An empty lot across the street from the Laugh Factory in Hollywood could be redeveloped with housing and commercial uses, according to an application recently submitted to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.

View looking north from Sunset BoulevardTighe Architecture

The project, which comes from Los Angeles-based development firm Massachi, would rise from a site previously developed with a service station at 7979 Sunset Boulevard. Plans call for the construction of a new seven-story building featuring 41 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments above nearly 4,700 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and parking for 34 vehicles.

Requested entitlements include density bonus incentives, which would allow for a larger structure than typically permitted by zoning rules. In exchange, Massachi would be required to set aside four of the new apartments for rent by very low-income households.

View looking northwest from Sunset BoulevardTighe Architecture

Tighe Architecture is designing 7979 Sunset, which is depicted in renderings as a contemporary podium-type building clad in stucco, metal panels, and concrete. Plans show that the building would include a rooftop pool and amenity deck, as well as an interior recreation room.

“7979 promotes our core strategy of targeting underutilized sites in premier locations to build refined mixed-use projects that progressively transform the cityscape," said Massachi chairman and chief executive officer Alex Massachi in a statement.

The proposed project would be the latest in a recent series of mixed-use developments on infill sites along the surrounding stretch of Sunset Boulevard, including a 62-unit complex from Jade Enterprises which is now under construction a short distance east at Fairfax Avenue. A 75-unit development is also proposed to replace a bank branch at 7800 Sunset.

7979 Sunset BoulevardGoogle Maps

Massachi is behind plans for a handful of mixed-use developments in the Hollywood area, as well as neighboring jurisdictions. The company is already building a 24-unit complex on Orange Drive and has ventured into West Hollywood with a proposal for 115 apartments at 8025 Santa Monica Boulevard. Massachi has also partnered on a proposed 23-story apartment tower which would rise just north of Hollywood Boulevard along Bronson Avenue.

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