This land is our land: Homeowners group says Forest City project is on their property

A South Park homeowners association is appealing the developer's 236-unit planned high-rise

Renderings of 949 S. Hope Street (Credit: Solomon Cordwell Buenz and iStock)
Renderings of 949 S. Hope Street (Credit: Solomon Cordwell Buenz and iStock)

A homeowners association is appealing the construction of a South Park apartment complex high-rise, claiming the project’s entitlements wrongly allow the developer to build on a lot the group owns.

The Central Los Angeles Planning Commission will hear the appeal on Tuesday, potentially throwing the 236-unit development at 949 Hope Street into question, according to Urbanize.

Developer Forest City, which Brookfield acquired in November, first proposed the high-rise, which is across from Grand Hope Park, in 2017. It’s slated for 27 stories, and would include 6,700 square feet of retail space, an amenity deck, and a rooftop swimming pool.

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The Skyline Homeowners Association, of the adjacent Skyline condominium building at 600 West 9th Street, claims the project should have never received its entitlements. Part of the entitlement application seeks to transfer floor area from the Skyline property without the permission of the association, according to the appeal.

Other residents have also submitted letters raising concerns about the potential impacts from construction.

Multifamily developments have been going up at a fast clip in South Park, thanks in part to developers like Onni Group and CIM Group. CIM recently completed a project at 888 South Hope Street, near the 949 Hope development. In 2017, CIM co-founding principal Shaul Kuba said his firm had spent approximately $800 million developing seven projects in the Downtown L.A. neighborhood. [Urbanize] — Natalie Hoberman