Urban Commons wants to raze Korean BBQ restaurant for senior housing project

Ilcha KBBQ (Yelp/Ilcha)
Ilcha KBBQ (Yelp/Ilcha)

There could be one less whiff of Korean BBQ scenting the air in Koreatown, if a developer’s plans are approved.

Urban Commons filed plans with the city Tuesday to demolish Ilcha Korean BBQ at 3377 W Olympic Blvd, replacing it with a 146,500-square-foot senior housing development, planning documents show. The proposal also calls for 11,500 square feet of commercial, retail and restaurant space. The commercial space could be used for medical or professional offices, the plans show. 

If approved, a seven-story building with a roof deck would be constructed on the site of the 6,625-square-foot restaurant and surface parking lot. It would include 146 senior housing units and 122 assisted living units.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

It is not the developer’s only proposal in the burgeoning area. Urban filed plans with the city in November to build a 10-story building at 6th and Harvard Streets with 44 residential units, a 200-room hotel and 18,000 square feet of retail space.

Farther south, in Long Beach, the developer recently took over the 66-year master lease for the iconic Queen Mary ship, with plans to restore it and to develop a retail, dining and entertainment district in the area.

Urban Commons is just one of several firms eyeing Koreatown, which is becoming a hotbed of development activity. The area saw 48 residential and hotel proposals in 2016. Developer Jamison Services filed plans for seven projects over the span of one month.