After its third hearing before the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, a proposed mixed-use project which would replace an early 20th-century Victorian home in Harvard Heights with apartments and retail is finally moving forward.
Last week, Commissioners approved plans from applicants Janet and Akhilesh Jha to raze the existing home at 1848 S. Gramercy Place to clear the way for the construction of a new eight-story building featuring 33 apartments atop 466 square feet of ground-floor retail space and podium parking for 20 vehicles.
In exchange for density bonus incentives allowing greater height and lot coverage than allowed by zoning, the project would set aside three of the proposed one- and two-bedroom dwellings for rent as affordable housing at the very low-income level.
HRD Arch is listed as the designer of the contemporary podium-type building, which will feature five levels of wood-frame construction above a concrete base.
The vote to approve comes nearly three months after the Commission delayed its decision on the project in December - which was already a continuation of an earlier hearing from March 2022. At the time Commissioners were reluctant to allow the project to move forward, citing a lack of on-site open space, the design of the parking garage, and the scale of the building relative to its surroundings. Additionally, Commissioner's requested that the project team restart outreach efforts to existing tenants on the property, due to changes to state law requiring that residents of the redeveloped site must be offered a right to return in a comparable unit at the completed apartment complex.
While the developers have increased the amount of on-site open space, adding new resident amenities, a request to scale down the size of the building was declined. In fact, the project has returned in larger scale since the prior December 2022 hearing, when it was envisioned as a shorter seven-story structure.
Unsurprisingly, the project was subject to negative comments from a bevy neighbors in the Harvard Heights area - and also members of the Commission. While Commissioners acknowledged that the Jhas had state housing laws on their side, and voted to move the project forward, the project team was admonished for its refusal to consider changes, as well as how it has engaged with tenants of the existing home.
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