight. If his client wants to settle, he will settle.”

In the Target lawsuit, Silverstein successfully argued that the city had allowed a 74-foot-tall building to be constructed on a site with a zoning limit of 35 feet. The real estate development along Sunset Boulevard would only be higher if it included housing.

Target went through a new approval process and the project was finally completed and opened.

In working to challenge Hollywood’s neighborhood plans, Silverstein took aim at the demographic data the city uses to justify its push for taller, denser residential development. The city relies on estimates from the Southern California Association in 2004 in its plans to accommodate Hollywood growth. Governments.

Silverstein believes the city’s environmental analysis should incorporate 2010 U.S. Census data, which shows Hollywood’s population has declined over the past decade. The judge ultimately agreed, rejecting the plan.

“Robert’s dedication ensured that community concerns about environmental and demographic accuracy were taken seriously, and his work set a higher standard for how cities approach urban planning,” said Mike Iveroff, co-founder of Repair Cities, one of three organizations challenging the Hollywood plan.

Evelov said Silverstein’s legal victory forces city officials to be more careful about complying with laws regarding access to public meetings, the release of public documents and overall development.

“They really have to pay more attention when they know he’s going to be involved,” he said. “They know they have to get it right.”

After Karen Bass was elected mayor, Silverstein continued her battle with City Hall, with groups representing Evelove challenging her order declaring a state of emergency for homeless people. The group called the announcement a “massive and illegal expansion of the mayor’s power” that inappropriately eliminates the competitive bidding and leasing process.

A superior court judge disagreed, finding the declaration did not conflict with city or state law, and Fix the City subsequently appealed. Bass revoked her order last month.