Beverly Hills, California

The City of Beverly Hills is located in the Westside region of Los Angeles County. The Westside Region includes the cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, Malibu, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood, as well as the City of Los Angeles communities of Bel Air, Brentwood, Century City, Pacific Palisades, Venice, Westwood, and surrounding areas. The Westside is generally affluent, and a significant portion of its workforce is engaged in creative fields. The cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood border Beverly Hills. About 35,000 residents live in the 5.7 square mile municipality. Beverly Hills is a full-service city with its own police force and fire department. The five-member City Council sets City Policy. The Mayor is elected from within the City Council membership each year. The City Manager oversees the day-to-day operations of City government.

Beverly Hills is one of the most affluent cities in California. More than 95% of the City’s workforce is engaged in white-collar employment.

Although high-rise apartment buildings (along with small homes in areas south of Wilshire Boulevard) account for a significant portion of the City’s housing units, low-density neighborhoods consisting of large single-family detached houses and mansions occupy much of the City’s residential landscape. Beverly Hills features some of the most valuable real estate in the world. Beverly Hills is among the United States cities with the highest median home price. Beverly Hills homes listed on the market for over $10 million and with more than 10,000 square feet of living space are commonplace.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District employs more than 550 individuals. Other major employers include the City of Beverly Hills, Beverly Hilton, and the Beverly Wilshire.

Sales tax revenue for the City of Beverly Hills has several major business group sources, two of which are referenced below.

Autos and Transportation Including Audi Beverly Hills, Audi Leasing, Cadillac of Beverly Hills, Daimler Trust, Ferrari of Beverly Hills, Financial Services Vehicle Trust, Jim Falk Lexus of Beverly Hills, Lamborghini of Beverly Hills, Mercedes Benz of Beverly Hills, Porsche Leasing, and Toyota Lease Trust.

Consumer Goods Including Cartier, Chanel, Christian Dior, Gearys, Mason Goyard, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent. The sale of merchandise from internationally recognized luxury brands greatly benefits the City of Beverly Hill’s economy.

Tourism is a major industry in Beverly Hills. Tourists from all over the world take tours of Beverly Hills neighborhoods. Beverly Hills is home to a number of prestigious hotels, including Beverly Hills Hotel and the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Transient Occupancy Tax is a significant source of City revenue. Beverly Hills is home to Rodeo Drive. Rodeo Drive is a world-famous shopping zone and is considered one of the world’s most exclusive luxury destinations. The City funds promotional programs by the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau, which often include pole banners, advertising, and social media campaigns. Beverly Hills Ambassadors serve the City’s business district, mainly by foot. Easily identifiable in blue polo shirts, black pants, and black hats, the Ambassadors, among other duties, provide wayfinding services for tourists.

Major throughfares passing through Beverly Hills include Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard, and La Cienega Boulevard.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, along with the Antelope Valley Transit Authority and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, provide several bus lines through Beverly Hills. The Metro Purple Line (also known as the D line) subway extension will connect Beverly Hills to Downtown Los Angeles and points beyond. Beverly Hills will have two stations along the Purple Rail Line: Wilshire/La Cienega Station (slated to open in 2024), and Wilshire/Rodeo Station (slated to open in 2025).

A less intensive demand for commercial office space in recent years presents challenges for Beverly Hills, which has an inventory of commercial office space of over 10 million square feet. The longstanding trend of increasing competition from e-commerce continues to affect brick-and-mortar retail. While the promotion of experienced-based retail environments has countered this trend to some extent, retail vacancy rates have continued to rise in Beverly Hills.

The One Beverly Hills is a $2 billion residential and hotel complex that is slated to begin construction in 2023 and be completed in 2027. The project site is a 17.5-acre property formerly occupied by the Robinsons-May department store. The project also calls for an 8-acre garden.

The Cheval Blanc hotel project, adjacent to Rodeo Drive, would include a 115-room hotel, restaurants, and a private club.

The Doheny Greystone Estate is owned by the City of Beverly Hills, and the Department of Community Services - Recreation and Parks Division operates the site. Construction on the Greystone Mansion began in 1927. The mansion has 46,054 square feet of living space and cost over $1 million to build at a time when a new car could be purchased for $500. The entire 18.3-acre site, including the Greystone Mansion, is now a public park. The site is entered in the National Register of Historic Places and Local Register of Historic Properties.

In the 19^th Century, two attempts were made to establish a community in what is now Beverly Hills. First, Edward Preuss sought to establish a community for immigrant German farmers. The community was to be called “Santa Maria.” A drought prevented Preuss from having sufficient earnings to realize his plan.

Later, Henry Hammel and Charles Denker bought the land with the intention of creating a community named “Morocco,” a subdivision with a North African theme. An economic collapse put an end to the scheme.

In 1900, wells were drilled in the area for oil exploration. Instead of finding oil in amounts sufficient for commercial exploitation based on then available technology, the speculators found water—enough water to support a town. A few years later the area was named “Beverly Hills,” and this time the name stuck.

In 1907, landscape architect Wilbur D. Cook designed a street plan for Beverly Hills. Curving streets with large lots occupied on the north side of town, while smaller lots occupied the south side of town. A triangular commercial district separated the two residential districts. The vision was to make the town affordable to a range of incomes.

Beverly Hills was incorporated in 1914.

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