Developer Townscape Partners, which recently announced plans to replace a stripmall and mid-century bank building at Sunset and Crescent Heights with 249 apartments and 110,000 square feet of commercial space, had their first meet and greet with the neighbors and it went about as well as you'd expect. Wehoville was on the scene and reports that "residents aired a wide range of grievances with the project, including concerns over parking, rooftop sound, traffic, demolition of the Chase Bank building, which some see as having historical qualities, safety, the residential way of life being altered along Havenhurst Drive., and, above all, the 16-story height of the apartment building along Havenhurst." On the last point, residents perhaps can take comfort from City Councilmember Tom LaBonge (who reps the area), who also thinks the buildings are "a little to high." However, they'll get no help from the zoning code: there are no height restrictions for the area and Townscape says that if they lower the height the project will lose some of its open space. And you'll never guess which other objection was raised by unhappy neighbors. Earthquakes! At least one attendee raised the spector of the seismically-challenged Millennium Hollywood (quite the trendsetter, that one): "Developers say concerns over the fault are overblown, while residents, who are also opposed to the project's scale, say it's a major overlooked problem."
The Sunset and Crescent Heights intersection ranks high for "pedestrian-related collisions" but Townscape says their project will make it safer by incorporating one of the existing traffic islands into the design. But that does nothing for the guy (or gal) who griped "Why buy a home in Mt. Olympus if I can't get there?" As for concerns that most of the planned 849 parking spaces will be for compact cars, Townscape reps said that valet service would be provided for all residential spaces, with valet or "valet assistance" for the rest. Which really only partly answers the question.
Last night's meeting was hosted by the local neighborhood council ahead of the city's scoping session, which will kick off the environmental impact reporting process.
· Concerned Residents Sound Off on Townscape Partners' 8150 Sunset Blvd. Project [Wehoville]
· Huge Mixed-User Planned For Joni Mitchell Paved Paradise Site [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...