The city of Beverly Hills is facing additional lawsuits from developers over builder’s remedy applications that they claim were unfairly denied.
Real estate limited partnerships 8800 Wilshire Associates, LP, and 8820 Wilshire Associates, LP filed complaints on March 27 in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that Beverly Hills violated California’s Housing Accountability Act and Permit Streamlining Act by rejecting their applications, the Beverly Hills Courier reported.
The proposed projects at 8800 Wilshire Boulevard and 8820 Wilshire Boulevard are backed by developer King’s Arch, would bring housing to a crucial corridor in the city. At 8800 Wilshire, the developer seeks to build 139 units with 17 designated for affordable housing, while at 8820 Wilshire, the developer aims to build 134 apartments including 16 affordable ones. Both buildings would be 19 stories tall with ground-floor retail.
With the two new complaints, the city now faces a total of four builder’s remedy lawsuits after rejecting applications for a 19-story mixed-use development at 125-129 South Linden Drive complete with 165 units and a hotel.
“Rather than coming to grips with the fact that petitioner’s project is subject to the HAA’s builder’s remedy, the city has engaged in a course of conduct that is riddled with violations of state housing law,” the lawsuits state.
“We are confident that the city has treated the projects appropriately. Unfortunately, these projects increased their building construction area by more than 20 percent which disqualifies the projects from the builder’s remedy process,” Beverly Hills city attorney Laurence Wiener told the Courier.
Ryan Leaderman, an attorney representing the developer, said the city is in the wrong for allegedly violating state law.
“The statute … does not say you can’t change your project,” he said. “The city is reading in a requirement that doesn’t exist in the law.”
The city is currently processing applications for 14 builder’s remedy projects, a decades-old loophole in state housing law that allows developers to bypass local zoning rules in cities or counties that failed to certify their state housing plans if a project includes at least 20 percent affordable housing. Beverly Hills must build 3,104 new units by 2029 as part of its Regional Housing Needs Allocation. Seven developers have gotten letters notifying them their applications are incomplete, while five others are discussing the need for environmental impact reviews with the city.
The city hasn’t legally responded to the Wilshire Boulevard complaints. Both cases are poised to begin trial-setting conferences in early July.
— Chris Malone Méndez