The Hollywood Community Housing Corporation is proposing to build 50 affordable apartments in Thai Town, between Serrano and Hobart, south of Hollywood Boulevard, in a development they're calling the Coronel Apartments. The draft environmental impact report was just released this week, so the project is just at the start of the city's approvals process. The site, which is near the Hollywood and Western Red Line stop, is currently home to four smaller buildings and two bungalows with a total of 30 affordable units. HCHC's plan for the site is to build two new three- to four- story buildings--one fronting on Hobart and the other on Serrano--and to relocate the bungalows on site, retaining their three one-bedroom units. All together there would be 54 units, including one market-rate manager's apartment. Nearly half of the one-, two-, and three-bedroom units would be reserved for those with very low income, while the rest would be split between low and moderate income residents. Architectural firm Killefer Flammang has been working on the project, which will attempt to make the two new buildings blend into their surroundings. For the Hobart property that means something that complements the "Moderne/Art Deco streetscape," while Serrano will have a "reduced scale to match the character of buildings along Serrano Avenue."
The project will also provide three areas of outdoor common space, a recreation room, and the code-minimum 56 parking spaces, and HCHC says they intend to build to the equivalent of LEED Silver certification. From the city, HCHC needs approval for a density bonus (to build bigger than normally allowed) and adjusted open space and height requirements.
The alternative projects discussed in the EIR include the standard "do nothing" option, and two less-dense alternatives, one of which would build 34 market-rate apartments on the site. Another possible stumbling block is that some people feel that one of the buildings slated for demolition, 1601-1605 Hobart Avenue, is architecturally significant. The EIR does its best to blunt any such claims for the building, but we'll see if it becomes a sticking point down the line.
· Coronel Apartment Project Draft Environmental Impact Report [LA City Planning]
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