Lighting the Way: Hollywood Development Brings Big Opportunities
By Robert Fulton
Members of IBEW Local 11 are enjoying demonstrating their skills at a mixed-use complex that is taking shape at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Western Avenue in Hollywood.
What makes the project at 5420 Sunset Blvd. unique is the residential portion of the mixed-use building: Union electricians haven’t been seen on residential jobsites as frequently as industrial or commercial. If the Hollywood project is any indication, that’s starting to change.
“This is fantastic,” said District 1 Business Agent Zac Solomon. “This is the beginning of us getting all of our work back. All aspects of electrical work should be done union. The fact that we can bid these projects and bring our journeymen and our apprentices to get the experience on a job like this doing wood frame makes us more powerful and makes the contractors more confident that they can bid this type of work and get it done.”
The project at Sunset and Western started taking shape in December, with wood framing looming over the street. The site was once a shopping center anchored by Food4Less grocery store. It will ultimately become 735 studio, one-, and two-bedroom high-end apartments atop 95,000 square feet of commercial space and parking.
The development, across the street from a newer Target location, will raise six stories and include Whole Foods and Sephora, among other retailers. It is expected to be completed in early 2026.
Dozens of union electricians are on site working for SBE Electrical Contractors. Permanent power is expected to be up and running by June.
Ron Hoch is the temporary power foreman, working on 45 electrical rooms and 50 transformers.
“The fact that the distribution here is medium voltage, a lot of jobs like this, we don’t normally have medium voltage,” Hoch said. “We don’t normally have so many transformers on a jobsite.”
Apprentice Noah Sparn has taken advantage of the various tasks on the project to sharpen his skills.
“There’s a vast amount of different types of work you can do here,” said Sparn, a fourth-generation electrician. “I’ve done everything from deck work to underground, temp power, and now I’m working on the single line crew. We’ve done some branch stuff up here in the units. So, a lot of different work.”
Michael Taylor is part of the SBE low voltage team. During a recent visit, he was working on cameras and speakers while teammates tackled alarms, sprinklers and more.
“Pretty much, we’re touching on everything,” Taylor said. “We’re touching every aspect of sound and communication.”
Keith Huckabee is a foreman on the 5420 Sunset job. He discussed the nuances between residential and other installs.
“Wire is wire, but installation is a little different, and steps in installation, there are variables everywhere, Huckabee said.
Instead of having teams of two do everything to each individual residential unit, Huckabee has set up a production line approach. One lays out the electrical, the next installs the box and the third does the rope. A single unit can take anywhere from six to eight hours and upwards of 10 hours for the larger apartments.
Apartment at a time, story at a time, the job is getting done with union electricians.
“Our guys are going to get this done in the same amount of time that the non-union gets it done with a higher standard, higher quality, higher safety and better pay for all its workers,” Solomon said.
