Guide to NoHo

It may not have the cachet of a Beverly Hills ZIP code, but 91601 is arguably the hippest ZIP in the 818 area code. It encompasses a 740-acre zone of North Hollywood known as NoHo, the San Fernando Valley’s slightly more tattered version of New York’s SoHo.

Long known as a blighted area of rundown and vacant buildings, North Hollywood has evolved into an eclectic, bohemian quarter filled with cafes, coffeehouses, theaters and art galleries. The NoHo Arts District--complete with its own logo and banner--is about 5 years old and heavily subsidized by artists, with the help of public funding.

Since 1979, NoHo has received financing from the Community Redevelopment Agency, which puts the money it receives from property taxes back into the district. Among other projects, it funded the $45-million Television Academy of Arts & Sciences office project and provided loans and grants to renovate the quake-damaged El Portal Theatre, which is scheduled to reopen in the fall.

Redevelopment has been slow but steady. Debra Sakacs, executive director of the Universal City/North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, thinks NoHo is on its way to having the right mix of arts and entertainment to attract visitors to the Valley side of the hill. Some of the things that can only help NoHo, she says, are the yearly arts festival in June, the Metro Rail station planned to open in 2002, and expansion of Universal City. Edmund Gaynes, president of the Valley Theatre League, says North Hollywood has become the most important theater center in Los Angeles. “This neighborhood’s been totally revitalized primarily because of the theaters . . . abandoned buildings and other places were readily converted into theaters. By doing so, it’s improved the flavor of the area.”

NoHo Landmarks

Live theater

1. Actors Alley

2. Actors Forum Theatre

3. Actors Workout Studio

4. American Renegade Theatre Company

5. Back Parlour Theatre

6. The Bitter Truth

7. Chandler Studios

8. The Eclectic Company Theatre

9. The Group Repertory Theatre

10. Haunted Studios

11. The Jewel Box Theatre

12. NoHo Actors Studio

13. The Raven Playhouse

14. Road Theatre Company

15. Synthaxis Theater Company

16. Theatre Unlimited

17. Theatre West

18. Two Roads Theatre

****

Dance & Acting Studios

1. Actor Development Studio

2. Actors Workout Studio

3. Joe Tremaine Dance Studios

4. Martin Dancers

5. Art of the Dance

****

Cafes & Coffeehouses

1. Eagles Coffee Pub

2. Juliana Coffee & Roaster Co.

3. The Kindness of Strangers

****

Restaurants

1. Eclectic Cafe

2. Ernie’s Mexican Restaurant

3. L.A. Amigos Restaurant

4. Le Petit Chateau

5. Ned’s on Magnolia

6. Salonia Indian Restaurant

7. Sitton’s Restaurant

8. Tokyo Delve’s Sushi Bar & Restaurant

9. Villa Sorrento

****

Galleries

1. Armenian Arts Center

2. Grant Lashley Sculpture

3. L.A. Printmaking Society

****

Other landmarks

TV Television Academy of Arts & Sciences

CC Universal City-North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

M Future site of Metro Rail station

H Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn

SM Sanford Meisner Center for the Arts

Sources: Universal City-North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce; Community Redevelopment Agency; Edmund Gaynes.

Researched by JULIE SHEER / Los Angeles Times