At its meeting earlier today, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission signed off on a proposal to redevelop a series of 1920s buildings in Mid-City with new apartments.

The project, which would rise at 1557 Orange Grove Drive in Mid-City, comes from the Los Angeles-based development and construction firm Ketter.

In mid-2020, the Studio City-based firm submitted an application to the Planning Department seeking approvals to redevelop two single-family homes with a six-story, 30-unit apartment building.  The project, which was issued a determination letter in November 2020, would include three units of affordable housing in exchange for Transit Oriented Communities incentives.

The entitlements granted to Ketter at 1557 Orange Grove were the subject of an appeal from an abutting property owner, Robert Mandel, who argued that the size and density of the proposed apartment complex violates local zoning rules, and that the new construction would deprive neighboring residents of light and air.

A staff response, which noted that the project's size was allowable with Transit Oriented Communities incentives, recommended a rejection of the appeal.

That recommendation ultimately proved to be moot, as Mandel formally withdrew his appeal prior to the hearing.

The Orange Grove development, which Ketter will pair with a near-identical project facing Fairfax Avenue, is one of numerous developments that the company has planned in the Mid-City neighborhood.