42-story hotel/residential tower pitched for 6800 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood

Earlier this year, comedian Kevin Hart's Hart House vegan food chain opened its flagship location near the busy intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Hollywood. But it seems that even an A-Lister is not invulnerable to the churn of redevelopment.

Earlier this month, property owner Galaxy Commercial Holdings filed an application with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning seeking approvals for a larger mixed-use complex at 6800 Sunset Boulevard - the location of Hart House. The proposed project is described as a two-building development highlighted by a new 42-story tower featuring 298 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments and 115 hotel rooms, as well as ground-floor commercial space. Plans also call for a 12-story building which would feature 80 units of affordable housing for seniors, priced at the very low-income level, along Leland Way to the south.

The inclusion of the below market-rate units is intended to make the project eligible for density bonus incentives to grant waivers from certain development standards, including the ability to average floor area across zones, permit increased residential density, and exceed height limits.

Parking for 500 vehicles would serve all uses across the site, located in two subterranean levels beneath the tower and in a six-level automated structure which would rise along Leland Way.

Gensler is designing the tower complex named Sunset & Highland for its location, with OJB serving as landscape architect. Plans show a tower rising to a maximum height of 520 feet above street level, then paring down to provide a transition to the lower-scaled buildings along the Highland corridor to the south - including the 112-foot-tall senior housing complex. Renderings portray the project with a contemporary exterior of glass, with texture provided by an undulating facade pattern and metal screens. Amenity decks with landscaping are provided along terrace roof areas across the site.

The proposed development is not the only project aiming to bring height to the intersection of Sunset and Highland. CMNTY Culture, helmed by music producer Philip Lawrence and business manager Thomas St. John, is planning a mixed-use complex across the street which would feature offices, production space, and an entertainment venue with buildings rising up to 14 stories in height. That property is bordered to the east by the future site of the Crossroads Hollywood development, where Harridge Development has secured approvals for the construction of 950 apartments, a 308-room hotel, and 190,000 square feet of commercial space in buildings up to 32 stories in height.

Galaxy Commercial Holdings, the project applicant, has been involved with several large developments in the City of Los Angeles, including the Vue residential tower in Downtown San Pedro, which fell into receivership after completion. The company had better luck with a mixed-use residential project located a few blocks away at  511 Harbor Boulevard, which was sold after entitlements to Trammell Crow Company, and is now under construction.

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• Hollywood (Urbanize LA)