Area Residents Invited to Discuss Hotel and Restaurant Project Proposed for Barney’s Beanery Site

The developer of a proposed hotel and restaurant project proposed for 8447 Santa Monica Blvd., the site of Barney’s Beanery, will host another community meeting on Tuesday to share information with area residents.

The project design was presented at a neighborhood meeting in July. Designed by MAD Architects, it would include an 88-room hotel along with 45 apartments, 11 of which would be available at below-market rents. It also would include three restaurants (including Barney’s Beanery) and incorporate the façade of Barney’s Beanery into its design. It also would include an underground 80-seat live music venue and recording studio. There would be retail shops and a public plaza on the southeast corner of the site.

In addition to the inclusion of apartments and retail, a major difference in the latest iteration of the project is that it would extend east to Olive Drive and slightly up that residential street. The Olive façade would feature a major entrance to the complex.

The meeting will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the building on the northwest corner of Holloway and Olive drives. Those attending are asked to enter through the black gate on Olive.

The owners of the project include Phil Howard and Dean McKillen, owners of Laurel Hardware and Ysabel; Zach Vella of Vella Group, and Barney’s Beanery owner David Houston.

Barney’s, which opened in 1927, is known for customers such as musicians Jim Morrison of the Doors and Janis Joplin, poet Charles Bukowski and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, who is said to have written the script for “Pulp Fiction” at Barney’s. It also is known for a sign that read “Fagots Stay Out.” That sign was removed in December 1984, days after West Hollywood was incorporated as its own city, by then-mayor Valerie Terrigno and the city council.

The project will have to go through standards steps for approval, including an evaluation by the Planning Commission’s Design Review Subcommittee and by the Planning Commission, before finally being approved.

MAD Architects is a global firm with offices in Beijing, New York City and Los Angeles. MAD Architects is the principal architect of the now-under construction Lucas Museum of Native Art in Los Angeles.