Developer will build resi complex at former site of Debbie Reynolds dance studio

The North Hollywood property that used to house Debbie Reynolds’ dance studio is on its way out.

Investor Alan Kleinman filed plans for a 119-unit mixed-use project on the nearly 1-acre site at 6514 N. Lankershim Boulevard, records show. The complex would include 4,800 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Kleinman purchased the property for $6.1 million in the fall of 2017, one day before it was set to go to auction as part of a larger estate sale of Reynolds’ assets.

Reynolds died at the age of 84 in December 2016, just a day after her daughter, the actress, writer and “Star Wars” star, Carrie Fisher. Reynolds was a Hollywood staple whose career spanned some 70 years. She starred in films, television, and on stage, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of the titular character in 1964’s “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

Reynolds was also a dancer and cabaret performer, and danced with Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

She opened the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in 1979, and after an unsuccessful effort to landmark it, it closed in November and was torn down in February. The studio has since moved to Burbank.
Kleinman’s multifamily project isn’t his first in the Valley. He started work on a 170-unit project in Van Nuys in 2017.

Kleinman is taking advantage of the property’s eligibility under the city’s Transit Oriented Communities program for density bonuses and other incentives. The program provides those incentives for developers who build affordable units near transit. The program has proven popular for infill developments in particular.