The Planning Commission will decide Thursday whether to approve a plan for West Hollywood to purchase the empty lot at 148 North Swall Drive.
The property is a 6,006-square-foot space situated on the east side of North Swall Drive, south of Beverly Boulevard. The zoning for this area is Residential, Multi-Family High Density (R4B-C) with a Parking Overlay, accommodating high-density residential and potential ground floor commercial uses.
This acquisition, funded through general non-restricted funds, represents a strategic move on behalf of City Hall, eager for the rare chance to build a project on a blank slate property. With no current developments or tenants, future plans for its use will be determined after a comprehensive study and public consultation. This process aims to align any potential development with the community’s needs and the city’s development standards.
Resident David Eckhert wrote City Hall to voice his skepticism about such an open-ended plan.
“Why is the City purchasing this property with no plans for its usage? I don’t see how this lends to the General Plan. I could understand if this was to help with West Hollywood not in compliance with California’s housing requirements but there is no menton of development for immediate housing. The City has purchased multiple plots that have seen no activation for many years that have now caused the activation of The Builder’s Remedy. This land should be available for a private developer rather than West Hollywood owning and sitting on it. Also,where is the cost to purchase this land stated?”
Public outreach efforts by City Hall included notices sent to property owners and occupants within a 500-foot radius and ads on the city’s website and Channel 6.
For more information on this acquisition and other urban planning initiatives, interested parties can refer to the West Hollywood Municipal Code and the City’s planning department resources.
Empty parcels? We have outcry when community gardens are shut down and neighbors ‘evicted’ from them so that housing can be built … why not have intentional plans to make the empty lots into green spaces? Do we really have to have concrete and stucco covering every square foot of soil??
Or – how about parking for guests in various neighborhoods? Residents already can’t park where they live. Two stories of parking nearby might be appreciated by a lot of people.
👏 for the parking idea
What sound reason does a city buy property if there’s no immediate plan to build a community type structure? What monopoly is the city playing? What about affordable senior housing development? What about affordable community service center? Is this not visionary for a diverse city?
I loved how The City Planning Commission didn’t even ask any questions of staff why the property was being purchased prior to approving this development. West Hollywood bought land behind the abandoned Walgreen’s site and now has this on City Council’s agenda on Feb 5th. The City owns real property located at 1047 and 1057 N. Crescent Heights Boulevard. A diagram of the Property is depicted on Attachment A (“Property”). The City completed purchase of a residential parcel located at 1047 N. Crescent Heights Blvd in January 2023. The adjacent residential parcel at 1057 N. Crescent Heights was acquired as… Read more »
How much over budget was the Library ? How many years ago did the city buy Walgreens lot ? Who in the city is the one that likes shopping for real estate so ? How many properties does the city own and have they been audited ? Should we take that money and put towards infrastructure ? Do the citizens realize in the event of an Earthquake that we will be last in line at the county for repairs ? We don’t even control our water or power ? It will be months before the basics are repaired and ready… Read more »
I think I have a great idea: let’s build a big homeless motel for out of town crazies, so we can show them our hospitality, and they can do all their drugs on city property, and hopefully attract more crazies just to hang out there. There is a housing “crisis”, right?
wouldn’t you rather they be on the far edge of our city than located at one of our busiest intersections?
/sarcasm/
No plan. No buy.
So now will the city will be like the developers?… Buying a property and letting it sit there, vacant for a ridiculously long amount of time? Is the money burning a hole in their pockets?
Yes, they are like developers. And they protect landlord/developers whose agents lie under oath and submit fraudulant docs/pictures during a rent decrease hearing. But, they prosecuted a tenant years ago for doing the same thing.
And what has happened to the EQ Retrofitting Program?
This is reckless speculation with public funds. This amounts to nothing less than municipal government malfeasance. Are we going to continue to let those who do the public’s work run amok in our name? Hell no.
Yes, ridiculous. If our city had a track record of making smart property purchases and then immediately developing the lots for financial benefit, that would be one thing. However, we all know how long they have owned the Walgreens lot, the Basix parcel, and the Barry’s workout space without any sign of activity. It takes them decades to get things done. Waste of taxpayer money! How about putting this money toward fast tracking business approval so instead of the years it takes for a small business to open it can be done in months. Now, that would be a wise… Read more »
Very smart move for the city to snap up a ready to build lot. Price will never be less and a developer could put parking on it for years. To say the city has no plans is a bit of a misrepresentation. While a specific proposal is not known, affordable housing is a mission of the city.
yes and it will sit there for ten years like the other city properties.