Rendering of townhouses facing Rowena Avenue
The Miami developer that recently acquired a planned 64-unit Silver Lake condo project has proposed shrinking the Rowena Avenue development down to 45 units, creating larger homes that might be more appealing to families interested in living near highly-rated Ivanhoe Elementary. “These units will be attractive to families because of the school,” said Justin Barth with the 15 Group, which acquired the site of the former Coffee Table cafe and adjacent buildings this summer.
Barth appeared before the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council’s urban design committee meeting on Wednesday night to win support for the reduction in density, which must ultimately be approved the city’s Planning Department. 15 Group can afford to eliminate nearly 20 units because it purchased the land at a lower cost than the previous owner, Piedmont Investment. In addition, officials noted that the scaled-down project does away with a costly, parking deck and creates three-story townhouses with attached garages, which are considered more attractive to buyers.
The members of the planning committee voted overwhelming to support the reduction in density but wants 15 Group to include a commercial space for a cafe or other commercial business.
If 15 Group pursues its current proposal, the size of the condos would average condo about 1,450-square-feet versus about 950 square feet under the plan now in place. The firm, which is also involved in a proposed 4,500-unit project in Boyle Heights and a smaller bungalow development in Echo Park, said the price of the Silver Lake homes would range from $500,000 to $600,000.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
See what I mean… Go back to Miami.
man I miss the coffee table
I miss Coffee Table, too. What a unique place that was. Ah well, progress…
Wow.
Coffee Table was so “unique”?
Since when is overpriced coffee and tasteless muffins unique in this neck of the woods? Was it because of it’s perfect placement in the neighborhood so locals could get their cup of morning joe? I mean, besides the OTHER coffee shop 30 feet away or the OTHER coffee shop around the corner and down the block?
Typical hipster sheep mentality. It’s gone, so we’ll lament it.
Forget about the fact that it genuinely sucked and keep putting that revisionist history spin on it.
Besides, it only went away to make room for more of your hipster sheep bretheren to move in to the neighborhood. Trust this, they’ll be lamenting the loss of whatever that other coffee shops name is when it gets knocked down to put up more condos for more hipster lemmings to move in to in a few years.
But poor, poor Coffee Table.
Puh-leeze. Go to 7-11 and get an actual cup of coffee.
No one w $$$ wants to live across the street from a noisy school and on a busy street to boot — duh! We want Coffee Table back or a cool, neighborhood eatery like it!
P.S. The muffins at the CT were good! The place had been going a bit down hill, admittedly, but still a great spot for an eatery.
Wow, so snotty!
The one in Eagle Rock is still there. Love the breakfast burrito from hell.
DJ Bento Box is a useless troll. CT was a nice place with big tables that was great for meeting someone or for getting some work done. DJBB does not seem to understand/tolerate they type of people that have been in his neighborhood for decades. Please say something useful or go away.
so they are using the school to sell the property. I wonder if they know the school is at its max as far as student numbers goes?
Hey Mr. DJ Bento Box (a suspiciously hipster-sounding moniker, don’t you think?) – why are you so angry and bitter? Did a hipster kill your dog or something? What IS a “hipster,” anyway? Being a middle-aged woman who doesn’t live in Silverlake (though I used to), I hardly have a personal stake in defending either hipsters or the Coffee Table. I do have to say I’ve had many a really nice meal at the Coffee Table, but this anger at “hipsters” bewilders me. Why search so hard for division? I think hipsters are just young people doing what they think is cool, which young people have done forever and always will. Eventually they grow up and diversify, nothing wrong with that. Calm down. Honestly.
@Sara: there was a previous thread where it was determined that DJ Bento Box is actually a failed hipster who was excluded from the subcultures he attempted to join. It’s really a sad story overall, so we just let him vent here (while secretly pitying him).
I had heard the place was being replaced by “affordable housing”. If they’ve decided to up the unit size and try to take advantage of a high-rated school across the street, then it sounds like they’re actually going for “expensive housing”.
I attended the meeting mentioned. There’s a lot less lot coverage, but the empty space mostly consists of driveways. A lot of people want commercial space along the Rowena frontage, but that apparently won’t happen with this proposal unless the City agrees to a “road diet” (reducing the street to one lane in each direction with angled parking). A few of the neighbors said the 15 Group had not been very open when they inquired about the project. And another neighbor suggested that a few units that would be affordable for staff at Ivanhoe would be a big plus — apparently not possible. So they’re coming back in December.
+1 for the road diet… hopefully since it’s by an elementary school LADOT will listen to the neighborhood council’s suggestion and improve Rowena for the neighborhood.
If you want coffee go to
http://www.yelp.com/biz/silverlake-coffee-co-los-angeles