City planning commission backs two 30-story towers in Hollywood
The Palladium Residences project would go up where these parking lots now sit in Hollywood.
The Los Angeles City Planning Commission on Thursday backed a proposal for two 30-story residential towers in Hollywood, despite a challenge from the nonprofit group next door.
Commissioners praised the proposed Palladium Residences, saying the 731-unit project would provide much needed housing on a stretch of Sunset Boulevard served by bus routes and the nearby Metro Red Line subway.
“That housing should be near public transportation, and this is the perfect place for it,” said commissioner Dana Perlman.
Executives with the neighboring AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which had urged the panel to reject the project, promised to keep fighting it as it heads to the City Council for a final vote next year.
“We intend to exhaust every possible avenue to stop this project and other similar ones which will destroy the character of Hollywood,” said Michael Weinstein, the foundation’s president.
At Thursday’s meeting, foes of the Palladium project said it is too big for the neighborhood and will accelerate the gentrification of Hollywood, transforming it into an area for mostly well-heeled residents. Backers of the project disagreed, saying the Palladium development will provide hundreds of homes in the middle of a housing crunch while continuing Hollywood’s revitalization.
A spokeswoman for Palladium developer Crescent Heights said the company will restrict rents in 5% of the project’s apartments for tenants who earn 120% of the region’s median annual income. Completion of the project, she said, will result in a “more walkable, sustainable Hollywood.”
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is also working with neighborhood activists to qualify a measure for the ballot that would limit the changes that city officials can make to zoning, parking and other planning rules for individual development projects.
The group commissioned a survey this month to gauge support for its proposal. Of the 557 people who completed the online survey, 72% were in favor of the planned ballot measure, according to information provided by the nonprofit.
Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the Central City Assn., said a broad-based coalition of business, labor and community groups is being formed to combat the proposal.
“This proposed initiative wants to stop progress, and that is no way to build a world-class city,” said Schatz, whose group advocates for development downtown and elsewhere.
Follow @DavidZahniser for what’s happening at Los Angeles City Hall.
ALSO
L.A. allocates $12.4 million to aid homeless people ahead of El Niño storms
U2’s the Edge gets state approval to build controversial homes on a Malibu ridge
Middle-class families, pillar of the American dream, are no longer in the majority, study finds
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
