A proposal to redevelop a site near Sunset Las Palmas Studios in Hollywood with a mid-rise office tower has cleared the Los Angeles City Planning Commission.

At its meeting on July 13, Commissioners voted to endorse a proposal from local businessman Matt Cooper, who has sought since early 2020 to build a new mid-rise building on a .78-acre site his family owns just south of Santa Monica Boulevard at 1000 Seward Street. Plans call for nine commercial floors, as well as a mechanical penthouse and amenity space on the 10th floor, with approximately 137,000 square feet of office uses above more than 13,600 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. Parking for 310 vehicles would be provided in four subterranean levels, one at-grade level, and one mezzanine level.

“Despite the challenging times for the office sector, we believe there is an appetite for new Class A office space in the greater Hollywood area, especially well-designed space that offers thoughtful tenant amenities,” said Cooper, who is working with MGMT Partners on the project. “Hollywood’s well-deserved reputation as the entertainment capital of the world will only be burnished by exciting new spaces for creative people to call home.”

Ground-level view from SewardHawkins\Brown Architects

Hawkins\Brown Architects is designing 1000 N. Seward Street, with direction from Gruen Associates. Plans call for a contemporary design, wrapped with a curtain wall system, metal panels, and decorative fins, rising to a peak height of 155 feet above street level. The building would include offset, shifted masses which would leave space for terrace decks at five different levels.

"The Californian climate makes designing post-pandemic healthy working environments a breeze," explains a project description from the Hawkins\Brown website. "By staggering the building volumes we have created a variety of easily accessible roof terraces and decks at different levels. The lower volume is set back from Seward Street to create a pocket park and a plaza and car parking is predominantly buried underground."

While approval by the City Planning Commission is a key step in the entitlement process, 1000 Seward has not quite crossed the finish line. The zone change and general plan amendment needed to permit construction must be approved by the Los Angeles City Council.

Ground-level view looking north from HudsonHawkins\Brown Architects

Although the changes brought about by the global pandemic continue to impact the Los Angeles office market, a handful of developers continue to push to build new space in the Hollywood neighborhood - often in concert with new production facilities. Onni Group and Bardas Investment Group have projects in the works nearby, and Hudson Pacific Properties hopes to add new soundstages to the Sunset Las Palmas Studios campus.

Cooper has also looked to add offices elsewhere in Hollywood through a proposed eight-story development at 1235 Vine Street. His other proposed projects, also designed by Hawkins\Brown, include a hotel and residential complex on Cahuenga Boulevard and a residential-retail development planned for Riverside Drive in Burbank.

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