Developer Leo Lee is taking another swing at 3800 W. 6th St. in Koreatown, filing plans for an eight-story mixed-use building with 219 market-rate apartments. The latest proposal calls for roughly 8,748 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a two-level basement garage with about 173 parking stalls. It marks the newest redesign for a property that once had a high-rise hotel and condominium tower in its sights.
As detailed by Urbanize LA, the application, posted this month, outlines a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units, along with a podium-level amenity deck at the rear of the property and roughly 8,748 square feet of ground-floor retail. Project documents name EWAI as the designer and indicate the developer is seeking density-bonus incentives to hit the proposed scale. The filing also describes a two-level, 173-car basement parking garage beneath the building.
Project history and earlier approvals
The site has been through the wringer before. The Los Angeles Department of City Planning circulated an environmental review in 2018 for a previously proposed 21-story, 240-foot mixed-use tower that would have included 122 condominium units, 192 hotel rooms, and roughly 14,495 square feet of retail. That review and related case materials remain in the project record, underscoring how plans for the parcel have been retooled multiple times over the last several years.
Affordable housing tie‑in
The new filing would rely on density-bonus incentives that require a developer to provide or help fund affordable housing. According to LA YIMBY, those obligations would be satisfied by an adjacent seven-story, 80-unit senior affordable housing project on Hobart Boulevard. The Hobart building is nearing completion and lists Leo Lee as the developer and EWAI as the designer. Using a nearby affordable project to qualify for density incentives is a familiar strategy on transit-served parcels across the city.
Where this fits in Koreatown's building boom
The latest submission is one more twist for the parcel. Local reporting flagged an eight-story, 301-unit plan for the site in 2021, and earlier city records show the larger condo-hotel concept that received initial approvals in 2018. WhatNow reflects those prior pivots, while Urbanize LA notes that Jamison Services recently completed a similar mixed-use complex one block away. The move toward mid-rise rental housing combined with Transit-Oriented Communities and state density-bonus incentives helps explain why developers are favoring rental schemes over condo-hotel builds.
Next steps
The application is now on file with the Department of City Planning and will proceed under the city's density-bonus and Transit-Oriented Communities procedures, which require coordination with LAHD and other agencies before incentives are granted. City Planning describes the ministerial and discretionary pathways applicants may follow. No public hearing date was listed in the filing, though neighbors and the Wilshire/Koreatown planning body are expected to get a chance to weigh in as the entitlement moves forward.
