Local developer plans to convert Beverly Grove structure into apartments

Before Uncommon Developers' plan, LA City Council had studied whether to use the vacant building for emergency shelter

Vacant Retail Building in Beverly Grove (Credit: iStock)
Vacant Retail Building in Beverly Grove (Credit: iStock)

UPDATED Dec. 16, 2018, at 5:00 p.m.:  A local developer has filed plans to convert a vacant building in Beverly Grove into a 57-unit apartment complex.

Uncommon Developers, a Los Angeles firm run by Ryan Hekmat and Jason Larian, filed the request with the city to build a five-story complex comprising 45,546 square feet, at 7951 Beverly Boulevard, according to city records.

The proposed project requests an increase in height to 22 feet. It would also scale back open space by up to 25 percent, and modify a setback requirements at the west side yard. Uncommon is taking advantage of density bonuses via the city’s Transit Oriented Communities program to boost the size and number of units in the project. In exchange, developers must set aside a certain number of residential units as affordable.

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Uncommon bought the site for $8.6 million in July through an entity named 7951 Beverly Blvd LLC. Goldstein Investment Company controls the entity, according to the property deed.

Earlier this year the City Council was studying whether to use the vacant building as a location for the city’s “A Bridge Home” program, which provides emergency shelter for homeless people, Urbanize reported. The single-story, 10,8500-square-foot structure was built in 1959. It most recently housed a religious school.

Uncommon has been active in other parts of the city. In October, the developer, along with toy manufacturer MGA Entertainment, secured a permit for a 204-unit apartment building in Chatsworth. The permit is valued at $37.8 million.