The South Valley Area Planning Commission denied an objection Thursday night against a planned mixed-use project at the former Los Angeles Daily News headquarters site, paving the way for the first project under the area’s new specific plan. The development by Associated Estates of Richmond Heights, Ohio, was opposed by Mitch Carson, leader of Neighborhood Planning Support Inc., on grounds that the project did not adhere to the Warner Center 2035 Specific Plan. It also alleged that the environmental impact report was insufficient, according to Milena Zasadzien, an associate with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. The project was originally approved by the city’s planning director on Aug. 28 and appealed Sept. 12. The Planning Commission rejection of Carson’s appeal was unanimous, and Zasadzien said the development now has received all necessary discretionary approvals. The 21221 Oxnard St. mixed-use development would feature a five-story, 379-unit apartment building, including 101 live-work units, in its first phase. Later construction calls for a nine-story, 71,000-square-foot office tower with ground-floor retail space. The total project would measure more than 540,000-square-feet. Currently the site is occupied by a vacant 124,000-square-foot office building that the Daily News sold to Hearst Communications Inc. of New York in 2007. Hearst still owns the site but is expected to sell it to the developer. The Warner Center specific plan was passed in October, dividing the 1.5-square-mile neighborhood into eight districts, with varying commercial, residential and retail uses. It allows for significantly larger commercial development and more than 10,000 additional residential units. There were 25 people in attendance at the Thursday night meeting and 10 spoke in support of the project.
