Next week, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission is scheduled to consider an appeal seeking to block the construction of a mixed-use building on Westwood Boulevard.

The project, submitted last year to the City of Los Angeles, would replace a vacant commercial building at 2301 Westwood Boulevard with a five-story apartment complex featuring 50 residential units - including five for extremely low-income households - above 6,507 square feet of ground-floor retail.  Plans also call for 71 parking spaces on three basement levels.

Renderings of the proposed development, designed by Riley Projects, depict a contemporary low-rise structure with a fifth-floor setback and a rooftop deck.

The appeal, submitted by an abutting homeowner, contends that the proposed apartment complex is too large for the surrounding neighborhood, lacks sufficient on-site parking, and inappropriately received Transit Oriented Communities incentives.  A staff response rejected those claims and found that the project's current approvals were appropriate.

The project applicant, indicated as an entity called The Westwood, LLC, has already downsized the mixed-use complex from a slightly larger 62-unit development.

Just south on Westwood Boulevard, Hudson Pacific Properties and Macerich are now in the process of converting the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall into office space.  Google has leased the entire 584,000-square-foot development.