Hotel project advances on property owned by artist Brett Goldstone

Artist Brett Goldstone once said he “didn’t want to be a frivolous embellisher of people’s interiors.”

Yet soon enough, his own Lincoln Heights property will become the site of a fancy new hotel with market-rate apartments and retail options, one of the few new hotel developments to take shape in Los Angeles’ oldest and most-densely populated neighborhood.

Property records reveal that the sculptor, a New Zealand native, and Kyle Roderick, a literary editor, own the property where 4Site Real Estate is planning their new development. They acquired the small property for just $150,000 in 2001.

Goldstone is best known for his decorative “river-gates” found along the L.A. River.

Developer 4Site filed permits to start construction work on the property — found at four adjacent parcels on Avenue 21 and San Fernando Road — earlier this month, according to documents from the Department of City Planning.

Renderings from Tighe Architecture reveal the new hotel would feature several arched entryways on the ground floor, and an irregular, geometric shaped roof.

In addition to the 100 guest rooms, the property will also include 97 market-rate units and three affordable units, planning filings show. There will also be about 4,600 square feet of retail space within the 114,000-square-foot development.

4Site did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Goldstone could not be reached.

Lincoln Heights is beginning to show signs of a looming gentrification, similar to what Echo Park and Highland Park went through several years ago. Developer Lincoln Property Co. is already on its way to redeveloping the former Lincoln Heights Jail on Avenue 19, a major project that will bring a collection of commercial and manufacturing spaces, a public market, office space, live-work housing and several recreation areas.