Massive development with ‘lively’ streetscape to rise in North Hollywood starting in 2021

Come up from the Red Line station at North Hollywood now, out of that colorful dome, and you’re met with a parking lot and not a ton of places to sit.

A few intrepid street vendors have popped up to provide snacks right as riders surface, but compared to the blocks around the station, the site is barren.

Now, new details released by Trammell Crow Company for a 15-acre development named District NoHo show how the area will be transformed in the next few years.

Plans for the eight-building development call for 1,500 apartments—300 of them affordable—more than 500,000 square feet of office space, storefronts and restaurants, and three acres of open space, including a new plaza, around the entrance to the Metro Red Line on the east side of Lankershim.

All of the changes to the site would come slow and steady, in six phases, starting in late 2021.

Courtesy of HKS and RELM

Renderings also show an updated entrance to the Red Line immediately surrounded by high-rises, open space, restaurants, and an expanse of open space. Even when there’s above-ground parking, it would be hidden behind retail or residential units, putting the focus on people moving around at street level, not cars.

By having significant open space and a plaza around the subway entrance, the aim is to “establish it as a place—not just a pass-through,” says Scott Baker, president of RELM, which is working with project master architect HKS to lead District NoHo’s design. The project also incorporates buildings designed by Gensler, KFA, and HKS.

Courtesy of HKS and RELM

Throughout the rest of the project, cars would move around the periphery while tree-lined streets, space for bikes, and wide sidewalks draw people into the project, which would create new streets within the property.

“You’ll have a lively and engaged streetscape,” says Brad Cox of High Street Residential, the Trammell Crow Company subsidiary that’s developing the housing on the site.

Courtesy of Gensler

The bulk of District NoHo would replace the large parking lot and bus bays that abut the subway station’s entrance now, but would also bring projects to a couple of nearby blocks.

Bus operations would be moved to a consolidated transit center west of Lankershim, where the Orange Line bus rapid transit line picks up and drops off now. The new project would also add an additional entrance to the subway on this side of the street and it would preserve the 123-year-old train depot next to the Orange Line.