Plans to redevelop a onetime anchor of Downtown Glendale have hit an unexpected roadblock, following a vote taken by the Glendale City Council.

On October 21, the City Council rejected plans from Trammell Crow Residential for the redevelopment of the former Sears department store, located at 236 N. Central Avenue. The proposed project would call for the construction of an eight-story, approximately 650,000-square-foot mixed-use complex containing 682 rental apartments - including 72 very low-income units - with 1,515 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 930-car garage.

As a proposed condition of approval, Trammell Crow Residential was also to set aside a portion of the former Sears complex, located off-site to the north at 201 California Avenue, for potential redevelopment as a public park. 

The project took advantage of the provisions of AB 130, a recently adopted state law which granted the proposed development an exemption from further review under the California Environmental Quality Act, and forced the City to either vote to approve or deny the project by October 21. A staff report to the Council concluded that the project was eligible for an exemption under AB 130, and Glendale's city attorney also cautioned the Council that the legal findings required for denial of a density bonus project could not be made.

Members of the Council nonetheless chafed at the design of the project, with some expressing that the project lacked sufficient Art Deco detailing to match the former Sears building at its heyday. On a 4-1 vote, the Council moved to deny the project, with the lone voice of dissent coming from Mayor Ara Najarian, who warned that the City could find itself in legal jeopardy and risks decertification of its housing element. 

Christopher Burt of Cox, Castle & Nicholson, the project's attorney, stated that a lawsuit over the decision is likely, and described the potential case as a "slam dunk" due to the fact that the City Council did not attempt to make the required findings for denial. Alternatively, the City Council could elect to reconsider the project at a later date depending on guidance from state regulators.

The project, which is the first AB 130 development to come before the Glendale City Council, is not the first density bonus development to be denied in Los Angeles County against the advice of a City's legal counsel. In 2024, the East Los Angeles Area Planning Commission voted to deny a density bonus project at 2115 E. Cesar Chavez Avenue in Boyle Heights despite warnings from the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, and was later forced to rescind that decision and approve the development under court order. The South Los Angeles Area Planning Commission was similarly forced to rescind its 2019 denial of the District Square development on Crenshaw Boulevard.

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