City Planning Commission green lights medical office tower at Wilshire & San Vicente
Steven Sharp
Urbanize Los Angeles
June 23, 2022
Five years after filing its application with the Planning Department, Stockdale Capital Partners has secured the Los Angeles City Planning Commission's approval to redevelop a trapezoid-shaped lot at the intersection of Wilshire and San Vicente Boulevards with a medical office tower.
In a unanimous vote, Commissioner's approved Stockdale's proposed development, which is slated for the site of a Big 5 Sporting Goods store at 656 San Vicente Boulevard. The project calls for the construction of a 12-story building featuring approximately 140,000 square feet of medical office space atop podium parking for 418 vehicles and 5,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial uses.
The tower, designed by ZGF Architects, would be clad in glass and
rise to an apex of approximately 230 feet above street level. The building is described as having a contemporary appearance, and would have a wedge-shaped appearance at Wilshire and San Vicente. Outdoor terraces carved into the San Vicente side of the building gradually scale up in height moving north away from Wilshire.
An environmental impact report circulated by the City of Los Angeles has estimated that the project will be built over a roughly two-year period. The project will ultimately require the approval of a general plan amendment and zone change by the City Council.
The Commission's approval of the project did not come without opposition, however. Stockdale was faced with three appellants at the hearing, including the union-affiliated organization Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility (or SAFER), the Beverly Wilshire Homeowners' Association, and attorney Michael Yadegari. Each of the appellants argued that the plan was in violation of both the California Environmental Quality Act and local zoning regulations, and urged the Commission to overturn an approval of the project's vesting tentative tract map. That sentiment was echoed in comments from residents of the surrounding neighborhood, who focused on the project's potential impacts on traffic congestion and street parking.
Commissioners ultimately followed a staff recommendation to deny all three appeals, citing a lack of evidence in support of their claims.
The medical office tower is one of a handful of large new developments in the works along San Vicente to the north of Wilshire Boulevard, including developer (and mayoral candidate) Rick Caruso's proposed 16-story apartment tower at the street's intersection with La Cienega Boulevard. A similar 19-story tower is also primed to rise next door to a church at 333 San Vicente Boulevard.
Outside of high-rise housing, Cedars-Sinai is also pursuing an expansion on San Vicente which would add a new patient tower to the hospital.
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