A stalled mixed-use development turns into West Hollywood’s newest lake
The Melrose Triangle mixed-use development project — with 80 residential units, featuring home office pod spaces, a two-level cafe and retail shops — was expected to transform a highly visible intersection in West Hollywood.
Instead, with construction on hold, the site has become a large, swampy pool that neighbors have nicknamed “WeHo Lake” because of the accumulation of green-hued water, presumably colored by algae.
Over the last several months, the water has inundated the construction site at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue, providing a home for a new type of tenant —mosquitoes, ducks and other water-loving critters, residents say.
It is unclear when the structural part of the project will begin.
Across Los Angeles, home prices are on the rise. But in a handful of central neighborhoods, including Hollywood, the opposite is happening.
Jack Kurchian, a project manager for developer Charles Co., told The Times that the water began to stagnate after many of the 34 groundwater pumps installed on the property were vandalized. The pumps have since been repaired and the water level has been reduced, but the company is getting additional pumps to remove the rest of the water.
“It’s been receding. We’ve probably pumped it down two or three feet already with the pumps that are there,” Kurchian said. “It’s just not happening fast enough.”
West Hollywood city officials said the development is situated on a high water table where the ground soil is more saturated. The city’s code enforcement team gave the property owner a notice of violation June 24 and is working with the owner to ensure that the water is drained, according to a city news release.
The city said Los Angeles County West Vector Control District inspectors have visited the construction site to monitor mosquito activity , but the agency could not be reached Friday to comment further. Kurchian said representatives told him they did not find active mosquitoes.
Plans to build an office tower overlooking the Los Angeles River in the downtown Arts District have been canceled in the face of vast office vacancies.
Video recently taken at the site shows a pair of ducks swimming in the murky water.
The development has been in the works for at least a decade, but has hit roadblocks including a lawsuit that questioned the adequacy of the city’s environmental review of the project.
Local advocacy groups, including the Los Angeles Conservancy, had called for developers to preserve the former building on the site, which housed the Jones Dog & Cat Hospital as part of the project. They cited its importance as one of the city’s few examples of Streamline Moderne commercial architecture. The building was demolished in 2018.
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