As Los Angeles races towards its state-mandated housing goals, developers have been looking to build on every available inch, including single-family home lots. One standalone residence in Northridge dating back to the 1940s could be the next to give way to more housing.
Two applications recently filed with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning outline the plans for the corner lot at 17545 West Parthenia Street, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. Applicant Lior Mandelbaum is seeking to erect 16 new townhomes, with each application under Senate Bill 1123 consisting of eight homes.
The residences, designed by architect Valentine Janev, would be two stories each and arranged in two rows surrounding a shared driveway. Each townhome would have three bedrooms and a two-car garage. A timeline for construction has not been revealed, Los Angeles YIMBY reported.
Mandelbaum has been associated with other projects in the San Fernando Valley. In Panorama City, the developer applied to replace an existing single-family home at 14421 West Nordhoff Street with nine small-lot homes. Each structure there would rise 24 feet and have floor plans ranging from 2,199 and 2,229 square feet, Urbanize reported.
SB 1123, which took effect last July, expanded the state’s Starter Home Revitalization Act, allowing developers to split a single vacant parcel into up to 10 smaller lots and build “by right” starter homes. Under the law, local agencies are required to fast-track these projects ministerially, bypassing the lengthy public hearings process.
Lot subdivision has become a hot topic in the Los Angeles mayoral race. Last year, reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, whose Pacific Palisades home burned during the January 2025 blazes, consulted an artificial intelligence chatbot and claimed that the proposed Senate Bill 549 would enable Los Angeles County to seize burned lots and sell them to the highest bidder, opening the door for officials to remove zoning restrictions and developers to convert the lots into low-income housing. Pratt also blasted SB 9, signed into law in 2021, which allows homeowners in most single-family residential zones to split their lot into separate parcels and build two units on a single lot. Gov. Gavin Newsom waived the law’s enforcement in fire-prone areas following criticism from Pratt and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.— Chris Malone Méndez
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