At 154 resi units, Winnetka apartment project is scaled back

A new apartment project in Winnetka has been scaled back to include a modest reduction in residential units, but a far bigger cut to the number of vehicle spaces.

The new building will rise four stories at 7111 North Winnetka Avenue, according city documents first reported by Urbanize. The developer is Calabasas-based George Shakiban, who purchased the site in 2015 for $1.2 million. A one-story medical office building will be demolished under the plan.

The new construction will be a total of 162,600 square feet. There will be 200 parking spaces.

The first version of the plan included 160 apartment units and 283 total parking spaces. The project will require a change in zoning from commercial to residential with the option for ground floor commercial. Still, the plan could lose its commercial component entirely, meaning the developer wouldn’t be able to add ground floor retail.

The Winnetka local Council has tried to limit development in the area, according to Urbanize. It recently asked the L.A. City Council to cap building heights at three stories and require two parking spaces per bedroom. That would restrict residential projects to mostly garden-style developments.

Winnetka is east of Canoga Park and Warner Center. The latter is seeing a flurry of development and investment because of the opportunities created by the City Council’s Warner Center 2035 Plan, which promotes dense mixed-use development in the neighborhood.

This year has been particularly busy in Warner Center. Lasalle Investment Management planted a stake in the neighborhood in August with a $157 million purchase of the 362-unit Triana apartment complex. Hanover is planning a 394-unit development nearby. Triple Five Group, the owner and operator of the Mall of America, is in talks to buy a 47-acre site approved for up to 6 million square feet of mixed-use development.  [Urbanize] – Dennis Lynch