Charles Park & Associates has won a preliminary nod to build 251 apartments in Koreatown.
The Montebello-based developer has won approval from the Los Angeles Planning Commission to construct the eight-story, mixed-use complex at 3433 West 8th Street, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. It would replace a row of single-story storefronts lined by ficus trees.
The 294,000-square-foot project at West 8th Street and South Harvard Boulevard would be among the largest in Koreatown.
The project, dubbed The Parks in L.A., would include 251 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments on the top stories, with shops and restaurants taking up 61,000 square feet on the first and second floors. An underground garage would serve 284 cars.
The developer seeks density bonus incentives to allow for a larger building than allowed by zoning rules in exchange for 29 affordable apartments set aside for very low- and extremely low-income households.
The development, designed by Corbel Architects of Koreatown, would include a ground-level interior promenade of shops and restaurants. It would feature a central courtyard atop its two-story podium, plus a game room and gym.
The charcoal and white complex would include large windows and balconies, according to a rendering, with floor-to-ceiling windows at its restaurants and stores.
Pending City Council approval of a general plan amendment and zone change, construction is expected to take 18 months.
Charles Park & Associates, run by Charles and Karen Park, bought the seven parcels that make up the development site in 2018 for $20 million. Initial plans called for a food court and 18 live-work units.
The Parks own Offline, an apparel manufacturing company in Downtown.
The proposed project is the latest in a series of mixed-use projects to reshape the 8th Street corridor through Koreatown, including the Harper apartments at the opposite corner of 8th and Harvard and the Rise apartments one block to the west, according to Urbanize.
— Dana Bartholomew
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