ABS Properties wants to increase the height of a proposed apartment tower in Hollywood using an executive order by Mayor Karen Bass to streamline affordable housing approvals.
The Hollywood-based affordable housing developer led by Samir Srivastava has filed revised plans to build a 35-story tower with 523 apartments at 5645 West Fernwood Avenue, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
The plans, filed under the mayor’s Executive Directive 1, replace a 2022 proposal for a 26-story, 499-unit senior affordable housing complex north of the 101 Freeway.
Bass announced Executive Directive 1 during her first week in office in late 2022 as a way to encourage affordable housing and end homelessness. Developers of 100-percent affordable housing can employ ED1 to streamline approvals.
ABS proposes to build the affordable homes on Fernwood Avenue for moderate-, low- and very low-income households, making the tower eligible for development incentives on open space, floor area and setbacks, according to Urbanize.
The project, to be called Residency at SkyVillage, is designed by Edwin Mohabir, based in Stevenson Ranch.
The revision scraps an earlier project’s proposal to realign the intersection of Fernwood and De Longpre Avenues at the site to create a landscaped plaza around the tower. Instead, plans now call for open space on a landscaped rooftop deck with two hot tubs, according to a rendering.
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Besides the apartment tower, ABS Properties is constructing two affordable housing developments in Hollywood.
They include converting the landmark Hollywood Western Building into 79 apartments at 5500-5510 Hollywood Boulevard, and building a nine-story, 200-unit apartment complex at 1657 North Western Avenue.
The SkyVillage property would follow on the heels of two new apartment buildings nearby, including Holland Partner Group’s 185-unit Ardence & Bloom apartments and the PATH Villas Hollywood supportive housing complex, according to Urbanize.
— Dana Bartholomew