The Los Angeles City Planning Commission has voted to uphold the approval of a mixed-use development slated for a prominent site in Los Feliz, rejecting an appeal which sought to block the project from moving forward.

The project from Benny Pirian of Vermont Real Estate, LLC, slated for a property at 1666 N. Vermont Avenue, calls for replacing a car wash with a new seven-story edifice featuring 139 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments above a ground-floor grocery store and parking for 145 vehicles.

View looking east from across Vermont AvenueDaryoush Safai

Project approvals granted earlier this year by the Planning Department include Transit Oriented Communities affordable housing incentives, allowing for a larger building than would be otherwise permitted by zoning rules. In exchange, 16 of the new apartments are to be set aside as affordable housing at the extremely low-income level for a period of 55 years.

Daryoush Safai is designing 1666 Vermont, which is portrayed as a contemporary podium-type building with a courtyard facing its Hollywood Boulevard street frontage. The building also has frontage on Prospect Avenue to the north.

Hollywood and HIllhurstGoogle Maps

The project appellant, the Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, is an affiliate of Laborers International Union of North America Local 270 (LIUNA). They argued that the entitlements should be put hold, pending  further environmental review. A staff report recommended denial of the appeal, citing a lack of evidence to support its claims.

The proposed development represents another potential residential-retail complex in close proximity to Barnsdall Park. Two buildings at the foot of the 11-acre park were recently completed by LaTerra Development.

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