Onni Group switches from hotel to housing at 601 N. Brand Boulevard in Glendale

Three years after revealing plans for a high-rise hotel complex in Downtown Glendale, Onni Group is changing things up, opting for a more familiar type of project for the Vancouver-based firm: a pair of apartment towers.

On November 14, the Glendale City Council took its first look at the updated project, which would rise just south of the 134 Freeway at 601 N. Brand Boulevard. The property, currently improved with a 14-story office tower and associated parking, would see a surface lot at the northern perimeter of the site give way to a pair of 36-story buildings featuring 858 one- and two-bedroom apartments above at-grade and subterranean parking for 942 vehicles and approximately 5,600 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

The change to housing will also subject the 601 Brand to Glendale's inclusionary housing requirement, requiring 129 of the new apartments to be set aside for rent as very low-income affordable housing. That set-aside makes the project eligible for density bonus incentives which would permit waivers from certain zoning standards relating to floor plates, height, and building separation.

Solomon Cordwell Buenz is designing the twin tower complex, which would rise 380 feet in height, making them the tallest structures in Glendale.

"The contemporary-styled project utilizes various building material, texture, massing, column projections, publicly accessible open space, recessed entries, porte cochere, windows and angular forms to articulate the street-facing facades along Brand Boulevard and Sanchez Drive," reads a staff report to the City Council. "The design addresses the public sidewalks with street-level facades detailed with human-scaled high-quality materials, including a significant amount of fenestration and limestone."

Besides housing, 601 Brand also calls for a new public plaza located at the intersection of Brand and Sanchez, as well as co-working spaces, a fitness center, lounges, and amenity decks at both rooftops.

The proposed tower complex is still subject to several other layers of review by the City of Glendale prior to approval, including the Design Review Board.

Onni is one of three firms which have recently pitched high-rise buildings for Downtown Glendale, joining proposals for a standalone hotel tower to the north across the 134 Freeway and a 24-story building which could sprout on the opposite side of Brand Boulevard.

Other upcoming projects from Onni include an under-construction apartment tower in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as new high-rise buildings planned in Hollywood and Mid-Wilshire.

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• 601 N. Brand Boulevard (Urbanize LA)