Millennium Goes More Affordable in Beverly Hills

Millennium Partners is downsizing its Beverly Hills high-rise ambitions as it leans more into affordability to secure faster approvals.

The New York-based developer has revised plans for its proposed 34-story tower at 8300 Wilshire Boulevard, dubbed The Eastern, cutting the total unit count to 211 from 249 and increasing the number of affordable apartments, Hoodline reported. The shift is designed to qualify the project for ministerial approval under California’s AB 2011 law, according to filings with the City of Beverly Hills cited by Urbanize Los Angeles.

The updated proposal seeks to build 179 for-sale condos and 32 rental units set aside as affordable housing with one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans for all units. The affordable rentals will be evenly split between very low- and moderate-income households. The earlier iteration called for 22 affordable units. Plans for 473 parking spaces and ground-floor restaurant space remain intact.

Millennium initially pursued discretionary approvals early last year. At the time, it sought a zone change and development agreement to get shovels in dirt. By the middle of last year, Millennium abandoned that route in favor of AB 2011, which allows qualifying mixed-income housing on commercially zoned land to bypass much of the traditional entitlement process. Projects that meet AB 2011’s affordability and labor requirements can be processed ministerially, limiting exposure to CEQA challenges and political pushback.

More developers in Los Angeles are opting to go the affordable housing route as a means to securing approvals quicker. L.A. ranked among the top 10 cities building affordable housing since the turn of the decade. A total of 9,406 income-restricted apartments were completed between 2020 and 2024, accounting for roughly 20.5 percent of all apartment construction in the L.A. metro area during that time, according to RentCafe. Incentives via transit-oriented communities initiatives have similarly lured developers to build more housing near transportation hubs as a way of ensuring feasibility and faster approvals.

— Chris Malone Méndez