Council committee OKs shorter Hollywood Millennium towers

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

The developer of a controversial skyscraper project in the heart of Hollywood agreed Tuesday to trim the height of two residential towers by 25%, and the proposal was approved by a Los Angeles City Council committee

Residents complained, however, that the reduction still does not address traffic concerns.

Millennium Partners offered shorter, bulkier structures to frame the iconic Capitol Records building on opposite sides of Vine Street.

Under the revision, an east tower was lopped from 55 stories to 39 and a west tower was cut from 45 to 35.

The council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee forwarded the project to the full council for a July 24 vote.

The update also offers less street-level open space than the earlier version and could potentially move the buildings closer to sidewalks.

Philip Aarons, founder of Millennium Partners, said the firm agreed to the change to address opposition.

“We wanted to be responsive to both the concerns of the neighborhood residents and the council offices, both current and future,’’ Aarons said.

“We believe the project as originally approved was a brilliant urban design, but to many it just appeared overwhelming and too tall,’’ he said.

If the full council approves, Millennium Partners will be able to build more than 1 million square feet of apartment, office, hotel and retail space on about 4.5 acres of vacant parking lots surrounding the Capitol Records building.

Architectural renderings initially showed two slender towers, including one that would be more than twice the height of the House of Blues building, the tallest in Hollywood at 22 stories. Updated drawings submitted at the hearing depict squatter, boxier structures spread over a larger base, though the developer said a final design hasn’t been chosen.

For the record, 8 p.m. June 18: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the developer had agreed to trim the height of the towers by 30%.

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Twitter: @csaillant2

catherine.saillant@latimes.com