Two single-family homes on N. Fairfax Avenue are giving way to a pair of four-story apartment buildings that will bring 52 income-restricted units to the border of Hollywood and West Hollywood, with not a single on-site parking space between them. The twin projects at 1332 and 1346 N. Fairfax Avenue are moving forward under state laws that override the underlying R1 single-family zoning, and construction renderings show contemporary stucco-clad structures rising where two houses once stood.
Each building will include 26 apartments serving low- and moderate-income residents, according to Urbanize LA. Los Angeles Department of City Planning environmental filings show each roughly 14,111-square-foot building is structured to hold 20 low-income units, five moderate-income units, and one manager unit, for a combined total of 50 income-restricted apartments and two manager units across both lots. The Los Angeles City Planning Commission signed off on the project's approvals, including density bonus incentives, in 2024.
How State Law Cleared the Way
The properties are zoned R1 for single-family use, but California Assembly Bill 1763 amended the State Density Bonus Law in 2019 to let qualifying 100% affordable developments near major transit claim up to an 80% density bonus, four development incentives, and added height of up to 33 feet or three stories, according to the Los Angeles City Planning Department. That state override is what allows density bonus incentives to permit larger structures than the R1 zoning would otherwise allow, per the same report from Urbanize LA.
The absence of parking has its own legal backstop. California Assembly Bill 2097, which took effect in January 2023, bars public agencies from enforcing minimum vehicle parking requirements on residential or commercial developments within a half-mile of a major transit stop, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. That statute provides the legal basis for building 52 units with zero on-site parking spaces.
Neighbors Pushed Back Over Parking and Privacy
The lack of parking did not go over well locally. In November 2023, the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council board voted 15-0 to oppose both the 1332 and 1346 N. Fairfax Avenue applications, citing the complete absence of on-site automobile parking, according to meeting minutes from the council. Neighborhood council votes function only as advisory recommendations to city decision-makers, but they signal the depth of local opposition.
Homeowners on North Orange Grove Avenue, whose properties abut the parcels along a single-family historic zone boundary to the east, submitted formal communications to the Los Angeles City Council in April 2024 opposing the projects over rear setback reductions, building height, and privacy impacts on their backyards, according to records filed with the City of Los Angeles City Clerk. Both parcels fall within Council District 13, represented by Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who has conditioned his support for area planning updates on expanded affordable housing and tenant protections since taking office in December 2022.
No Tenants Displaced, Developer Says Homes Sold at Full Price
Despite replacing two single-family homes, the projects did not displace any rent-stabilized tenants. Under California Senate Bill 8, the City of Los Angeles issued a Replacement Unit Determination letter for 1332 N. Fairfax confirming that zero existing single-family residential units required formal affordable unit replacement under rent stabilization mandates, according to a listing from Partners CRE. Property records show the 0.15-acre parcel at 1332 N. Fairfax sold for $1.5 million in December 2024, with the sale including Los Angeles City Planning entitlement approvals for the 26-unit affordable design already attached, per Realtor.com.
Los Angeles-based Taylor Equities is developing both buildings. Founded in 2015 as a family-run real estate investment firm, Taylor Equities specializes in acquiring and developing multi-family residential properties across Southern California, according to the company's own team page, and manages both market-rate and income-restricted housing. GA Engineering is involved in both buildings, per Urbanize LA's reporting.
Part of a Broader Building Wave Along Fairfax
The two buildings are hardly isolated additions. Immediately north of 1346 N. Fairfax, a small-lot subdivision completed in 2020 added eight homes, and a mixed-use project is now under construction just north of the site along Sunset Boulevard that will feature 62 apartments and retail space. One block south, a 53-unit apartment complex in West Hollywood was completed in 2021, and Urbanize LA notes the broader Fairfax Avenue corridor has seen a steady run of new housing construction in recent years.
The pressure behind that building wave is regional. Los Angeles County faces a deficit of more than 473,000 affordable homes, and households need an annual income of $110,000 to afford the county's average rent of $2,745 a month, according to metrics reported in July by the Beverly Press & Park Labrea News, citing Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority figures. Projects like the ones on N. Fairfax Avenue, built under state density and parking laws that bypass local single-family zoning, are one of the mechanisms driving that infill housing push in transit-adjacent corridors across the city.
