Affordable housing aimed at artists coming to Hollywood

Most of the new buildings planned or under construction in Hollywood have been hotels, hotels, and more hotels. So the latest development proposal is a bit of fresh air. It’s an artsy, affordable residential complex, right along Hollywood Boulevard.

The new project, called The Hollywood Arts Collective, will combine affordable and market-rate housing, retail, office space, all aimed squarely at artists. The new development is headed for a spot between Schrader Boulevard and Wilcox Avenue. It will make use of an existing arts building, says a project rep, and also take out an surface parking lot. (Don’t fret, drivers: developers will replace that parking in the new structure.)

The existing arts building already houses two art spaces, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) and Woodbury University’s WUHO gallery. The building will be rehabilitated, and will house those two tenants plus additional non-profits after the new development is complete.

The five-story housing component will rise on the parking lot behind this building, just off Hollywood Boulevard.

The $35-million Hollywood Arts Collective is being developed by The Actors Fund and developer Thomas Safran & Associates; the partnership was chosen today by Los Angeles City Council, according to an announcement from councilman Mitch O'Farrell.

The project will eventually hold 72 units of housing for artists—60 percent designated affordable, 40 percent market-rate. It will also include 25,000 square feet of street-level retail, space for a gallery and rehearsal uses, and offices, plus an “outdoor amphitheater.”

The new mixed-user “was developed in alignment with Promise Zone goals,” notes the release, referring to a designation awarded to a big chunk of Central LA, including Hollywood, that gave those neighborhoods a leg up when applying for federal grants.

“Pre-development activity” for the project (like the entitlement and design process) is expected to begin toward the end of 2017 or in early 2018, after the lease transfers from the city to the team developing the project.