This rendering shows how the approved mixed-use development would look at 8527-8555 Santa Monica Blvd. (rendering courtesy of the city of West Hollywood)

Following a lengthy public hearing during the May 15 West Hollywood City Council meeting, a development at 8527-8555 Santa Monica Blvd. and 8532-8552 West Knoll Drive will move forward.

The project has been in the works for over a decade, and various versions of the proposal have been reviewed by the city’s planning commission. Currently, a parking lot and a block of businesses occupy the area, which is located next to a Ramada Inn, just west of La Cienega Boulevard.

The mixed-use development will bring 111 new residential units to the block, including 17 affordable housing units and 12 live/work units. The state of California has mandated the construction of 3,933 new housing units in the city of West Hollywood by 2029.

After approval was issued by the planning commission in January, an appeal was filed by Carol Weiner, who asserted that the decision was, according to a staff report, “based on new information, technical errors, errors of fact and inaccurate or unsupported findings.”

A group of people representing the appeal argued on her behalf, including former planning commissioner Lynn Hoopingarner.

“None of these elements were discussed [or] addressed,” she said. “We have no discourse on the subject.”

Regardless, the council voted unanimously to approve the project.

“I didn’t think the votes were there for the appeal because of concerns around the Affordable Housing Act, so, instead, I pushed for mitigations to address community concerns related to construction, particularly noise, under-grounding of SCE poles and changes to existing conditions,” Councilwoman Lauren Meister said. “That said, I do believe that the city has got to take a long hard look at the project application process. If a project is proposed that does not meet objective development standards, the application should be rejected. Developers have other options if they can’t meet city codes related to objective standards, such as a development agreement or a specific plan. The integrity of objective standards should be upheld.”

Construction noise was one of the primary concerns for residents.

“Construction is never fun for anyone, especially when you live in a highly dense urban environment like West Hollywood, but we are in a housing crisis,” Erickson said. “But the mitigations that we put into place regarding sound along West Knoll, as well as documenting the preexisting conditions of the street, were I think enough to, I hope, keep residents happy.”

Since the pandemic, the block of Santa Monica Boulevard between La Cienega Boulevard and Westmount Drive has suffered, with recent years seeing the closure of major businesses including 24 Hour Fitness, Starbucks and, most recently, Sprouts. Erickson said the development would help to “revitalize” the area.

“This project is taking an empty parking lot and making it a mixed-use live work space,” he said.

Erickson qualified, though, that in order for businesses to continue to grow in the area, landlords would have to work with their tenants.

“These business closures are due to commercial rents and commercial landlords that are charging so much money because they’re trying to recoup everything that they didn’t get during the pandemic,” he added.

A timeline on the project is not yet known. Several businesses occupying buildings would be marked for demolition, and the project would take several years to complete.