Hoping to take advantage of city incentives for affordable housing construction, a local developer has added more than 100 units to its plan for a rental project in Hollywood.
Wilshire-based developer Reliable Properties had been nearing a city decision on its mixed-use project on Sunset Boulevard last year before its most recent upsizing plan.
On Tuesday, the firm filed plans to build a 412-unit complex with 36,000 square feet of commercial space at 5525 W. Sunset Boulevard. That’s 119 more units than it had previously filed for at the 2.2-acre site.
Last January Reliable Propeties released a final environmental impact report for the original project, a move that is typically one of the last steps before the city issues a final decision.
The site is also in a federal Opportunity Zone, which means investors could get significant tax breaks for putting money into the project.
Led by Jack Nourafshan, the firm first started working on the original version in 2015, four years after purchasing the site for $15 million. Nourafshan could not be immediately reached for comment.
Reliable Properties is hoping to boost the density of the project through the city’s Transit-Oriented Communities incentives program. That program provides density bonuses and other incentives for market-rate rental projects near transit whose developers set aside a portion of units as affordable.
Like Reliable, some developers have redrawn their existing plans to take advantage of the incentive program, which took effect in 2017, and has already proven popular.
Reliable wants to set aside a quarter of the units as affordable — an unusually large amount — in exchange for a 70-percent increase in units. The firm also wants liquor licenses for two restaurants and a grocery store planned in the on-site commercial space.
The property happens to be across Sunset Boulevard from the Target store that sat unfinished from 2012 until earlier this year, as opponents fought to scuttle the project. The city allowed construction to resume in March.
Reliable is also working on a 409-unit project in Palms. It filed plans for that development in May 2018. It was one of the largest multifamily projects proposed last year.