CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story implied that the Planning Commission would consider the actual approval of the proposed development mentioned above. The development was approved last year, and Thursday’s meeting will be to consider allowing a structuring of the development to facilitate separate investment in the commercial and residential components of it.
The West Hollywood Planning Commission on Thursday will considering approving a mechanism to make easier the development of a project on Sunset Boulevard at Miller Drive that had drawn criticism from nearby residents and Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz.
The project, as originally proposed, would have included 24 condominiums, ten additional units priced for low-income people and 9,200 square feet of shops and a restaurant. A 2010 study estimated it would have increased traffic on the already busy boulevard by more than 900 cars a day. Because part of the project’s land is within the city limits of Los Angeles, Koretz said he wanted that city to have a say. The development is a project of Karma Development LLC, owned by developer Frank Davamandi of Santa Monica,
Unable to secure approval by the City of Los Angeles, Karma scaled back the project so that it sits entirely within the West Hollywood city limits. Now it will include 11 apartments, one of them for a low-income tenant, 11,240 square feet of shops and a restaurant and a 20 by 60 foot billboard. It would replace an existing three-story building with 31 apartments. The Planning Commission approved that new plan last year. On Thursday it will be asked to permit the existing project to be subdivided into 13 “air space parcels.”
Creating “air-space parcels” is a way to let one company own a building while someone else owns the space between the floor and the ceiling within the building. The main attraction of an air space subdivision is that it creates two separate legal parcels within the same building. Different parties then can own the residential and commercial parts of the building, providing more flexibility for investment opportunities.
It will sit across from the Sunset La Cienega project, which spans La Cienega at Sunset Boulevard and is one of the largest construction projects currently underway in West Hollywood. That development, by the CIM Group, will include two 10-story towers with 296 hotel rooms and 15,000 square feet of retail space on the east side of La Cienega on land formerly occupied by the Peterson building. One the west side there will be two eight-story towers with 190 residential units and 55,000 square feet of retail space. Both parcels will feature large public plazas with viewing terraces.
The Planning Commission will consider this proposal at its meeting on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber at 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., south of Santa Monica.
My friend lived here for years, it’s a shame they let it go like that, I loved that old place so much history, Rent controlled though, I guess that’s why they forced everyone out.
I was an assistant property manager for the shabby rundown apartment building next door to the Pink Dot Store lol
Im all for new structural sound buildings with more parking for residents & free 1 or 2 hour public parking. More density is good (to keep local businesses & services alive). We dont want ghost towns that will hurt local economies. Cities should mandate that developers have a number of condos, apartments, retail spaces set aside at reasonable rental rates for low, middle income singles and families. There should also be requirements for more green space and courtyards so they are not blocks of metal and concrete. If they want to put a billboard for new construction projects there should… Read more »
Slowly the mixed used will be obsolete as no one can make enough $$, in the businesses they are allowing, to support the astronomical rents they are charging. It is a shame that the mom and pop shops were booted out of Movietown Plaza about two years too soon and NOW the neighborhood is left without a Laundromat, a shoe repair, a hair salon, a locksmith, a tropical fish/hobby store, a smoke shop, a dry cleaners, some small un-chic but favorite restaurants and the best Trader Joe’s in the city. And what do you want to bet that NONE of… Read more »
I like baby boomers…they keep cranking out gay babies..I just don’t like them moving in the neighborhood and trying to change it, but it will happen as long as we let it
This looks like a huge improvement over the current site. I am glad to see West Hollywood ignore the Baby Boomers who can’t shut up about traffic, and continue to build more mixed-use buildings that add appropriate density along our major boulevards.
After all the money the developers in this have paid the 4 long term city council members to keep their seats will they say no to their developer friends massive density plans on this site? Or is is it time for payback from the city council with yes votes? And is our city planning commision just puppets of those who appointed them, approving all new density as they ignore the residents? Shouldnt what is built in the city be up to the residents of the city who are affected by the increase in traffic and density, not the out of… Read more »
When the sooner-or-later inevitable earthquake hits along the Hollywood fault line, a lot of this stuff is going to slide downhill towards Santa Monica Boulevard. But the developers will probably have made their $ and gone elsewhere by then. In the meantime, let gridlock reign!
Build, Build , Build…..its not like weho has an historic district like the French Quarter so we might as well have attractive new buildings
Is it fair to ask for updated drawings and links to plans on all new developments on all articles and from the city ? Is it fair to ask for an elevation that shows real scale and true conditions? Is it fair to ask why another project on sunset blvd that was no bigger than the many planned in the city but happened to be on a street where a planning board member lives why that has stalled and was stopped ? Interesting that by designing this project outside L.A. its much easier to pass ? Are La city council… Read more »
This intersection – Miller Dr, La Cienega and Sunset is a cluster-#%@+ on a good day. The existing apartment building has been allowed to deteriorate to the point where people will be glad to see it go — a common trick by developers. But the reality is that this new project is merely an excuse for a giant billboard. I wonder if it’s going to be competing with the giant billboard over Pink Dot. I hope the Planning Commission sees through it.