Development WELCOME HOME

While a NIMBY attorney wages war against high-rise construction on Sunset Boulevard, density of a lesser variety flies under the radar just a few blocks south. According to a presentation from the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council, a new small lot subdivision is in the works at 1238-1242 Gordon Street, an approximately quarter-acre property between Fountain and Lexington Avenues. The project - known as the Studio District Homes on Gordon Street - is being designed by Mid-City-based architecture firm Modative.

Long-standing plans for a 27-story residential tower in Koreatown continue to plod forward, with the release of the project’s initial study by the Department of City Planning. The proposed Catalina Apartments would rise from a 1.5-acre site at the corner of 8th and Catalina Streets, replacing a small cluster of low-rise buildings. Designs from Oakes Architects call for an approximately 300 foot tall structure, offering 269 apartments (studio, one and two-bedroom units) and 7,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

The rapid evolution of the Arts District continues to pick up steam, with yet another adaptive reuse project on the way. Earlier this year, a subsidiary of the New York-based Atlas Capital Group purchased Coca-Cola’s former West Coast headquarters, with the intention of converting it into a mixed-use development. Now, an initial study published by the Department of City Planning has shed light on what’s to come. Per the new environmental document, the three-story edifice at 963 E.

The slow death of snail mail may soon bring about the birth of a new multi-family housing development in the West Valley. According to a document from the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council, AMCAL Multi Housing Company intends to demolish the Woodland Hills Post Office to make way for an apartment complex. The proposed development would rise from an approximately 3.6-acre site at 22121 Clarendon Street, located immediately south of the 101 Freeway.

Six months after starting construction at 6417 Selma Avenue, rebar and steel beams now protrude above ground at the future site of Hollywood’s Dream Hotel. The approximately $50 million project from developer Five Chairs will offer 182 guest rooms, located within easy walking distance of major tourist destinations along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. Designs from Santa Monica-based Killefer Flammang Architects call for a 10-story structure, clad with glass and metal sidings.

Over the summer, developer Kilroy Realty unveiled renderings for Academy Square, a $300 million mixed-use development on Vine Street. Now, a set of environmental documents released by LADCP has revealed additional details about the project, which would create apartments, ground-floor retail, office space, and possibly hotel rooms on a site once intended for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Academy Square would rise on a full city block, bounded by Vine Street, DeLongpre, Ivar and Homewood Avenues.

Over the summer, many Los Angeles preservationists were outraged by the unannounced demolition of the Mole-Richardson Building, a one-story Art Deco structure built in 1930. Now six months later, a case filing from the Department of City Planning has finally revealed why the 84-year-old building met with such an undignified ending. According to plans submitted to the city last week, a new residential-retail development will be constructed on the now vacant lot at 900 North La Brea Avenue.

According to a set of pictures sent in by e-mail tipster Daniel, construction is nearing completion on a the Century Park Apartments, a new multi-family complex on the southern fringe of Westwood. The five-story building, located at 10475 Santa Monica Boulevard, will contain a total of 24 rental units above a two-level, partially underground parking garage. Future residents will live in close proximity to a variety of major employment nodes and entertainment districts.

More than one year after breaking ground at Tiverton Drive and Le Conte Avenue, UCLA’s new Teaching and Learning Center for Health Sciences is finally climbing upwards. The $120 million facility, funded with a combination of cash reserves and philanthropic donations, constitutes a 110,000 square foot expansion of the David Geffen School of Medicine. The low-rise structure, designed by architectural giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, will consolidate a significant portion of the medical school’s classroom space, which is currently dispersed in eleven outdated buildings.

Roughly half-a-year after breaking ground, a minor expansion project is wrapping up exterior work on the Sony Picture Studios lot (SPS). The new Studio Support Building, located near the Sony complex’s Mentone Avenue gate, will contain approximately 23,000 square feet of production and office space within its four-story frame. Exterior materials appears to consist primarily of earth tone stucco, broken up by misaligned windows. More grandiose expansion plans are also in the works for other parts of the SPS lot.