A proposal to build a large high-rise complex near Hollywood and Vine continues to move forward, according to a draft environmental impact report published by the City of Los Angeles.

The Hollywood Center development, which would replace parking lots adjacent to the Pantages Theatre and Capitol Records Building, is being developed by MP Los Angeles - an affiliate of Millennium Partners.  Plans call for the construction of multiple high-rise and mid-rise buildings containing housing, retail, and potentially a hotel.

The east site, located between the Pantages and Capitol Records, would be highlighted by a 46-story apartment tower, as well as an 11-story building fronting Argyle Street.

The west site, which abuts the new h Club LA, would be developed with a 35-story, 469-foot tower and a second 11-story building along Yucca Street.

The towers, designed by Handel Architects, would rise to heights of 595 and 469 feet, making them the tallest buildings in the Hollywood neighborhood.  Renderings portray the towers with sleek glass and steel exteriors and lens-shaped footprints.  The distribution of the buildings across the property is intended to preserve view corridors of the Capitol Records Building.

A full build out of the development would yield a total of 1,005 residential units in a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom plans.  That total includes 133 apartments for low-income seniors, which would be split between the two 11-story buildings.  Menorah Housing Foundation has been tapped to manage the affordable housing.

At ground level, plans call for approximately 30,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, linked by pedestrian paseo cutting east-to-west between Argyle and Vine Street.  James Corner Field Operations is designing the building's street-level open space, as well as its amenity decks.

The housing and retail uses would be served by two five-level underground parking garages with roughly 1,500 vehicle stalls - slightly more than what is required by Los Angeles zoning code.

The project's environmental study also examines the possibility of developing the property with a 220-room hotel, reducing the amount of market rate housing units to 768 and the amount of senior affordable units to 116.  The study also considers lower-scale alternatives to the proposed development.

The environmental study considers multiple construction scenarios for Hollywood Center.  If work on the east and west sites occur simultaneously, completion could occur within four-and-a-half years.  If the two sites were development sequentially, construction would take roughly six years.

Millennium Partners previously announced plans to break ground on the complex in 2022.

Plans for high-rise buildings on the project site date back nearly a decade.  The same team previously obtained entitlements for a similar development on the property, Millennium Hollywood, consisting of apartments, retail space, offices, and a hotel in multiple high-rise structures.  However, those plans were halted in court due to a "fatally flawed" environmental impact report.

Any future legal action against the project could be accelerated due to the Hollywood Center's state certification as an Environmental Leadership Development Project (ELDP).  ELDP status is reserved for projects with a budget of $100 million or more than meet certain sustainability targets, and is intended to speed the resolution of lawsuits brought against developments based on the California Environmental Quality Act.

The question of whether or not an active earthquake fault line runs through the property has also plagued the development.  The California Geologic Survey released a map in 2014 showing that a fault line runs beneath a portion of Hollywood Center site, potentially jeopardizing any future development of the property. 

According to Millennium Partners, a geologic and soils study approved by the City's Department of Building and Safety found no evidence of an earthquake generated by the fault line in the past 10,000 years, making the site safe to build on based on State and City requirements.  Multiple soil studies conducted for the property - which were included in the draft environmental impact report - also found no evidence of activity within the last 10,000 years, according to the developer.

Despite setbacks at the Hollywood Center property, Millennium Partners has pursued larger developments elsewhere in the neighborhood.  Earlier this year, the New York-based firm submitted plans to the City of Los Angeles to construct a 14-story office building on Sunset Boulevard.

The legal battle over the Millennium project has not deterred other developers from building nearby, either.  Recent years have seen the completion of a Kimpton hotel and an 18-story apartment tower on other properties abutting the Capitol Records Building.  Dutch hotel chain citizenM is also planning a 14-story building adjacent to the Hollywood Center property.