Hollywood office building gets yet another height chop to settle lawsuit

A future Hollywood office tower will get yet another haircut in order to settle a lawsuit filed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the Los Angeles Times reports.

As part of an agreement reached between developer Hudson Pacific Properties and the nonprofit, the building on Sunset, near Bronson, will be reduced from 15 to 13 stories.

Hudson also agreed to eliminate a proposed supermarket that would have gone in on the ground floor. The building has also been “redesigned to reduce noise” of delivery trucks coming and going at the site, according to the Times.

AHF sued after the city approved the tower, arguing it had “improperly changed planning and zoning rules for the developer,” the Times said.

The foundation’s president, Michael Weinstein, referred to the agreement as “yet another legal victory” for the group.

The AHF was one of the major donors of a defeated ballot measure that would have severely limited development in Los Angeles. It also has a lawsuit pending against another Hollywood development, the Palladium Residences, which would rise by the AHF’s headquarters.

The Sunset and Bronson building, named Epic, is not quite living up to its name. Originally proposed as 18 stories tall, it was chopped down to 15 stories last year after neighborhood took issue with its height.

Epic is also being sued by the owners of a nearby apartment complex, who were upset at a driveway being installed right next to their building. The driveway would have been used by trucks going to the supermarket. The redesigned project will direct trucks to the building’s parking garage instead, and the apartment owners’ lawsuit is in settlement talks.

Hudson Pacific has another office project, Icon, at Sunset and Van Ness.

• AIDS nonprofit reaches deal over contested Hollywood office high-rise [Curbed LA]
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• Trimmed down tower on Sunset in Hollywood inches toward approval [Curbed LA]
• A decisive defeat for Measure S: LA voters reject anti-development measure [Curbed LA]