Despite Approval From the Los Angeles City Council in 2021 and 2022, the Project Has Faced a Series of Lawsuits and Delays Thanks to Staunch Opposition
By Zach Armstrong
The long-delayed and obstructed Venice Dell Community housing project is one step closer to reality.
At its December 11 meeting, after about two hours of public comment, the California Coastal Commission approved a local coastal development permit for the project, sending the controversial proposal (often dubbed by opponents as the “monster on the median”) back to the City of Los Angeles for final approval.
The move comes a year after the commission paused its decision to grant the project its necessary permit after LA city officials told staff they wouldn’t take responsibility for operating the replacement parking garage.
The Venice Dell project, co-developed by Venice Community Housing and Hollywood Community Housing, seeks to transform a 2.65-acre city-owned parking lot near the Venice Canals into a mixed-use affordable housing complex. The plan includes 117 residential units, with 68 reserved for supportive housing for homeless individuals and the rest designated as low-income housing.
Introduced in 2017 with designs by famed architect Eric Owen Moss, a redesign by Brooks+Scarpa eliminated commercial spaces, adjusted parking configurations, and reduced the number of units to address community concerns and comply with regulatory requirements.
Despite approval from the Los Angeles City Council in 2021 and 2022, the project has faced a series of lawsuits and delays thanks to staunch opposition, with some local groups and officials raising concerns about parking availability, neighborhood impacts, lack of an environmental review as the site could be vulnerable to flooding, and the city’s oversight of the development.
Earlier this year, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected a legal effort to halt the project from The Coalition for Safe Coastal Development, a 501(c)(4) which described the conceived complex as something “recklessly rushed through the City approval process by a Councilman subsequently pushed out of office”.
In a letter earlier this month to the Board of Transportation Commissioners, LA Department of Transportation General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo cited concerns about the project’s design, warning it would reduce accessibility to the beach, impact parking revenues, and inconvenience the community. LADOT proposed alternatives, such as keeping the existing parking lot or relocating the housing project to Lot No. 701 at 2150 Dell Ave.
