A developer has proposed a seven-story apartment building at the site of a WeHo property that neighbors called a “Hell House.” (rendering courtesy of 64North Architecture LTD)

The West Hollywood Design Review Subcommittee on Thursday, Sept. 10, discussed proposed plans to build a seven-story apartment building at 1030 N. Sierra Bonita Ave., where a vacant house known as “Hell House” once stood.

“Hell House” was a duplex demolished in 2024 after causing major problems for residents. Neighbors complained that homeless people previously entered the vacant home. On Thanksgiving 2023, a massive fire destroyed the property. Residents told KTLA that a few weeks after the blaze, the home continued to be a hazard, alleging that it was used by homeless individuals as a “drug den.”

In place of the now-demolished duplex, Vanowen Management LLC plans to construct a seven-story structure with 12 two-bedroom units, including 10 market-rate units and two deed-restricted affordable units. 64North Architecture LTD is overseeing landscape design and architecture. The units are planned to be two stories.

The current building plan will offer six ground-level parking spaces, accessible from an existing curb at the southern portion of the property.

The plan requires 17 waivers of West Hollywood development standards, including a height waiver that would allow the project to exceed the maximum four stories permitted under the California State Density Bonus Law.

Other waivers would eliminate the front setback – the minimum required distance that a building or structure must be located from the front property line facing a street – allowing the front of the property to sit directly adjacent to the sidewalk, reduce side and rear setbacks, shrink required private open space, eliminate the permeable-surface requirement and allow more of the required open space to be placed on the roof.

West Hollywood resident and former Public Facilities Commissioner Victor Omelczenko urged the design subcommittee to issue firm, unambiguous advisory recommendations and called on the applicant to voluntarily adopt refinements to the upper-story step-backs, incorporate high-quality exterior cladding, include a robust landscape plan and subject the requested waivers to strict scrutiny.

The three-member Design Review Subcommittee did not vote. They advised the applicant on architecture, massing, materials, landscaping and how the project will affect the surrounding area. The project will return at a yet-to-be-determined date for a public hearing before the West Hollywood Planning Commission.