Called NoHo Tower, the new project is slated to rise at the southwest corner of Lankershim Boulevard and Cumpston Street, across from the $1.3-billion NoHo Metro Rail station and the proposed NoHo Commons and a block from the Rapid Transit bus terminal. It is being designed by DE Architects.

Developer Craig Jones, president of JSM, describes the project as an example of the "new urbanism" that is cropping up in Los Angeles, where developers and governmental officials are advocating pedestrian-oriented village environments that combine housing, jobs and shopping. The tower will rise in the NoHo Arts District, which has become the focus of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency's (CRA) 750-acre North Hollywood Redevelopment District in the East San Fernando Valley. The district features 22 live theaters and numerous art galleries, restaurants and cafes. It is easily accessible by public transportation, as the Red Line subway has a station here and the San Fernando Valley Metro Rapid Transitway, which is currently under construction, will also have a stop in the area.

NoHo Tower will stand 15 stories high at build-out, with 17,000 sf of retail space on the ground floor. Its 191 residences will include 14 units for low-income households.

The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency approved the project before it gained its recent city council approval. Although the CRA is not providing any funding for NoHo Tower, it approved a residential density bonus and also gave the developer numerous guidelines to follow regarding affordable housing, landscape and open space standards, public art and streetscape design.

The new development is expected to attract numerous employees from the entertainment industry, since it is less than a mile from just about every major studio, except Paramount, Jones points out. His firm is also developing 181 units on NoHo's McCormick Street and has also developed 22 apartment projects, known as The Santa Monica Collection, in that beach city's downtown area.

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