A draft environmental impact report published by the City of Los Angeles offers a look at new renderings of a proposed mixed-use development adjacent to the Los Angeles River in Glassell Park.

The project, called True North Landing, will rise from a roughly seven-acre site at 2750 Casitas Avenue that has historically been zoned for industrial uses.  Developer PanAm Equities hopes to raze the existing structures on the property to make way for a five-story structure featuring 419 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments – including 35 which would be set aside as very low-income affordable housing – in addition to 19,000 square feet of office space and 3,500 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Potential commercial tenants for the project could include a beer garden along the northern side of the site – just south of the Glendale Freeway – and a fast-casual restaurant along the southern property line, adjacent to the proposed Bowtie State Park.

Parking for the proposed development would be located entirely within a seven-story garage along the northern property line, shielding the apartments from the abutting freeway.

The garage is to be capped by an approximately 40,000-square-foot urban farm, which would become the new West Coast production and shipping facility for Gotham Greens.

RCH Studios is designing True North Landing, which is depicted in renderings as a series of low-rise structures wrapping a central courtyard.  Due to its location adjacent to the river the site design is porous, with no fences or walls surrounding the property.  Automobile access is restricted to Casitas, with the street running straight into the garage entrance, with only pedestrians and cyclists able to continue onto the property.

True North Landing addresses the adjoining park site with townhome-style units opening directly onto the green space.  Plans also call for activating the western side of the property with a new bicycle path, which could be incorporated into a future multi-use path stretching along the eastern bank of the Los Angeles River.

The project is expected to remain in the City’s entitlement process through 2021.

The property sits just north of the Taylor Yard, a former freight rail yard which is now jointly owned by the State of California, Metro, and the City of Los Angeles.  Portions of the former Southern Pacific maintenance facility have already been transformed into the Rios De Los Angeles State Park and the Taylor Yard Transit Village.  The remaining parcels – the G1 and G2 sites – are also slated to be repurposed as green space.