NBC Universal hired Thomas Properties Group to re-start the process of developing the studio's backlot into homes, offices, stores and production facilities. "Sooner or later, it's going to get developed," said the firm's Jim Thomas, who also had a hand in developing Playa Vista. "I can't think of another piece of land in Los Angeles that is as key as this one." Carl Laemmle opened Universal as the first studio located beyond the Hollywood Hills in the Valley. Actors rode Pacific Electric Red Cars through Cahuenga Pass to Universal City, dedicated in 1915 as "the strangest place on earth," with its own population, mayor and female chief of police, though it was never officially a city. Valley business leaders are hoping for a major mixed-use project on the 400 acres, and residents seem resigned that the historic backlot will be built up. "They've got to [build] something," Patrick Garner of the Toluca Lake Residents Association says. The architectural firm Rios Clementi Hale Studios also signed on to the development team. LAT, Daily News, LABJ

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