Affordable housing planned for empty lot at 611 S. Hobart Boulevard in Koreatown

A vacant lot between Wilshire Boulevard and 6th Street in Koreatown could be transformed into affordable housing through the Mayor's Executive Directive 1.

View looking west from Hobart BoulevardEWAI

In early January, developer Leo Lee filed an application with the Department of City Planning seeking approvals for a new 100 percent affordable housing development at 611 S. Hobart Boulevard. The property, previously the site of a preschool, would see the construction of a new seven-story building featuring 80 studio and one-bedroom apartments without on-site vehicle parking.

As the apartments would be restricted to rent as affordable housing, the project is eligible for a slew of density bonus incentives permitting waivers of certain zoning rules.

EWAI is designing 611 Hobart, which is portrayed in renderings as a stucco-clad building accented with metal mesh screens painted green.

611 S. Hobart BoulevardGoogle Maps

The project site sits directly south of a larger vacant parcel at 3800 W. 6th Street, which Lee has sought to redevelop since 2017. Initially planned as a high-rise complex featuring a hotel and condominiums, the project changed courses in 2021, after city officials declined to provide tax incentives for the proposed 192-room Hyatt Centric. Instead, plans now call for a mixed-use residential development with 301 apartments.

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