A draft environmental impact report went into circulation this week for the Oak Village Residences, a proposal from Anastasi Development Company that seeks to bring 142 residential units to a parcel located just southwest of Downtown Los Angeles.  Let’s have a look at what to expect: The Project consists of six separate buildings, two condominium buildings and four duplex townhome buildings.  The condominium buildings would be six stories tall, approximately 65 feet at their highest point.  The three-story (approximately 35 feet in height) townhomes would be located on the western portion of the Project site along 20th street.  The townhomes would all be four-bedroom units.  The 134 condominium units would comprise 32 one-bedroom units, 76 two-bedroom units, 24 three-bedroom units, and two four-bedroom units.  Two subterranean levels of parking would provide a total of 320 parking spaces.

First of all, let’s take the frequent use of the word “condominium,” with a grain of salt.  While the EIR does specify that these units are “for-sale,” this document also dates back to the year 2005.  The market has come crashing back to Earth since then.  Like many condo buildings that were envisioned prior to the real estate bubble, these buildings will probably come to fruition as rentals. Anyway, back to the details of the project. Just for fun, here are some of the craftsman homes lining the opposite side of 20th street. All of these houses were built between 1901 and 1910.  Most have clearly been restored in more recent years.  Gentrification is always a controversial topic, but I don’t think anyone can protest the restoration of beautiful 100+ year old houses such as these.