Up until now, things have been pretty quiet on the 8150 Sunset front; that's the proposal to put up a dual tower mixed-user at the site of the former Garden of Allah estate at Sunset and Crescent Heights (whose original stripmalling was rumored to have inspired Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi"). But now developers Townscape Partners are pushing for an "environmental leadership development project" designation that would help the project move to groundbreaking faster, WeHoville reports. Such a designation, used for the Sacramento Kings arena and originally proposed for the failed Farmers Field football stadium in South Park, would expedite legal challenges brought under the California Environmental Quality Act and exempt the project from lots of local bureaucratic scrutiny, especially in regard to aesthetic and parking considerations. Though the project is in Los Angeles, it's across the street from West Hollywood and officials there are not pleased with the expediting idea; the city council is urging the state assembly deny the designation.
To qualify as an ELDP, projects have to cost north of $100 million, be located on an infill site, surrounded by urban development, and near a major transit stop. (The 8150 Sunset project is located on the site of a stripmall that's home to a mid-century bank, which some opponents say is historic and shouldn't be torn down.)
Townscape, also behind the proposed residential conversion of the 8899 Beverly building in WeHo, is planning a 2.5-acre project with 110,000 square feet of retail and 249 mixed-income apartments spread across a nine-story and 16-story tower.
· WeHo Council Opposes Expediting Approval of Controversial 8150 Sunset Blvd. Project [WeHoville]
· Neighbors Have Usual List of Complaints About Huge Sunset/Crescent Heights Mixed-User [Curbed LA]
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