In a unanimous decision, the Los Angeles City Council voted last week to uphold the approval of a proposed mixed-use apartment building in Koreatown after an appellant withdrew their formal objections to the project.

ELK Development, the company behind the project at 730 S. Vermont Avenue, secured a determination letter in March 2021 granting entitlements to redevelop a vacant retail center with a seven-story edifice containing 80 apartments above 1,457 square feet of ground-floor retail space and parking for 70 vehicles. 

Looking north from Leeward AvenueGoogle Street View

Approved plans call for a mix of studio, three-, four-, and five-bedroom floor plans - including eight income-restricted affordable units - making the project eligible for Transit Oriented Communities incentives permitting smaller setbacks and less open space than would otherwise be required.

OfficeUntitled is designing the proposed apartment complex, which would be composed of five levels of wood-frame construction above a concrete podium.  Amenity decks are planned at the 2nd, 7th, and roof levels.

The project had faced an appeal from the Coalition for an Equitable Westlake MacArthur Park - a frequent opponent of new developments in Central Los Angeles - on the basis that the proposed apartment complex, combined with several other developments in the near vicinity, would cause unstudied environmental impacts. However, a letter to the Planning Department's from the appellant's attorney dated October 5 indicated that the two parties had struck an agreement to resolve the dispute.

730 S Vermont AvenueGoogle Maps

ELK Development, the company behind the project, also broke ground earlier this year on a similar mixed-use housing complex near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Hollywood.