Tesla showroom and service center will replace the Kmart in North Hollywood

Tesla is planning to turn a vacant Kmart building in North Hollywood into a showroom as it expands its footprint in the San Fernando Valley.

The new facility, spanning 444,000 square feet at 13005 W. Sherman Way, will be a showroom, service center and vehicle spray booth, according to documents filed with the Los Angeles Planning Department.

The complex will replace the former Kmart store and Sears auto center and stretch across 10 acres, It will include 17,000 square feet of retail space, 117 parking spaces and 660 charging stations known as stalls.

Hugh Esten, director of communications for City Council President Paul Krekorian, wrote in an email that the project is moving forward while Tesla waits for permits from city agencies.

He added that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power “has powered the building. It should be ready for operation potentially within the next 30 days.”

Maria Sosyan, president of the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council, who grew up near the property, said she wished the old Kmart site would be replaced with a park or a grocery store offering healthy food choices.

“It’s very industrial and the entire area is filled with warehouses,” Sosyan said. “It’s such a huge space and using it just for a Tesla showroom or super center is not the best use.”

She worried that building a showroom for luxury cars would eventually contribute to skyrocketing housing prices.

Residents of North Hollywood “don’t need to be priced out of their apartments, and they don’t need to be priced out of their homes,” she said.

The news about the development in North Hollywood came on the heels of reports that Tesla sought to turn another shuttered building in Chatsworth into a delivery hub and service center.

The Winnetka Pacific Theatre building at 9201 N. Winnetka Avenue will become a delivery and customer pickup center, according to Tesla representatives who spoke at the June Los Angeles city planning meeting.

The Winnetka Pacific Theatres shut down during the pandemic and later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The plan is to convert the 118,784-square-foot multiplex, which was originally constructed as a drive-in theater, into a car-delivery center.

The new complex will serve as a car delivery and customer pickup center. The automaker already operates showrooms across the San Fernando Valley, including in Van Nuys, Burbank and Agoura Hills.

In Hollywood, Tesla is building a 24-hour diner and drive-in theater. The development of the futuristic complex will include movie screens and about 30 charging stations, according to Bloomberg.

In his statement, communications director Esten wrote of the project in North Hollywood, “The community is very happy with it. It has brightened up the area … beautified it, if you will.”