Mixed-use development under construction at 700 N Virgil Avenue

A property in Virgil Village a small commercial building that once housed a taxicab dispatch center has been razed to make way for a mixed-use apartment complex.

Continental Development Group, a Culver City-based real estate development firm, has secured permits from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety to construct a new six-story, 37-unit apartment building with approximately 9,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space at 700 N. Virgil Avenue. The project, which sits at the northeast corner of Virgil and Melrose Avenue, will also sit atop a two-level, 45-car subterranean parking garage.

Approved plans relied on Transit Oriented Communities incentives to permit a taller, denser building than typically allowed by zoning rules. In exchange, four of the new studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments are to be set aside for rent as extremely low-income affordable housing for a period of 55 years.

Kevin Tsai Architecture is designing the apartment complex, which is depicted in renderings as a contemporary podium-type building clad in materials including smooth stucco and wood.

"Situated at a corner with one dramatically sloped street face, the [six]-story building utilizes multiple entry points to access the retail space on the lower street level, private residential entry along Melrose, and a parking ramp in the rear," states a design narrative from the firm's website. "The double height retail space provides a substantial base for the mixture of pitched shaped structures that sit on top. These upper residential levels also feature a grand central courtyard, a [two]-story [recreation] room and lush landscaping throughout."

If the project team sounds familiar, there's a good reason for that. Continental Development Group and Kevin Tsai Architecture are also behind a smaller mixed-use building now under construction a short walk south at 611 N. Virgil Avenue.

Both of the new projects follow three years after the 4Site Real Estate completed a similar five-story, 24-unit apartment building with retail at the southeast corner of Melrose and Virgil.

• Two Mixed-Use Buildings Planned in Virgil Village (Urbanize LA)