A massive housing and retail development to be constructed on LA Metro land at the North Hollywood B (Red) Line subway station that adds 1,500 residential units and $80 million in rail and bus station improvements received final approval last week from the Los Angeles City Council.
In the works for more than 10 years, District NoHo cleared its last hurdle with a 12-0 vote by the City Council on Friday, March 22. The vote approved the public benefits agreement between LA Metro, the property owner, and developer Trammel Crow, announced L.A. City Council president and Metro board member Paul Krekorian.
Krekorian pushed hard for the mixed-use project which will include 1,572 housing units. Of those, 311 will be affordable units for low-income households — about 20%. Also 55 units will be restricted as “moderate income units,” according to city documents.
In addition to housing, the project also will contain up to 105,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and up to 580,000 square feet of office space.
The project received mixed reviews from housing advocates.
Abundant Housing LA, a group supporting more housing at all price levels in L.A., praised the City Council and LA Metro. “District NoHo is a step in the right direction towards easing L.A.’s housing shortage while creating better access to public transportation,” wrote Cynthia Clemons, a field organizer for the group, in a comment in December when the project was before a city committee for approval.
But the NoHo Home Alliance, a group advocating for more low-income housing in the San Fernando Valley, had been pushing L.A. and LA Metro to revamp its agreement with the developer to increase the low-income housing portion to 35%, the percentage in the original proposal released in 2014.
After meetings with Krekorian, Metro and the developer over several years, the group was unsuccessful in increasing the percentage of units for low-income residents. The group was trying to get Metro to…
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