The Los Angeles City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee voted earlier this week to approve a proposed 22-story apartment tower that would anchor the eastern gateway of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The project, which would replace a parking lot at the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street, is being developed by High Street Residential - a subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company - in coordination with property owner MetLife Insurance Co.  The proposed building would contain 220 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments - with 11 reserved as very low-income affordable housing - above a 279-car parking structure and 3,270 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

HKS Architects is designing the tower, which would rise to a peak height of 252 feet above street level.  Plans call for an aluminum exoskeleton to wrap the rectangular structure, underlaid with glass panels.  Renderings show artistic displays wrapping above-grade parking levels, and two setbacks at the ground floor to create plazas.

The proposed tower has undergone several revisions, including the removal of a rooftop helipad and a slight height reduction to better match the scale of the adjacent Fonda Theatre.

Access to the Fonda Theatre had been a sticking point between the developers and the owners of the abutting entertainment venue, which has a back entrance facing the parking lot where the tower is planned.  However, High Street Residential and MetLife recently agreed to provide an access easement through the property, thus resolving the issue, according to Friends of The Fonda.  The organization dropped its appeal and announced its support for the project prior to the hearing.

A second appeal, filed by Hollywood resident Casey Maddren, was also denied.

The vote by the Planning Committee is the Hollywood & Gower development's final approval before consideration by the full City Council.  According to the project's environmental documentation, construction is anticipated to occur over an approximately 24-to-26-month period between 2020 and 2023.