Developer Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has secured an city planning commission approval for its 34-acre mixed-use project in Warner Center.
The $1.5 billion Promenade 2035 development must now win the support of the Los Angeles City Council, but Thursday’s nod from planning was a major hurdle, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The stipulation is that the developer must reapply for any modification to the plan, according to the report.
The Promenade 2035 project includes 1,400 residential units, 280,000 square feet of retail, another 731,500 square feet of office space and 572 hotel rooms. Last year, Unibail-Rodamco received the go-ahead for the option of a 7,500-seat sports arena with a partial roof or a fully enclosed 10,000-seat arena.
The overall project has been in the works since 2016, and has faced fierce opposition along the way. Hundreds of people called in to this week’s virtual Planning Commission meeting to weigh in on the project. The developer also reduced the project to its current scope to help get it more support.
A local community group appealed the project late last year over its lack of affordable units. Unibail-Rodamco in February incorporated 150 affordable units into the first phase of the plan.
In 2013, the city rezoned the Promenade Mall site and much of Warner Center for more dense mixed-use development for its Warner Center 2035 initiative. The city expects 24,000 residential units and 28 million square feet of retail and office space to be added there over the next 14 years. [LADN] — Dennis Lynch