Venice “Beautifier” to Replace DMV in Pacoima With Housing

Kevin Brunk, the “unofficial beautifier” of Venice, has moved forward with plans to replace a defunct DMV in Pacoima with 246 apartments atop a grocery store.

The head of Marina del Rey-based 118 LP was approved by the Los Angeles City Planning Commission to demolish the state Department of Motor Vehicles licensing center and build the mixed-use complex at 11623 North Glenoaks Boulevard, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

The DMV closed last year north of the 118 Freeway because of a shrinking state budget and the ease of providing services online.

Plans filed in June call for bulldozing the 20,000-square-foot building and replacing it with a six-story, 246-unit complex on two-thirds of an acre south of the city of San Fernando.

The building would include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments above a 28,000-square-foot grocery store, with parking for 318 cars.

Brunk, who also heads JKB Construction Management and Development out of the same Marina del Rey office, has requested density bonus incentives to build a larger building than zoning rules allow in exchange for 28 affordable units.

The gray C-shaped complex, designed by Morphosis, would have a rooftop deck and two residential wings with exterior balconies flanking a central courtyard and playground.

Previous plans, designed by Koreatown-based Archeon Group, would have included mission-style motifs such as an arched colonnade and large arches etched into the building, a presumed nod to the nearby Mission San Fernando Rey de España.

Brunk, a builder and artist who lives in Marina del Rey, helped turn what was once Washington Boulevard in Venice from a funky strip for artists and surfers in the 1980s into the hotspot now known as Abbot Kinney Boulevard, according to a profile in The Corsair.

Dubbed the “unofficial beautifier” of Venice, Brunk planted palm trees, revived the Abbot Kinney Festival and led a campaign to rename the corridor in honor of the founder of Venice, Abbot Kinney.

— Dana Bartholomew