Strong pushback against resi tower in Miracle Mile complicates project

Residents say the 26-story mixed-use complex would be out of scale with surroundings

The 26-story project proposed for a site on Third and Fairfax streets (Photo: Mid-City West Neighborhood Council)
The 26-story project proposed for a site on Third and Fairfax streets (Photo: Mid-City West Neighborhood Council)

A 26-story mixed-use project near the Miracle Mile district has gotten strong pushback from the community, whose residents say it will be out of scale with buildings in the surrounding community.

The project at 6300 W. Third Street would include 380 residential units. The 125,000-square-foot property would rise at the corner of West 3rd Street and South Fairfax Avenue, over part of the Town and Country Shopping Center. Existing tenants like Whole Foods and CVS will remain, according to Curbed. The complex would be built over the existing Kmart site.

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The developer is Arba Group, the owner of the property for more than 30 years. Documents submitted to the city earlier this month said 66,000 square feet of retail would be renovated and 81,000 square feet added to the site.

Arba presented the project to the Mid-City West Neighborhood Council last week, and was met with resistance from most neighbors over concerns of scale, Curbed reported. The area includes single-family homes, but also abuts Park La Brea, the largest residential apartment complex in the country.

Arba’s partners include Recency Centers and Holland Partners Group. Architects MVE + Partners is designing the project. Arba Group owners Ira Smedra and Jacob Wintner said they couldn’t redevelop the property until Kmart’s lease ran out. That lease expired last year. [Curbed] — Dennis Lynch