Architectural plans published by the Echo Park Neighborhood Council reveal a new design for a proposed mixed-use development which would rise at the longtime site of Taix restaurant at 1911 Sunset Boulevard.
The proposed development, which would front both Sunset and Reservoir Street, calls for replacing Taix's existing building with a pair of six-story structures featuring 170 apartments - including 24 units that would be set aside as deed-restricted affordable units - above 13,000 square feet of street-fronting commercial space and basement parking for 220 vehicles. Under an agreement between the owners of Taix and developer Holland Partner Group, the French restaurant would return to the property as tenant of the ground-floor space.
Since the project was submitted to the City of Los Angeles for entitlements in May 2020, architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin has redesigned the complex, discarding a modern look highlighted by boxy, geometric forms in favor of a more traditional appearance.
Plans for a street-level pedestrian walkway between Sunset and Reservoir remain unchanged from the prior design iteration, as well as proposals for a pair of roof decks facing toward the Downtown skyline and Echo Park lake.
News of the proposed redevelopment of the Taix site has spurred vocal criticism, both for its design and a desire to retain the existing building, where the restaurant has been housed since relocating from Downtown Los Angeles in the 1960s.
Holland Partner Group's plans have prompted one local organization, the Silver Lake Heritage Trust, to nominate the property as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. If approved as a monument, the designation would not outright prevent redevelopment from occurring, but would provide the City's Cultural-Heritage Commission an opportunity to weigh in on plans.
Mike Taix, owner of the restaurant, has previously stated that Taix is incapable of surviving in its current form, and has credited the deal with Holland Partner Group for saving the business, according to the Eastsider.
Holland Partner Group's other Los Angeles area developments include new apartment complexes now under construction in Long Beach and Koreatown, as well as a second housing project planned to replace Taix's overflow parking lot across Reservoir Street.
