Designs add housing and charm to Upper Larchmont
“COBBLESTONE” by Ed Mendoza was among the many whimsical and charming designs suggested for Larchmont Boulevard north of Beverly Boulevard.
By Suzan Filipek
An imaginary vision of Upper Larchmont is coming into focus as a charming, walkable, three-block stretch—much like its neighbor to the south—as a result of a recent design competition.
Mostly architects, as well as residents, neighbors, and students entered submissions to the competition held this past spring.
They were charged with designing four to five story buildings, with housing on top and retail below, intended to make the stretch appealing and inviting.
“Inviting” is a word that often comes to Lindsay Sturman’s mind in regards for the area. The Windsor Square resident is co-founder of the Livable Communities Initiative, a nonprofit which is heading the project, known as Larchmont 2030, created by Sam Uretsky, of Reboot Larchmont and the Larchmont Unified Neighborhood Association.
FIRST-PLACE winner Chris Shanley with LCI Co-founder Lindsay Sturman.
“The winning entries had beautiful designs and thoughtful streetscapes and felt ‘of a piece’ with the street. The buildings were inviting, incorporated greenery and trees, and had activated, vibrant ground-floor retail. They contributed to making the street better,” Sturman said. Some among the 28 entries were those from LCI co-founders and not in the competition.
Turning these design ideas into reality is a ways off, as the competition was more “to help start a conversation about high-quality architecture and design,” Sturman added.
It makes sense to reach out to the community, she continued, “L.A. is a global design capital—we have some of the best (some say the best) architecture schools in the world, art schools, artists, designers, craftspeople, and of course Hollywood. L.A. is unmatched when it comes to a design community.”
But, “L.A. needs housing… Our current [city] rules are tying the hands of our design community.
“Right now, the rules are making it very hard to build, and very, very hard to build well. We want to make it very easy to build great housing that buyers want to live in,” Sturman said.
A significant roadblock has been a two-stairwell requirement of all buildings. Taking up even more space is a required corridor. Besides the space, the two stairwells and corridor prevent windows on one side of the building exterior and essentially makes the kind of design envisioned here impossible. It has put the Upper Larchmont project on hold, pending ongoing talks with city officials.
LUNA PRESIDENT Sam Uretsky with second-place winner Nicole Smith.
Meanwhile, LCI directors have a hand in Culver City, where officials gained traction last year after becoming the first city in the state to legalize construction of small apartment buildings with a single staircase as part of its SB 79 Alternative Plan. It’s named after the recently passed Senate Bill 79, which requires higher stories and more density along major transit stops. The one being implemented on Washington Boulevard in Culver City will transform the area into a vibrant downtown area, Sturman said.
Requirements for the single staircase include buildings be smaller—under six stories—have an array of added fire prevention measures, and several egress points.
The result is a coherent look and much of what makes South Larchmont, and Paris, for that matter, appealing. “What makes Larchmont so charming is that it’s not chopped up with driveways and cutbacks,” said Sturman, adding stores with parking in front are not inviting.
There are around 80 underutilized parcels on Upper Larchmont, between Beverly Boulevard and Melrose Avenue, that could be redeveloped. More than 1,000 new residential units could be built, along with a center parking median with over 200 new spaces.
The winners
First-place winners in the competition were a tie between “Larchmont 2030,” by Chris Shanley, and “The Village at Montclair Station,” by the firm Torti Gallas + Partners.
Shanley is a 28-year Larchmont resident that works as studio director and principal of Marmol Radziner, working in both historic preservation and new construction of large-scale development projects for the firm.
SECOND PLACE also went to Grishma Mehta for “Tram.”
Second-place winners were “Tram,” by Grishma Mehta, and “French Example” and “Mixed Block,” by Nichole Smith.
Smith is another longtime Larchmont resident. She is invested in the neighborhood’s future development and finds that “applying an attractive and cohesive design to Upper Larchmont is imperative if we want a successful and vibrant residential and retail neighborhood.”
Grishma Mehta received a Masters of Urban Design from UC Berkeley this past spring and is passionate about specific, locally driven efforts to increase neighborhood connectivity, accessibility, and quality.
After winning the contest, Mehta joined LCI’s Summer 2026 Architecture Internship program and is now an LCI Fellow in Architecture.
Category: Real Estate
