Latest La Brea Mixed-User Unveiled

904 La Brea Avenue (All images: Shubin + Donaldson Architects)

A recently published environmental report from the Department of City Planning has revealed new details about the 904 La Brea Project, a mixed-use development planned near the border between Los Angeles and West Hollywood.

The seven-story development, slated for a roughly one-acre site at the corner of La Brea and Willoughby Avenues, would feature 169 apartments and approximately 37,000 square feet of of ground-floor retail space.  Proposed dwellings would include studio, one-and-two-bedroom units, with approximately 14 apartments set aside for very low income households.  Residential amenities would include a pool, gymnasium and a communal outdoor deck.

A partially-underground garage would be included with the project, providing parking accommodations for up to 303 vehicles and more than 200 bicycles.  Residents would be afforded 192 total parking spaces, situated on two above-grade levels.  111 basement parking spaces would be available for use by retail tenants and their customers.

Second Mixed-User Headed to La Brea/Willoughby

Over the summer, many Los Angeles preservationists were outraged by the unannounced demolition of the Mole-Richardson Building, a one-story Art Deco structure built in 1930.  Now six months later, a case filing from the Department of City Planning has finally revealed why the 84-year-old building met with such an undignified ending.

According to plans submitted to the city last week, a new residential-retail development will be constructed on the now vacant lot at 900 North La Brea Avenue.  The seven-story complex would contain 169 apartments and slightly over 37,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.  Fourteen of the building's residential units would be reserved for very-low-income households.

Although the project is still in the earliest stages of the city's approval process, the experiences of a similar development across the street hint at a difficult path ahead.  La Brea Gateway, currently under construction, fought against a zealous neighborhood coalition for close to ten years prior to breaking ground this past Spring.  During that process, the project was gradually whittled down from a seven-story, 219-unit development to a more modest five-story, 179-unit building.

More on Hollywood and La Brea's Upcoming High-Rise Complex

All images credit: Horizon Hollywood and GMPA Architects

With an official website up and running, we can now take a closer look at the latest tower project slated to realign Hollywood's low-slung skyline.  The $150 million Horizon Hollywood - to be developed by a partnership between by Kennedy Wilson and the LeFrak Organization - would create 410  residential units and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space just a short walk from Hollywood/Highland Station.

Designed by Santa Monica-based GMPA Architects, Horizon would erect a trio of modern buildings on a two-acre property currently occupied by Mosaic Church.  A 26-story tower known as the La Brea Building would be the centerpiece of the development, rising 275 feet from the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and namesake La Brea Avenue.  Renderings portray a white color scheme for the high-rise, similar to that of many nearby historic structures.

Moving northwest from the busy intersection, Horizon's buildings would step down in height to match the scale of adjacent developments.  The eight-story Boulevard Building, to be located in-between the aforementioned tower and an existing residential mid-rise, would stand 88 feet above street level.  The six-story Courtyard Building, the smallest of the proposed structures, would rise 65 feet at the northernmost corner of the development site.  All three buildings would be served by a wide array of amenities, including roof decks, a fitness center, conference and media rooms, and an outdoor pool.

High-Rise Complex Proposed at Hollywood and La Brea

7107 Hollywood Boulevard

As the developer of the controversial Millennium Hollywood proudly declares its property fault-free, another skyline altering project will soon go before the neighborhood's notorious NIMBY gauntlet.  Last week, plans were submitted to the city for a new mixed-use complex at the northwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.  The proposed development would consist of a "six to twenty-six story building," containing retail space and an unspecified number of residential units within approximately 466,000 square feet of floor space.

The two-acre development site - currently home to the nomadic MOSAIC church - lies just outside the southernmost boundary of the Hollywood fault zone.  The exact route of the fault line has become a contentious issue over the past several years, as outspoken neighbors have fought several proposed high-rise buildings on the basis of earthquake safety.  Developments falling within 500 feet of an active fault line require stringent seismic testing, in order to avoid the potential dangers posed by a surface rupture.  In this particular case, a video flyover produced by the Los Angeles Times portrays the fault zone as running a half-block north of the project site, ending near Franklin Avenue.

Office Building Proposed Next to La Brea Gateway

After nearly ten years of delay, Hollywood's mixed-use La Brea Gateway complex is finally under construction.  Hopefully a proposed next-door neighbor experiences a less arduous path moving forward.  According to plans filed with the city last week, a low-rise office building is in works at 925 North La Brea Avenue.  The development site was previously home to a nondescript commercial structure, which is currently being demolished to make way for the new, six-story edifice.

The development is the latest in a recent series of office projects headed to Hollywood, as developers move to capitalize on the neighborhood's relative lack of Class-A accommodations.  Currently, over one million square feet of office space is either proposed or under construction in-between Vine Street and the Hollywood Freeway.  That figure includes Kilroy Realty's $380 million Columbia Square development, and a pair of Sunset Boulevard towers planned by Hudson Pacific Properties.  Further west, developer J.H. Snyder is building a speculative 250,000 square foot campus, and intends to break ground on a smaller project on Selma Avenue later this year.  One block from 925 N. La Brea, CIM Group recently opened the Formosa South office building, which has attracted big-name tenants including Funny or Die and the Oprah Winfrey Network.

La Brea Regency Lofts Ready to Break Ground

Image from Curbed LA

Yesterday, GlobeSt.com reported that La Brea Regency, LLC had secured financing for the construction of a mixed-use development at the southeastern corner of La Brea and Hawthorn Avenues.  The five-story La Brea Regency Lofts will contain 56 residential units above 9,000 square feet of ground level commercial space.  The building shall be served by a three-level, subterranean garage with 124 parking stalls.  A quick check of the Department of Building and Safety's records indicates that construction permits were issued for the project back in August.  With the bureaucratic wrangling complete and financing officially lined up, La Brea Regency can now get shovels in the ground.

Although the La Brea Regency Lofts were first proposed in 2010, GlobeSt.com indicates that the land owners opted to delay groundbreaking in order to gauge the success of other multi-family developments in Hollywood.  One of those other developments is the pedestrian repelling Avenue Hollywood, located directly across the street.  Another future neighbor will be 7260 Hawthorn Avenue, situated three blocks to the west.

Future site of the La Brea Regency Lofts, outlined in red.

• $19M Goes Towards 56-Unit Hollywood Build (GlobeSt.com)
• Welcome to "The Avenue Hollywood," Another Anti-Pedestrian Project (Streetsblog LA)
• Make Way for More Condos in Hollywood (Building Los Angeles)