Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is the responsibility of the City of Los Angeles, as the ‘lead agency’ exercising jurisdiction over the Project.  We anticipate that the Project will qualify for evaluation under the Sustainable Communities program under SB375 and would utilize a Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment (SCEA).

Ultimately there will be a series of public hearings before the Los Angeles City Hearing Officer, the City Planning Commission, and CIty Council. (Case No. CPC-2020-3143-DB-CDO-SPR-HCA) The state environmental review process will also afford opportunities for public comment.  Specifically, the Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment (SCEA) process affords a 30-day public review period pursuant to State law.  Additionally, in 2019 and into 2020 project leadership has conducted preliminary, informal briefings to residential and commercial community groups.

A public meeting with the Mid City West Community Council Planning and Land Use Committee is scheduled for June 16th at 6:30 p.m. (Visit midcitywest.org for details on how to participate. Outreach will continue via informational mailing, community group presentations and a Virtual Community Open House.  Our website (5411wilshire.com) and the community information hotline (323) 813-5101 was established in Winter 2019 and will continue to be available as a means to communicate for all.

We hope to break ground in mid-late 2021 and anticipate up to three years of construction. If you would like to voice support for our project, we are currently seeking approval by the City of Los Angeles and encourage you to sign up at 5411wilshire.com/#support.

Applicants for rent-restricted affordable units must complete an application and qualify the income of all members of their household, in accordance with guidelines imposed by the Los Angeles Department of Housing and Community Development. There will be 29 units for households that qualify for low-income housing and 9 units for households that qualify for moderate-income housing.

Pricing for market-rate units has not yet been established.

We have 14,635 square feet planned for ground-level commercial space including Staples, a neighborhood cafe and two restaurants. Our goal is to bring in locally-based restauranteurs and not chain restaurants. We understand that the area could use more breakfast/brunch options and we will aim to find a tenant who can serve that need. We welcome suggestions on what options are most appealing to our neighbors. Please feel free to email us at hello@5411wilshire.com or call us at (323) 813-5101 to let us know your thoughts.

We contemplate a period of approximately 9-12 months following completion of the entitlements approval process for completion of construction drawings, and construction will commence thereafter.  Subject to “early start” approvals, grading and foundation work may start earlier.

We anticipate the construction period to be 32 to 36 months.

As regulated by City ordinance, construction will not commence prior to 7 a.m., nor continue past 9 p.m. Construction will typically occur Monday through Friday with occasional Saturday work as needed that would not commence prior to 8 a.m. or past 6 p.m.

Our construction teams will require all of their workers to park in designated areas off of the local side streets.  We will secure formal arrangements with nearby off-street parking resources for construction parking and, if necessary, transport workers from the parking areas to the Project site.  The exact location of these construction parking areas will be finalized prior to the start of construction.

Consistent with City ordinances and requirements, construction machinery and equipment will be outfitted with sound suppressors and other measures to reduce noise.  Of course, some noise is unavoidable with any large-scale construction project, but our teams will work as hard as reasonably possible to reduce noise impacts on the surrounding areas.

We will establish a 24-hour ‘hotline’ and a website for questions concerning construction. We will also post this community contact information on site.

With provision of 477 parking spaces (391 automated, electric-charging and 70 traditional), we have sufficient parking for tenants and patrons during operation. Our tenants and neighbors will have access to shared vehicles such as Zip-Car to reduce the need for parking as well.

We will create congestion management programs that will involve TAP-cards and other commuting incentives for employees and operators of the commercial portions of the Project and are working with Metro to implement similar incentive programs for residential tenants that will apply to much of the Miracle Mile area. We anticipate that irrespective of a regional incentive program, our residential tenant incentives will include unbundled parking and a period of TAP-card provision to new residents.

The Project will include parking areas and drop-off facilities for shared driving platforms such as Zip-Car.

We understand housing affordability is top of mind for all.

I’ve offered 9 units above and beyond the density bonus requirements.

My contribution of 38 affordable units is higher than any new affordable housing contribution in this neighborhood.

We are not displacing any residents.

We think we are doing more than our fair share of contributing to the creation of new affordable housing.

We added moderate-income housing in response to community feedback. There is a desire for the moderate-income level of affordability given that more often when affordable housing is provided, it is in the very-low or extremely low income level and this further contributes to the lack of affordable housing options for this segment of our community, of which there is a high-percentage compared to other parts of the county.

We understand that a big concern is that the people who live in Miracle Mile want themselves and their neighbors to be able to stay in Miracle Mile. The 2020 Land Use Schedule VI, shows that more Miracle Mile residents would have overall family incomes that exceed the Low Income level, 80% of the AMI ($77,300) or $63,100 threshold for a family of one, and thus would not qualify at that level, which is also why we chose to add units at the moderate-income level.

• We are in a housing shortage and that is the root of the problem. Every housing expert from local academia from USC to UCLA will tell you that we need housing at all levels of affordability to truly address the shortage. . Affordability starts with supply. For Los Angeles to overcome this gap between supply and demand, we must encourage the addition of new housing stock.

• Market rate housing holds an important place in this, given that when you have people coming to Los Angeles from higher priced markets to a community without adequate supply, without anywhere else to go, they will out bid lower-income earners and drive up rents.

• A recent LA Times story also shows that higher-end price units are not going to simply sit vacant. The market will always correct itself to meet demand. “L.A. rent is falling, with some big drops in luxury buildings.”

The affordable units do have rent caps; and the market rate units will be subject to the dynamics of the market.

Rates have not been established at the Project; the quality and furnishings of our Project will be ‘best in class’ and uphold the standards and character of Miracle Mile. The applicant, Walter N. Marks, Inc., has the reputation of building the finest and premier properties in LA County such as the Helms Bakery campus in Culver City.

The Project proposes Canary Island Date Palms along Wilshire Boulevard, which would provide shade while also preserving the visibility of our ground level commercial space for our retailers and restaurants. Additionally, the ground floor is setback from the level above, which allows for some additional shade in the public right-of-way.  The Canary Island Date Palms would match the trees on the South side of Wilshire Blvd, creating beautiful colonnade style streetscape effect.

• Historic resources are currently being analyzed and will be completed upon release of the environmental document. However, we do not anticipate an impact.

• The Project also includes the rehabilitation of the façade of the 5401 Wilshire Boulevard building to its original volume.

This Project will not remove any existing housing on the site. The only tenants on the site today are commercial.