If you live on the Eastside or drive down Fountain near La Brea you may have noticed construction has started on a five-story apartment building on Fountain Avenue. The lot is technically on the Los Angeles side of one of the area’s sharpest city-limit lines. You literally cross to the south side of Fountain and you’re in West Hollywood. Stay on the north side and you’re in LA, which is where this project is.
The building is going up at 1302-1308 N. Martel Ave. and 7317 W. Fountain Ave., at the corner of Martel and Fountain, one block west of Fuller. Developer Generation Real Estate Partners pulled permits from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety to demolish three single-family homes on the site and replace them with 47 new apartments — studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units — with parking for 16 vehicles. The three cottages that were demolished were a part of the neighborhood charm for decades. I’ve noticed them for as long as I’ve lived here. It was a bit of a shock to see them bulldozed in just a day.
Six of the 47 units will go to very low-income households. The developer got there by using a Transit Oriented Incentive Area density bonus — the site sits near Metro bus routes 2 and 4, which run along Fountain on Santa Monica and Sunset Boulevards; being that close qualified it for the extra density under housing incentives the City of Los Angeles adopted in 2025. Sound familiar?
Generation Real Estate Partners was founded in 2016 by Steven Scheibe and Ramin Ghaneeian. The company builds, owns, and manages multifamily properties across Southern California, working projects from entitlement through construction and into long-term management. Past work includes a fully affordable building in Sawtelle developed under Mayor Karen Bass’s Executive Directive 1 and mixed-income apartments in the Fairfax district. The company has a separate project planned on Alta Vista Boulevard in Hollywood as well.
Kevin Tsai Architecture is designing the building. The Los Angeles-based firm works exclusively in multifamily housing and has projects around the city including buildings in Echo Park and near the Expo/Bundy Metro station. Plans show a contemporary low-rise with the typical rooftop amenity deck.
Only 16 parking spots for 47 apartments?! That is insane! And the city wants to eliminate 100 or so parking spots for the one-lane Fountain mess? This is a trainwreck in motion. Seriously, where are those residents going to park?
I’m not against higher density, and I am one of those WeHoans that has largely switched to public transit. So I dont think its that bad. What i do object to is destroying historic buildings. Id like to make sure more building can gain protection if they are architecturally significant. I’d also like to make sure that when new developments go up that there is a much greater public benefit. I think for any buildings that increase the number of units they replace by a certain ratio, at least 25-33% of the units should be low and moderate income and… Read more »
Even though this isn’t in West Hollywood, this is exactly what developers have salivated for along Fountaun Avenue. The multimodal street redo activates Fountain as a major transportation opportunity corridor. The idea of a neighborhood is gone. The idea that vehicles aren’t needed is insane. The idea that these developments will be or make Los Angeles affordable is laughable. All this does is make density to an overwhelming crowded city more unbearable. Andrew Solomon , Helen Krieger, John Erickson, Chelsea Byers, city staff, and any others who applaud or use the excuse is we have a housing shortage and no… Read more »
16 spaces for 47 units of up to 3 bedrooms. And in theory 1/2 the parking disappearing on Fountain with the upcoming road/parking diet. I’m sure prospective luxury tenants will be banging down the doors, and what a neighborhood-respecting developer!
Although Kevin Tsai Architecture may wish to be applauded for his design of this building, he will likely be noteworthy for participating in the destruction of a neighborhood.
There is no bus on Fountain. The #2 runs along Sunset.
Correct, the 2 and the 4 “run along” Fountain (on Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd).
So only one third of the tenants will own cars? This is what Council candidate Helen Krieger calls “right sizing” by developers, who supposedly will build enough parking to make their projects marketable.
I suspect this project will only add to the area’s parking woes. The only upside are the six “very low income” units.
Andrew Solomon from West Hollywood’s Planning Department is asking residents to stop looking at developers as negative. Yeah, right. That’s what you say when you are in cahoots with developers, like him and 3 of our Council members