A low-slung retail corner on Venice Boulevard in Palms could soon give way to seven stories of mostly income-restricted housing.
A developer has filed plans to replace the commercial site at 9700 W. Venice Blvd. with a new affordable building that would stack roughly 115 one-bedroom apartments above a sliver of ground-floor retail space and a very small parking area. Nearly all of the units are slated to be deed-restricted for low- and moderate-income renters, and the application is now in the hands of city planners for staff review.
What the city file shows
The Los Angeles Department of City Planning’s online case entry, logged as EAR-2026-2052-AH-HCA, labels the proposal as a “100% affordable” seven-story project with 116 one-bedroom units and notes that the applicant is seeking incentives under the city’s Affordable Housing Incentive Program, according to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. The case file shows the application was submitted on April 20 and formally assigned on April 27, listing RD 9700 Venice LLC as the applicant and Jack Bian of Open Office as the project representative.
Design and developer details
Local reporting from Urbanize LA ties the filing to an entity affiliated with DCM Rentals and cites slightly different project numbers. Urbanize reports plans for 115 one-bedroom apartments, with parking for nine vehicles and just 505 square feet of ground-floor retail. Aside from a required on-site manager’s unit, the homes would be reserved for low- and moderate-income households, which positions the development to tap into citywide affordable housing incentives.
Part of a bigger wave on Venice Boulevard
The 9700 W. Venice proposal is part of a broader building surge along the Culver City–Palms stretch of Venice Boulevard. A larger application from Wiseman Residential would replace the retail at 9000–9020 Venice Boulevard with a seven-story complex featuring about 490 apartments and more than 15,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, reporting from 490 new apartments shows. That bigger project and others nearby have already drawn neighborhood pushback over parking, traffic and the height and bulk of the new buildings.
Next steps
The city’s case entry indicates that the 9700 Venice filing will move through an expanded administrative review and intake process before staff schedules any public outreach or formal hearing. Residents who want to track the proposal can monitor updates, review submitted documents and see staff assignments via the Department of City Planning case portal. If the requested incentives are approved, the developer would use the citywide housing program to build beyond base zoning limits while meeting the project’s affordability commitments.
