Silver Lake’s Corralitas Red Car property could be developed after all

For years, the privately-owned Corralitas Red Car property in Silver Lake has been a popular but under-the-radar destination for area hikers and dog walkers. And for years, city officials have explored the possibility of turning the narrow 10-acre parcel into a park. In 2012, it looked like that might happen when then-councilmember Eric Garcetti led an effort to purchase the property and convert it into a public open space.

A sale, however, never materialized and now the Eastsider reports that a developer is planning a condominium project for the site. Plans filed with the city on October 7 show that the project would include 49 condos and an "open space lot." As Eastsider notes, it’s not clear whether the lot would be open to the public.

Located at the end of Corralitas Drive alongside the Glendale Freeway, the Red Car property is so-named because it’s the site of a former Pacific Electric line that for nearly 60 years carried passengers between Downtown to Glendale. Stone trestle footings that once supported the tracks can be found at the northern end of the trail near the intersection of Fletcher Drive and Riverside Drive.

A project manager with the Trust for Public Land tells Eastsider that public officials couldn’t raise enough money to buy the property, in spite of a contribution of up to $500,000 approved by the County Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

This is not the first time that plans have been in the works for the site’s development. According to the very detailed Corralitas Red Car Property blog, a developer filed plans for a 75-home subdivision on the site in 2003, but the project was rejected by city officials and never came to fruition.

• 49-unit Silver Lake condo project planned after open-space deal falls apart [Eastsider]
• LA Preparing to Buy Silver Lake's Corralitas Red Car Property [Curbed LA]
• Apartments or Park For Silver Lake's Corralitas Red Car Site? [Curbed LA]
• Hike the Corralitas Rail Path Through Silver Lake and Echo Park, Where Red Cars Used to Roam [Curbed LA]