L.A. City Council Approves Mixed-Use Development Adjacent to Van Nuys Airport

Yo, Adrian, there’s a new mixed-use development on the way in Los Angeles’ Lake Balboa neighborhood. 

The L.A. City Council last week approved a zoning change request from the owner of 16949-16955 Sherman Way to build a four-story, 111-unit apartment building on the site, along with 4,500 square feet of ground-floor retail, according to Urbanize. The owner is an entity called Lion Signature tied to an individual named Egish Kuiumjian.

Thirteen of the proposed units will be earmarked for very-low income housing as a condition of approval. 

The development will replace a closed, nearly 50,000-square-foot Sizzler, part of the popular steakhouse chain.

Lion Signature purchased the property in 2019 for about $4 million, according to property records. The developer first applied for entitlements for the mixed-use project in 2022, per Urbanize. 

The project is designed by Alajajian Marcoosi Architects, which is also designing the in-development Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California.

Some community residents argued at a L.A. City Planning Commission meeting in February that the project would worsen privacy concerns and traffic congestion, according to Urbanize.

Yet, if the market metrics are to be believed, those new units can’t come soon enough. Despite high demand for apartment space in Los Angeles, the amount of units completed in the region has nosedived due to high interest rates and a volatile economic situation. There were just 3,513 units delivered this past quarter, compared to 4,314 units delivered in the second quarter of last year, according to a recent market report from CBRE. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.