A plan to redevelop the site of a shuttered Sizzler restaurant in Lake Balboa is gradually moving forward, with the release of a new environmental report by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.

The project from applicant and property owner Lion Signature, Inc., submitted to the Planning Department for review in October 2022, would rise from a nearly 50,000-square-foot site at 16949-16955 Sherman Way. Plans call for the construction of a new four-story complex which would feature 111 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments above approximately 4,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The building would sit atop 160 parking stalls on two subterranean garage levels.

Aerial view looking northeastAlajajian Marcoosi Architects

Construction of the project is subject to the approval of a zone change to permit the housing on what is now a parking-only area at the northern side of the site. That entitlement would make the new apartment complex subject to the rules of Measure JJJ, which requires that developments seeking general plan amendments and zone change set aside a requisite amount of on-site affordable housing. In the case of the Sherman Way development, 13 of the new apartments would be set aside for rent as very low-income affordable housing.

Alajajian Marcoosi Architects, best known for their work on the Armenian American Museum in Glendale, is designing the contemporary mixed-use complex, which would have an exterior of painted plaster, composite wood panels, and metal siding. The building would have an E-shaped footprint, leaving space for a pair of small courtyards at the ground level. Additional amenity space would be provided at the rooftop.

16955 Sherman WayGoogle Maps

According to the environmental report, construction at 16955 Sherman Way would occur over a roughly two-year period that would have commenced in September 2023 and concluded in 2025. However, that schedule is contingent on city approvals which have yet to be issued.

The development site is located roughly a half-mile south of a property at 7650 Balboa Boulevard, where another property owner has proposed to clear a mobile home park to make way for a similar mixed-use building featuring 150 apartments - half of which would be income-restricted.

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