Bulgari Hotel & Resorts is eyeing a hillside property in Benedict Canyon for the site of one of its first U.S. locations.

The hotel chain, a joint venture between Italian luxury brand Bulgari and Marriott International, is partnering with property owner and developer Gary Safady on the project, which would rise from a roughly 33-acre property located at 9704-9712 W. Oak Pass Road.

South African design firm Studio SAOTA and Milanese architecture firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel are designing the project, named the Bulgari Resort Los Angeles, which would include 58 guest rooms and suites, in addition to eight private residences. Plans also call for a 10,000-square-foot spa, a gym, a private theater, an eight-seat sushi bar, and Bulgari's signature restaurant Il Ristorante - Niko Romito.

Under plans previously announced by Safady, when the project was known as The Retreat, access to the hotel would occur largely via private automobile, with 260 parking stalls provided on-site. Internal circulation options could also include a funicular railway.

A bungalow at the Bulgari Resort Los AngelesSaota

Safady's plan also calls for retaining 75 percent of the property as open space, a portion of which would be used as a dog park. The project would add up to 1,000 trees to the property.

Bulgari hopes to open the hotel in 2025, one year after the brand's first U.S. property is slated to debut in Miami.

Even prior to the partnership with Bulgari, the project has faced strong headwinds. Residents of the surrounding neighborhood have launched a website to marshal opposition to the hotel, arguing that the project would worsen traffic congestion and create a fire hazard.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz has also emerged as an opponent, introducing a motion earlier this year which call for halting entitlement proceedings for the hotel.