Tomorrow, the Central Los Angeles Area Planning Commission is scheduled to hear an appeal of a proposed hotel in the Fashion District.

The project, which is called the Mart South Hotel, would transform a six-story commercial building at 124 E. Olympic Boulevard into a seven-story, 149-room hotel featuring ground-floor commercial uses and a roof-level terrace and pool deck.  An existing at-grade parking space would be retained.

Renderings show that the existing building, which dates to the 1950s, would be painted and refurbished, with mechanical rooms at the roof level converted into habitable space.  KFA Architecture is designing the proposed change of use project.

The appeal, which was filed by hotel labor union UNITE HERE Local 11, which frequently challenges hotel developments in Los Angeles.  UNITE HERE contends that the Planning Department's Zoning Administrator erred in approving the project, arguing that the project would not have been deemed exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

A staff recommendation to the Area Planning Commission was not provided, as is standard for Zoning Administrator cases.

The Mart South hotel is planned by prolific local real estate firm Jamison Services, which is among the largest private landlords in the City of Los Angeles.

The existing building is an extension of the neighboring California Market Center, which Jamison previously held majority ownership of before selling a controlling interest to Brookfield in 2017.  Construction recently began for a $170-million renovation of the fortress-like complex that will add ground-floor retail on its perimeter and create a new landscaped plaza at the corner of 9th and Main Streets.