Beverly Hills OKs Condo Project on Historic Street

Property owners and residents hoping to preserve the ambience of a historic Beverly Hills street have been dealt a setback in their campaign to block construction of a 22-unit condominium project.

The Beverly Hills City Council voted 3 to 2 Tuesday night in support of the three-story Chateau Arnaz development in the 100 block of North Arnaz Drive. The project would require the demolition of four apartment buildings.

The tree-shaded neighborhood north of Wilshire Boulevard is lined with graceful duplexes and apartment buildings constructed in the 1920s and ‘30s and is considered the last original street in Beverly Hills that is still intact.

Preservationists last month succeeded in getting the block designated Beverly Hills’ first historic district through a listing by the state’s Department of Parks and Recreation on the California Register of Historical Resources.

Although they were braced for an unfavorable vote by the council, condo foes were jolted when only council members MeraLee Goldman and Thomas Levyn sided with them.

“It was horrible,” said David Blanco, whose family has owned a duplex on the street for more than 30 years. “But no, we’re not giving up.”

Denise Roberts, president of the Beverly Hills Architectural Conservancy, said preservationists will wait a few days before considering their next move.

“It’s going to court,” Roberts said Wednesday. “Definitely the city will be sued.”

Developer Gerald Marcil has pledged that his $15-million project will improve parking on the street. He said it will be designed to blend in with the street’s existing Spanish and French Revival architecture.

“The top story will be set back so that it will look like it’s two stories tall from the street. We’ll break it up with modulations so it looks like four different buildings. It will match the rhythm of the street,” Marcil said this week.