Prolific developer Jamison Services, Inc. has revised its plans for an infill apartment building in Koreatown's Normandie-Mariposa Historic District.

The project, slated to replace a small surface parking lot at 738 S. Normandie Avenue, calls for the construction of a seven-story building featuring 50 studio and one-bedroom apartments - including five extremely low-income affordable units - above a 25-car underground parking garage.

Since last seen in July 2019, the project has been substantially redesigned, discarding an exterior of blue metal panels and white cement plaster for one of brick veneer and various shades of brown.

The redesign, which according to a letter sent by a project representative "follows the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties," was prompted by the surrounding Normandie-Mariposa Historic District - a two-block area largely developed with stately, pre-war apartment buildings.  The district was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and was automatically listed in the California Register of Historic Resources afterward, according to the Planning Department.

Carolyn Zanelli, a resident of a neighboring building who appealed the project to the Los Angeles City Council's Planning and Land Use Committee, argued that the new design does not sufficiently address the context of the surrounding 1930s and 1940s structures, and would deter film crews from using the Normandie-Mariposa district as a backdrop for film and television productions.  She urged the Committee to require that the project be required to more closely resemble neighboring structures and undergo more stringent environmental review.

The Committee, however, concurred with a staff response which disputed those arguments, and voted to deny the appeal.

Jamison, which is one of the biggest developers and office landlords in Koreatown, is slated to build a similar project one block east on Mariposa Avenue.