Race To Save The Hollywood Sign

A nature conservation group said Monday it has reached a deal that would protect a huge swath of land near the world-famous Hollywood sign from being developed into luxury homes.

Trust For Public Land president Will Rogers said the group secured an option to buy the rugged 138-acre parcel known as Cahuenga Peak for about $12 million from Chicago area-based Fox River Financial Resources.

The consortium put the land on the market two years ago for some $22 million.

"The real estate meltdown has brought a number of properties that should never have been developed back onto the market at very favorable prices," Rogers said.

But, he added, "not everything that we're seeing is as iconic as Cahuenga Peak, being the backdrop to the Hollywood sign."

Fox River did not answer a call seeking comment. Real estate agent Ernie Carswell, who had been handling the property, did not return a message.

The Trust for Public Land has already raised about $6 million. Rogers says he's confident it can raise the rest before the option expires in mid-April, although he acknowledged that the same economic forces that were driving down land prices also made fundraising more difficult.

If it succeeds, the group intends to transfer the land to the city of Los Angeles, so it can be incorporated into the adjacent 4,200-acre Griffith Park.

The sage-covered mountaintop property, which begins just beside the sign's "H" and continues west along the Hollywood Hills' scenic ridge, was once owned by movie producer and industrialist Howard Hughes. The property remained undeveloped in the billionaire's trust for decades.