A staff report to the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners provides new details regarding a proposed apartment tower in the Beverly Grove neighborhood.

The tower, planned next to the Our Lady of Mount Lebanon cathedral at Burton Way and San Vicente Boulevard, would stand 19 stories in height.  Plans call for 153 residential units - 17 of which would be set aside as affordable housing - with 31,000 square feet of offices, meeting rooms, and an auditorium for the church.

Designed by Nadel Architects, the tower would be aligned with the axis of the cathedral, but with setbacks at ground level to create open space.  The building would be clad in pre-cast panels, inspired by traditional Lebanese stone construction, and feature an angled roof line.  Approximately 16,800 square feet of exterior and interior open space is planned within the project, including a swimming pool, a fitness center, and recreation rooms.

The staff report, noting a lack of public parks within a half-mile radius of the project site, recommends that the project be required to dedicate land to the City, or provide a combination of land dedication and an in-lieu fee payment.  As currently proposed, the maximum required land dedication for the project would be .98 acres, and the maximum in-lieu payment would be approximately $1.7 million.  The project site itself is approximately 1.59 acres, much of which is already developed with the Cathedral, though an off-site land dedication is allowable.

A timeline for the tower has not been announced.

Our Lady of Mount Lebanon's project follows other ambitious residential developments in the Beverly Grove community, including a 16-story tower that developer Rick Caruso hopes to build across the street at 333 La Cienega, and a 12-story Four Seasons-branded condo building now under construction at the corner of 3rd Street and Wetherly Drive.