After years of delay, Hollywood's controversial La Brea Gateway is finally pushing dirt.  Located at the northwest corner of La Brea and Willoughby Avenues, the mixed-use development will create 179 apartment units and a 33,500 square foot Sprouts Farmers Market.  Designed by Van Tilburg, Banyard & Soderbergh, the five-story building will feature parking accommodations for 463 automobiles and 231 bicycles in an subterranean garage.  Located at 915 North La Brea Avenue, the project is being developed by Holland Residential, a subsidiary of the Vancouver-based Holland Partner Group.  La Brea Gateway has existed in one form or another since 2005, when it was first envisioned as a seven-story, 219 unit building.  That slightly larger version of project, proposed by the Martin Group, drew the ire of an especially vocal group of neighbors who successfully negotiated the planned building down to its current size.  Three years later, work is finally underway, with an estimated completion date of November 2015.

NIMBY haircuts aside, Holland Residential's project is really just one example of a broader trend for La Brea Avenue.  Historically considered a commercial boulevard, a recent uptick in mixed-use construction has added over 1000 residential units along the 2.7 mile stretch of La Brea in-between Wilshire and Hollywood Boulevards.  The City of West Hollywood has been particularly active in this regard, having recently opened several new residential-retail developments north of Santa Monica Boulevard.  The construction boom is also evident further south, near the Miracle Mile, where mixed-use developments are popping up left and right in advance of the coming Purple Line extension.