In January 2014, a joint venture between Goldstein Planting Investments and Merlone Geier Partners purchased the dilapidated Laurel Plaza shopping center in North Hollywood with the intention of building a new mixed-use complex. Over one year later, environmental documents published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning have finally shed light on what's to come.
The development, dubbed NoHo West, would rise from an approximately 25-acre site bounded by Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Erwin Street, Oxnard Street, Radford Avenue and the 170 Freeway. An illustrative site plan created by architecture firm Altoon Partners indicates that the project would include wide range of uses, including multifamily residential buildings, pedestrian-oriented stores and restaurants, a multiplex cinema, a health club and commercial office space.
NoHo West would feature a total of 742 residential units, to be situated within a pair of low-rise structures at the northeast corner of the development site. The buildings would offer a mixture of studio, one-and-two-bedroom units, seated above exclusive parking garages with room for up to 1,312 vehicles.
Plans call for slightly over 190,000 square feet of cumulative retail and restaurant space within th development, to be located along a new diagonal street through the center of the property. The new road, to be known as Laurel Plaza Drive, would also offer a 40,000-square-foot gym, a 1,750-seat theater complex and a market. The retail component NoHo West would provide approximately 2,569 parking stalls, to be located within an existing basement garage, at street level, and a new eight-story structure abutting the 170 Freeway. An existing low-rise office building at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Erwin Street would be demolished to make way for this phase of the project.
Laurel Plaza's current centerpiece, a squat four-story structure which houses a Macy's department store, would be retained as 500,000 square feet of commercial office space in the new development. The adaptive reuse of the mid-century building will require substantial modifications, including the removal of a 30,000-square-foot annex. Parking accommodations for the new office space would be accounted for by the Macy's building's existing garage, as well as the new above-grade structure located on the east side of the development site.
Construction of the proposed mixed-use complex will require numerous discretionary approvals from the City of Los Angeles, including a zone change and the adoption of a new sign district for the project's commercial component.
An exact timeline for the development is currently unclear. A previous report from the Los Angeles Times valued NoHo West at over $100 million.
- Laurel Plaza shopping center in North Hollywood is sold (Los Angeles Times)
- NoHo West Initial Study (LADCP)