A draft environmental impact report for a big new condo/townhouse development proposed for University Park south of Downtown is making the rounds. Oak Village would replace a commercial catering facility and parking lot with 134 condos in two buildings plus eight three-story townhouses in four additional buildings. One, two, three, and four-bedroom units would range in size from 700-2,100 square feet, and the project includes long and short-term bike parking plus 320 subterranean spaces for cars. The site is in the (no doubt exhaust-laden) shadow of the 10 freeway in a historic preservation zone and near the 20th Street Historic District and Mortuary Row on Washington Boulevard, which sounds like some macabre neighborhood nickname but actually refers to the more than two dozen mortuaries found there between the 1920s and 1950s.
Alternatives to the plan include a 111-unit version with a maximum height of 55 feet (as opposed to the proposed 65 feet), and one that conforms with the South LA general plan with a four-story commercial/retail building, parking lot, and 40-unit residential building with subterranean parking. While the DEIR is making the rounds now, this is not a new project; the architectural drawings are from 2008 and letters from concerned community members (and one supporter, that we found anyway) were written in 2009. Anastasi Development Company, the developer, is asking for the property to be rezoned (from commercial, multi-family residential, and parking) and for a density bonus to build more than 111 units in exchange for including 11 very low-income residences. It'll be interesting to see if these units do end up as condos and not apartments. The rental rate in the neighborhood is currently over 92 percent.
·Oak Village DEIR [City Planning]
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