Universal Inn on Ventura Blvd in Studio City to Become 46 Room Hotel

By Marty McFly - Friday, May 22, 2015 - No Comments

Image courtesy Google Maps

Image courtesy Bing Maps

Back on March 27, 2015, a hearing was held to demolish a 17 room motel known as Universal Inn (formerly known as Studio Place Inn) located at 10740 Ventura Blvd (also 10744) and 10812 Fruitland Drive in Studio City to build a 46 room, approximately 26,383 sqft hotel which is located next to the The Blvd Hotel and Spa.

The latest agenda (at the bottom of the post) from the Planning Commission looks like the project will be approved with some additional requirements. The project consists of 4 stories with a basement parking garage that will provide 74 parking spaces and 16 bicycle parking stalls. The project also includes an 1,840 sqft ground floor restaurant and 895 sqft rooftop bar with an adjacent patio area of 2,600 sqft. There is a separate request to vacate the alley bisecting the site which might seem irrelevant but was the source of major drama back in 2002 that I will explain later.

The property measures 11,899 sqft with 4,781 sqft of total building spaces for 17 rooms originally built in 1939. Its hard to believe that this site has lasted so long! The property is currently owned by Hema and Sagar Kumar who also operate a Comfort Inn on Sunset.

So going back to the drama, back in 2002, the owner of the Studio Place Inn (which I believe is the current site of The Blvd Hotel and Spa at 10730), Pravin Govin, wanted to expand his business and use the alley as a driveway that was on the property of the Universal City Inn (the motel described in this post) owned by Gita Kumar along with her husband, Harish Patel. The two didnt agree and set off a rivalry with Govin taking justice into his own hands on May 4, 2002 by killing Gita (42), her son, Paras (18), her daughter, Tulsi (16), and mother-in-law, Sitaben Patel (63) at their Hollywood Hills home which Govin set ablazed. Govin had two accomplices including his brother help with the murders was sentenced to death including his brother on April 5, 2005 after a second trial with the first resulting in a hung jury. Govin is still alive pending an appeal. So all this drama and sadness over an alley, simply amazing. My heart goes out to the Kumar family.

You can view more SFV Architecture and R.E. here.

This small alley caused so much pain for one family. Image courtesy Google Maps.

The current site of The Blvd Hotel and Spa was previously a Hollywood-Land Lodge Apartment Motel in the 1950s. This is what the site looked like when Govin owned it.