Jamison Services, Inc. can move forward with plans for yet another mixed-use apartment complex near the intersection of 8th Street and Western Avenue in Koreatown, after the Los Angeles City Planning Commission voted to reject an appeal seeking to block the construction of a new development at 730 S. Western Avenue.

The proposed project, approved earlier this year to replace a two-level commercial center and attached parking lot, calls for the construction of a seven-story building featuring 125 one- and two-bedroom apartments above 3,920 square feet of ground-floor retail  a partially subterranean parking garage with space for 101 vehicles.

Aerial view looking northeastJamison Services, Inc.

Jamison entitled the site using Transit Oriented Communities incentives to permit increased floor area and density, as well as reductions to required on-site parking, setbacks, and open space. In exchange for the incentives, 13 of the proposed apartments would be set aside as affordable housing at the extremely low-income level.

Renderings of the building depict a contemporary podium-type building clad in white stucco and accented by "fire red" colored metal panels. Besides housing, the complex would include a recreation room on the second floor and a rooftop deck.

Aerial view looking southwestJamison Services, Inc.

The appellant, the Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, is an affiliate of Laborers International Union of North America Local 270, and frequently challenges new housing developments seeking discretionary entitlements in the City of Los Angeles. The appeal, which was limited to the project's environmental determination, argued that the 730 Western apartments should have been subjected more stringent review under the California Environmental Quality Act. A staff report rejected that argument, and recommended denial of the appeal.

The project is a familiar story for Jamison Services, and is one of dozens of similar proposed and under-construction apartment complexes Jamison Services currently has in the works for Koreatown. One example is the larger 230-unit development now taking shape a short walk south at the intersection of 8th Street and Western Avenue.

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