A vacant lot at 146 N. Berendo St. in Koreatown that once had ready-to-issue permits for a 15-unit apartment building is now being eyed for a much smaller townhome project, with plans calling for eight dwellings arranged around a common driveway. The 7,500-square-foot site sits about a block from Vermont Avenue and within walking distance of the Vermont/Beverly Metro Station.
The new proposal comes from an entity identified as 146 N. Berendo Street, LLC, according to Urbanize LA, which reports the project calls for eight single-family dwellings and that the Los Angeles Department of City Planning has received a recent application for the proposal. Architecture firm Archimorphic is designing the project, and its own project page describes something a bit different: nine subdivided boutique single-family residential lots rather than eight townhomes. The discrepancy between the two unit counts has not been resolved by either source.
Per Archimorphic, each planned residence would be a three-story structure with a garage and a private rooftop patio, built with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and an open living-dining area. Urbanize LA's reporting describes the proposed homes somewhat differently, as a mix of two- and three-bedroom units. The firm's page also states that the project is currently under review by the Planning Department at the City of Los Angeles.
A Smaller Plan Replaces a Four-Story Apartment Building
The Berendo Street parcel wasn't always headed toward townhomes. The site was previously slated for a four-story, 15-unit apartment complex, according to the Urbanize LA report, and property listing details reviewed by Trulia describe an approved set of plans with ready-to-issue permits for that same 15-unit building over a single-level subterranean garage. Trulia's listing also notes the parcel is zoned R3-1 and carries a Tier 3 Transit Oriented Communities designation, and that it last sold for $1,275,000 on May 26, 2025, classified at the time as unimproved land.
That shift from a mid-size apartment building to a cluster of townhome-style lots reflects a broader pattern in Los Angeles housing development right now. Streamlined state approval laws are increasingly steering smaller infill sites toward subdivided single-family or townhome products rather than traditional apartment buildings, and the Berendo Street site's reported use of Senate Bill 684 fits that pattern.
How State Streamlining Laws Factor Into the Project
The proposed project would utilize provisions of SB 684 and SB 1123, laws designed to speed approval of townhome-type developments, Urbanize LA reports. Archimorphic's project description likewise says the development is leveraging the streamlined approval process under Senate Bill 684. Under state law, SB 684 governs streamlined approval processes for development projects of 10 or fewer residential units on urban lots under five acres, according to California Legislative Information.
SB 1123 goes a step further for qualifying projects, requiring ministerial consideration of a parcel map or tentative and final map without discretionary review or a hearing, per California Legislative Information. Those requirements apply to projects of 10 or fewer residential units on multifamily-zoned sites no larger than five acres, with newly created parcels generally no smaller than 600 square feet, subject to specified exceptions. The Berendo Street proposal, whether it ultimately totals eight dwellings or nine subdivided lots, would fall under that same unit ceiling.
Part of a Wider Koreatown Pattern
The Berendo Street site isn't the only recent change along the Vermont corridor. A mixed-use apartment complex reportedly opened on Vermont Avenue at the former site of a car dealership, according to the Urbanize LA report, underscoring how much of the surrounding area has been in flux. Similar small-lot conversions have been surfacing elsewhere in the city as well, including a proposal in West Adams where a single-family home is poised to give way to small-lot homes, as reported by The Real Deal.
No application number, filing date, or approval timeline for the Berendo Street project has been made public, and the proposal remains under review rather than approved. For now, the lot that once had permits ready to issue for a 15-unit apartment building sits vacant, with its next chapter still being written at Los Angeles City Hall.
