LA City Council approves Champion’s controversial Hollywood development

The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved controversial plans to build a six-story, mixed-use building with 224 residential units in a low-rise area of Hollywood.

The plan, which spurred massive debate over height restrictions in the area, will include 24 designated low-income apartments and 985 square feet of retail.

“We love the location. We think it’s in great proximity to a ton of amenities,” Bob Champion told Beverly Press of the site, which runs between Las Palmas Avenue to Cherokee Avenue, north of Hollywood Boulevard. “We have designed an amazing rooftop amenity with a pool that’s every bit as luxurious as a five-star hotel.”

But preservationists are still trying to put the kibosh on the project at 1717 Cherokee and 1718 Las Palmas, which would be noticeably taller than neighboring structures. Some even claim that the project violates zoning restrictions.

Frances Offenhauser of Hollywood Heritage said she is considering filing a suit to fight the development in court.

“Zoning code states specifically what has to be done to build something bigger, but they decided to jump over it and say, ‘OK, we’re not going to do that, we’re going to do what we think is right,’” she told Beverly Press. [Beverly Press] — Katherine Clarke