From Chatsworth to North Hollywood, these are the mega mixed-users headed to the Valley
It’s time to stop thinking of the Valley as a sleepy suburb. From Chatsworth to North Hollywood, plans are in the pipeline to make neighborhoods more city-like, meaning more dense and maybe more walkable and bikeable and more transit-friendly.
In the coming years, developers will build thousands of new units of housing, create open space, bring in new retailers, and build new offices, creating mini villages within neighborhoods.
Here, we’ve mapped 11 of the biggest of those projects.
1. North Hollywood Metro station development
5350 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601
The wheels are in motion to dramatically alter the look of a group of Metro-owned parcels near the North Hollywood stop, which serves the subway’s Red Line and the bus-rapid transit Orange Line. Metro is working with Trammell Crow Company to bring 1,500 housing units, retail, and office space to the transportation hub. The development, called District NoHo, is slated to be built in phases starting in 2021.
2. Westfield’s makeover of Warner Center
6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Developer Westfield is planning a major overhaul of the old Promenade mall site that would bring 1,400 rental units, new shops and restaurants, 572 hotel rooms, and an entertainment venue.
New streets and pathways will be built throughout the site, and the development will have 5.6 acres of public open space.
The developer is planning to erect the project in phases and wants to start as early as 2021.
3. NoHo West
6150 Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606
A project on the former Laurel Plaza site is slated to bring 642 apartments, as many as 60 dining and shopping options, a Trader Joe’s, gym, and movie theater to the old 25-acre Laurel Plaza site.
Construction on the big revamp is well underway. Work began in April 2017, and the Los Angeles Daily News reports that the commercial and shopping portion of the project—developed by Merlone Geier Partners—should be open by the summer. The residential component will be built by Trammell Crow Residential and Barings Real Estate as a later phase of the project, says the News.
4. 21031 Warner Center Lane
21031 Warner Center Ln, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
A planned 24-acre complex in Warner Center could bring around 1,000 apartments and condos, a 24-story building, and a trio of 15-story office buildings to a site near De Soto and Burbank avenues. The project would transform the Warner Center Corporate Park, which is now occupied by a collection of low-rise buildings. The corporate park is owned by Adler Realty, which would develop the project.
The project’s environmental impact report came out in December. It projected construction would start this year and be complete in 2035.
5. Burbank Town Center
600 N San Fernando Blvd Burbank, CA 91502
The Burbank Town Center’s Ikea has moved about 1 mile away, and developers Crown Realty and Development Inc. have big plans for the spot it left behind. They intend to raze the old Ikea and build 765 multi-family units; an additional 70 for-sale units would be built at 800 North San Fernando Boulevard.
The rest of the mall was thoroughly renovated, with the help of CAPREF Manager LLC, adding new outdoor dining areas and bringing in new tenants.
6. The ICON at Panorama City
14665 Roscoe Blvd Panorama City, CA 91402
Beverly Hills-based Icon Company plans to tear down three commercial buildings, including the shuttered Montgomery Ward, at Roscoe Boulevard and Tobias Avenue, to make way for seven new buildings measuring 584,000 square feet. That space would hold 423 units of multifamily housing plus 200,000 square feet of commercial floor area. At the center of all of that? A six-level parking garage with spaces for 1,690 cars.
7. Weddington Golf and Tennis
4141 Whitsett Ave Studio City, CA 91604
The Weddington family once wanted to give their golf course a facelift, building 200 apartments in a 41-foot-tall structure on about a quarter of the site along the way and installing new walking paths and access points to the nearby LA River. Neighbors resisted the plans; they wanted a wetlands park added to the site.
In October 2017, the family sold the property to the Harvard-Westlake School, which plans to put an athletic center and park on the site. Though there have been reports that the grounds were closing to the public, a representative for Harvard-Westlake says they expect the property to stay as it is and open for at least two more years. The completed campus, called Harvard-Westlake River Park, will include more than 6 acres of public park space, plus tennis courts and walking trails that are also open to the public.
8. 6606 Variel Ave
6606 Variel Ave Canoga Park, CA 91303
Not far from the Orange Line’s Canoga Station, developers Evolution Strategic Partners have plans for a residential project rising seven stories tall. Renderings on Urbanize LA show an E-shaped, 271-unit apartment building. The complex would have a pool and rooftop decks, plus two levels of parking.
9. Sepulveda 364
8845 Sepulveda Blvd North Hills, CA 91343
This North Hills project—with 364 apartments—will replace a former plant nursery with a complex of four buildings ranging in height from 45 to 85 feet. Forty-four of the units will be earmarked for tenants with low incomes. The project also includes a parking garage with 557 spots, plus a swimming pool and a dog run. The developers are still finalizing the details of the project.
10. 6041 Variel Ave
6041 Variel Ave Woodland Hills, CA 91367
A U.S. subsidiary of Beijing-based BCEGI International Company is building a 274-unit apartment complex with 11 live work units and a 12-story office building.
11. “24”: The new Bratz dolls headquarters
20000 Prairie Street Chatsworth, CA 91311
This office campus will incorporate creative office, residential, and retail space on a 24-acre property that was once home to a Los Angeles Timesprinting plant. (The plant has been adaptively reused as offices.) Developers Uncommon call the project “24.
New structures holding 660 apartments and ground-floor retail space will be built around the offices, which will serve as the headquarters for MGA Entertainment, the makers of big-eyed Bratz dolls.
Designed by Killefer Flammang Architects, the campus will also feature considerable resident amenities, including two pools, community gardens, outdoor walking tracks, and an open-air amphitheater. The project broke ground in November 2016 and is currently in phase one of construction.
