Oak Village Residences Coming to University Park

One building from the Oak Village Residences

A draft environmental impact report went into circulation this week for the Oak Village Residences, a proposal from Anastasi Development Company that seeks to bring 142 residential units to a parcel located just southwest of Downtown Los Angeles.  Let's have a look at what to expect:

The Project consists of six separate buildings, two condominium buildings and four duplex townhome buildings.  The condominium buildings would be six stories tall, approximately 65 feet at their highest point.  The three-story (approximately 35 feet in height) townhomes would be located on the western portion of the Project site along 20th street.  The townhomes would all be four-bedroom units.  The 134 condominium units would comprise 32 one-bedroom units, 76 two-bedroom units, 24 three-bedroom units, and two four-bedroom units.  Two subterranean levels of parking would provide a total of 320 parking spaces.

First of all, let's take the frequent use of the word "condominium," with a grain of salt.  While the EIR does specify that these units are "for-sale," this document also dates back to the year 2005.  The market has come crashing back to Earth since then.  Like many condo buildings that were envisioned prior to the real estate bubble, these buildings will probably come to fruition as rentals.

Anyway, back to the details of the project.

Overhead view of the project site.  Bounded by Washington Blvd, Oak Street and 20th Street.  University Park is rough around the edges, but has excellent pre-war housing stock.  Lots of old apartment buildings and craftsman homes.  However, the 110/10 interchange is nearby, making for noisy conditions.

The Oak Street profile of the project.  The buildings decreases in height as they move further away from Washington Blvd.  The townhouses line the 20th Street side of the project site, keeping in scale with the existing single family homes on the opposite side of the street.  A nice touch.

A front and rear profile of the townhouses along 20th Street.  It appears that they try match the architectural motifs of the craftsman homes across the street, although it's difficult to judge based on small black and white renderings.

Just for fun, here are some of the craftsman homes lining the opposite side of 20th street.

All of these houses were built between 1901 and 1910.  Most have clearly been restored in more recent years.  Gentrification is always a controversial topic, but I don't think anyone can protest the restoration of beautiful 100+ year old houses such as these.