Christopher A. Joseph & Associates: News


	Developer Plans Two Projects On La Brea

More News from CAJA

August 08, 2006

Background: Christopher A. Joseph & Associates is preparing the MND for the Bomel-KCOP Site Project.

Lead Agency: City of Los Angeles
Project Applicant: La Brea Gateway

Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
July 27, 2006
By: EDWIN FOLVEN

A Los Angeles-based development company has announced that plans are under way for two mixed-use projects on La Brea Avenue that are intended to bring new life to the thoroughfare.

The developments, one at the former Continental Graphics property at 1st and La Brea, and the other at the former KCOP studios at Willoughby and La Brea, will include housing and retail spaces, as well as additional parking for the area. The properties are being developed by Bomel Companies, which is involved in the development of boutique hotels, mixed-use projects, and apartment management.

Matthew Aleksich, development director for Bomel Companies, said the company purchased both properties around three years ago with the intention of bringing high-quality housing to the area, along with top-notch retail attractions. Both properties have been vacant fro several years, but are located in an area that is undergoing a revitalization with several new developments.

The larger of the two properties, which was once home to the printing company Continental Graphics, will be transformed into “District La Brea”, a complex of condominiums and street-level retail spaces facing La Brea Avenue. Aleksich said plans call for 118 condominiums, along with 229,400-square-feet of space intended for boutique shops and restaurants. The development will be built in segments, because the Continental Graphics property is actually four parcels that stretch north from 3rd Street to 1st Street.

At the other site, which formerly housed the studios for KCOP Channel 13, Aleksich said the plans call for 221 apartment units, with 35,000, square-feet of retail space. The project is to ne known as the La Brea Gateway project at Santa Monica and La Brea Avenue – and Aleksich said the goal is to create the living spaces above a retail space that could hold some type of supermarket, possible a Bristol Farms of Whole Foods, he said.

“We have a long-term vision for La Brea,” Aleksich said. “We see these as two cultural catalysts for the future of La Brea. It’s a piece of Los Angeles that has a great deal of history, and these are definitely community-oriented developments.”
Aleksich said Bomel has been meeting with residents and community groups in the area to develop projects that are acceptable to them prior to going before the city’s planning department. He said some changes have been made to scale down the size of the projects, and added that they will bring a significant number of new jobs to the area.

“These are the first two showcase projects for Bomel,” Aleksich said. “they are on the fringe of a lot of mixed use activity going on in West Hollywood and near Wilshire Boulevard, and I think they are going to be great counterpart to both communities.”

Bomel has hired the architectural firm RSA to design the projects, which will be created to look similar to other buildings in the area. RSA has completed projects in Pasadena, Pomona and other cities, and will use an urban contemporary design that incorporates natural tones, textures and colors found on many buildings in the area, Aleksich said.

Plans call for the existing buildings on both properties to be razed to make way for the new developments. Both the Continental Graphics building and the KCOP Studios have been there for decades, Aleksich said, and are unsuitable for the new uses the Bomel Companies envisions.

While the developer has been meeting with residents to mitigate their concerns, some residents of the area have said there are some problems that need to be worked out. Diana Plotkin, president of the Beverly Wilshire Homes Association, which covers the areas surrounding the Continental Graphics property, said controversy has arisen over the height of the buildings Bomel is proposing.

“There has been a lot of opposition to this. We want to keep the 45-foot height limit in place, and these are too high,” Plotkin said. “There is a lot of controversy with it because it will directly affect the neighborhood behind them. He (the developer) is doing an environmental impact report, and we want to see what the impacts will be. We plan to meet with them in the next couple of weeks.”

Near the KCOP property, members of the Melrose Neighborhood Association have voiced concerns that the development would require a zoning change that the property doesn’t qualify for under city zoning laws. Mark Ganshirt, a board member for the Melrose Neighborhood Association, said the organization is petitioning the city to ensure they follow the rules.

“That piece of property is zoned as light industrial, so to make a residential development, they will have to have it changed. The city is trying to side-step the whole process,” Ganshirt said. “Obviously, the development will bring a lot of traffic congestion to the neighborhood, and there have been a lot of concerns for the neighbors.”

Aleksich said many of the neighbors concerns have been taken into consideration, such as adding new turn lanes that will feed traffic into the developments. He said that portions of the projects have also been redesigned to make them a better fit in the neighborhoods.

“We want to integrate these with the cultural and historical aspects of the surrounding neighborhood. We want them to be integrated into the neighborhood, but we want them to be focal points as well,” Aleksich added. “we have a great opportunity to bring development into the community that will serve the neighborhood, but will also be destinations. La Brea is a key urban corridor, and it makes the most sense to redesign these into mixed use projects.”

Aleksich expects to begin the process of formal hearings with the city within the next few months. Before receiving approval, the projects will have to go before the city’s planning department and eventually the city council.

(Copyright 2006 Park Labrea News/Beverly Press)