A developer has filed plans to build a five-story apartment building near Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys.
The developer is Jonathan Azal, who owns a Reseda-based company called JB Builders, although the Van Nuys project is operating through a firm called Sylvan Tower, LLC, according to documents.
“The specific area of Van Nuys is very interesting to me as an investor,” Azal said by email. “I see it as NoHo was when it first started out about 15 years ago.”
Azal also cited the street’s historical character, which includes some of the oldest homes in the San Fernando Valley and a nearby library, as well as the region’s commerce centers and the planned arrival of transportation links, including a rail line that will eventually connect to LAX.
Azal filed the project application earlier this month, submitting plans for the construction of a five story, 34-unit building with a first-floor garage, according to public documents. The site, which is currently being used as a commercial parking lot, is located at 14606-14612 West Sylvan Street, a residential area a couple blocks west of Van Nuys Boulevard and a couple blocks south of Victory Boulevard.
It’s a neighborhood that some residential developers have been homing in on: Last summer, Alliant Strategic filed plans for one-high profile six-story project in the neighborhood , called Van Nuys Vose, that would include 332 residential units along with 4,000 feet of commercial space. Last August Azal also filed plans for another project — just a couple blocks away from the West Sylvan site, on Erwin Street — that calls for the demolition of two single-family homes and a triplex in order to construct a new five-story, 33-unit complex. Those plans were previously reported by Urbanize Los Angeles.
The developer plans to build “a string” of similar projects, he told TRD by email: “We are very bullish on this area,” he wrote, “and are excited to see some change to this part of the valley which was overlooked for so long already.”
Other planned Van Nuys residential projects include a 64-unit complex and a two building, 71-unit complex.
Azal’s newly proposed Sylvan project seeks exemptions under L.A.’s Transit Oriented Communities program (TOC), which allows certain density exemptions for projects near public transit. The apartment complex would include four units allocated for extremely low income tenants, in line with TOC requirements, as well as an accessory dwelling unit. The project is seeking a 56-foot height, 11 feet above the normally permitted 45, along with side yard reductions. The complex would go up on two lots that total 16,000 square feet.
This story was updated to include comments from Azal.
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