UPDATE: Documents from the Department of City Planning indicate that the new project shall be a La Quinta Inn and Suites.  Get ready for some knock-off Mission style architecture, Van Nuys.

Low slung Sepulveda Boulevard is starting to grow a little bit taller in Van Nuys.  Back in November, the Department of City Planning received a proposal to redevelop the site of the 32-room El Cortez Motel.  Plans call for the demolition for the parcel's four existing structures, followed by the construction of a four-story hotel containing 73 guest rooms.  The project, situated just a few blocks south of an Orange Line Station, would be served by 60 parking spaces.  The redevelopment of the El Cortez Motel is actually one of two projects in pre-development along this stretch of Sepulveda.  Just two lots to the south, plans are in the works for a 131-unit mixed-use development known as Sepulveda Square.  Of course, the nature and design of the new hospitality project are complete unknowns.  Given the existing auto-oriented hotel and surrounding neighborhood, its difficult to imagine something with pedestrian-friendly urban design here.