A proposal to construct a Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use development on Sunset Boulevard has cleared yet another legal hurdle.
Yesterday, the California Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal filed by the Los Angeles Conservancy aimed at preventing the demolition of the Lytton Savings building at 8150 Sunset Boulevard. The one-story building, completed in 1960, was designed by the late architect Kurt Meyer, and is best known for its Googie canopy.
The move by the Supreme Court is a win for developer Townscape Partners, which has been pursuing a redevelopment of the shopping center that includes the Lytton Savings building since 2013. Their $300-million project calls for the construction of three mid-rise buildings that would feature 191 market-rate apartments, 38 units of workforce and affordable housing, and roughly 65,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant uses.
Townscape is coming off of a March victory in California's 2nd District Court of Appeals, which overturned an earlier ruling that had blocked the demolition of Lytton Savings. The 8150 Sunset project has already seen its total density and height reduced in an agreement between Townscape and Laurel Canyon Association and the City of West Hollywood, which was coordinated by the office of L.A. City Councilmember David Ryu.
In a blog post, the L.A. Conservancy described the Lytton Savings as exemplifying a "transformative shift in bank design after World War II," and decried its proposed demolition as "needless." The Conservancy also acknowledged that the denial of a hearing "effectively ends legal efforts" to save the building.
The 8150 Sunset development is one of several Frank Gehry-designed projects planned throughout the region, highlighted by a long-awaited high-rise development set to break ground across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall later this year.
