Beverly Hills officials were forced to reverse their high-profile rejections of builder’s remedy projects.
The Beverly Hills City Council voted this week to overturn a prior denial, granting an appeal from developer Crescent Heights and approving the firm’s planned 26-story residential tower at 8844 Burton Way, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. The approval comes a few months after the Beverly Hills Planning Commission shot it down, voting to reject the builder’s remedy high-rise in November.
The development calls for 200 apartments in a mix of studio, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, with 22 set aside as deed-restricted affordable housing. Like many builder’s remedy proposals, the project pushes beyond Beverly Hills’ typical height and density limits.
The Planning Commission shot down the project last fall, arguing in October that Crescent Heights’ plan violated anti-segregation laws by clustering affordable units on lower floors.
Crescent Heights revised the plan to spread those units throughout the building, but commissioners opposed it again, citing the tower’s scale.
A two-story height reduction failed to sway the commission, which voted 3-2 to deny the project despite warnings from the city attorney.
Crescent Heights quickly appealed after that decision, arguing the city had no legal authority to reject a compliant builder’s remedy application.
The other reversal, during a Tuesday meeting, involved a project from developer Leo Pustilnikov, who had one of the earliest builder’s remedy cases in California.
The Beverly Hills City Council denied a builder’s remedy project from Pustilnikov last year.
The council was forced to rescind its denial of Pustilnikov’s plan following a ruling last year from a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. That proposal calls for replacing a parking lot at 125 South Linden Drive with a 19-story building with 165 apartments, including 20 percent affordable housing, as well as a 73-room hotel.
— Chris Malone Méndez
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