Two high-rise projects on Larchmont move forward
RENDERINGS for 507 N. Larchmont Blvd. above show a five-story building with 42 units over ground-floor commercial retail and no parking.
Two upper Larchmont Boulevard high-rise apartment projects have moved forward after they were granted Letters of Compliance from the Dept. of City Planning on June 13. The letters allow them to begin the permit process.
“The neighborhood stands firmly against these two projects,” said Sam Uretsky, president of the Larchmont United Neighborhood Association. “We believe there are significant flaws in the buildings.”
Both projects are taller than the Boulevard’s maximum zoning height limit of three stories, or 45 feet. They were allowed more density and they were fast tracked under the mayor’s Executive Directive 1 (ED 1) to build affordable housing.
The Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council voted against the projects earlier in the year and in June unanimously passed a motion to remind city officials of the neighborhood’s years-long work to remake upper Larchmont into a pedestrian friendly stretch of the Boulevard. This project threatens the Livable Communities Initiative, a plan for creating more affordable housing in the area, a component of the city Housing Element.
“This vision will not be able to be realized if these two projects go forward,” Uretsky stressed.
531 N. Larchmont
The applicant of the 531 N. Larchmont property, endodontist Dr. Fariborz “Mike” Bardi, of Magz, LLC, plans to include a dental practice on the ground floor of the new building. His plans include one floor of subterranean parking to serve the practice, but has no tenant parking.
According to the City Planning Dept. records, the 6,444-square-foot lot currently has an existing one-story medical office.
The project, designed by Metropolis Architecture includes a six-story mixed-use building with 64 units. One unit is reserved for the building manager.
Besides the size of the project, other potential problems associated with the plan are air conditioners being placed in the back of the 2nd floor, which could become a nuisance to the neighbors behind the building on Lucerne Boulevard, Uretsky said.
507 N. Larchmont
The project at 507 N. Larchmont is a five-story building with 42 units of 100% affordable housing over ground-floor commercial retail.
A 1921 single-family home rests now on the 7,005-square-foot lot.
The project includes a 1,200-square-foot Larchmont Blvd.-facing manager’s unit, with four bedrooms and four baths with twin balconies, “in essence a luxury apartment,” which can be rented or sold, and is hardly an affordable unit under the city’s guidelines, said Uretsky.
The developers had pulled out of a previous seven-story building proposed at the site after neighborhood outcry.
Now the developers are planning to build the smaller five-story project, according to Sean Tabibian, a principal with 507 N. Larchmont, LLC.
At the same time, many ED 1 projects are not being built, Uretsky said. “They get their entitlements and then they sit on them.”
Category: News
