L. B. Approves Towers That Fit Downtown Vision

Two 17-story apartment towers overlooking the ocean and intended to appeal to the corporate and “yuppie” markets received unanimous approval this week from city officials, who praised the project they consider crucial to downtown redevelopment.

To help build the project, the city’s Redevelopment Agency assisted by acquiring some of the private property with money advanced by the developer. The agency will further assist the developer by returning $750,000 annually in property taxes for the first 12 years. In the long run, city officials expect to recoup the investment.

Heltzer Enterprises of Santa Monica, the developer, plans to begin the 432-unit Harbor View Towers on Ocean Boulevard next January. The $65-million-plus project will take about 20 months to build.

With monthly rents ranging from $700 for a studio unit to $1,300-plus for a two-bedroom apartment, the developers expect to tap into the pool of corporate and young, single, professional renters seeking ocean-view housing, said Robert E. Wissman, Heltzer development manager.

The project’s features are in line with a consultant’s recommendations for downtown unveiled Monday.

The consultant’s report emphasizes “the creation of attractive pedestrian links” and the use of ground floors in buildings for shops, restaurants and other uses which will encourage people to walk around downtown. Harbor View Towers will include retail stores on the ground floor, a pedestrian promenade, pedestrian bridges linking the apartments to the convention center and to Linden Avenue.

“It’s an excellent project,” said Councilman Evan Anderson Braude, who represents the district where the project will be built. The development, which received unanimous approval by the City Council and the Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday, will be on two blocks between Ocean Boulevard on the north, Seaside Way on the south, Linden Avenue on the east and Hart Place on the West.

The towers will have 770 underground parking spaces for residents and 120 additional spaces for visitors.