The short version
A new plan for 5600 Hollywood Boulevard, a long-stalled lot a short walk from Metro's Hollywood/Western Station, calls for two seven-story buildings with 168 apartments made from factory-built modules. Twenty of the units would rent as affordable housing in exchange for extra building capacity under the City of Los Angeles' Citywide Housing Incentive Program. The design, from the Los Angeles firm SPF:architects, was first reported by LA YIMBY early on Oct. 26 and covered by Urbanize LA the same morning.
The architects say the modular approach could cut construction costs by close to half and shorten the schedule by about six months. Those are the designers' own estimates, and Hoodline noted that they have not been independently verified. No construction start date has been announced, and none of the reports names a developer or cites a new city case number.
The backstory: a decade of plans for one corner
The site covers about 0.85 acres on the west side of St. Andrews Place, between Hollywood Boulevard and Carlton Way. A 2021 city environmental filing for the project puts it about 700 feet from Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue, where the Metro B Line (formerly the Red Line) subway stops.
Attempts to build here go back to 2014, when an earlier owner proposed a hotel. The Central Area Planning Commission, a regional city planning board, turned it down, according to Urbanize LA. The land then passed to Bow West Capital, an LA developer. In September 2021, the City Planning Commission approved its 17-story tower with 200 apartments, 40 of them for very low-income households. It relied on a density bonus plus a conditional use permit to build more than twice the housing local zoning allowed.
That plan ran into a court ruling. In April 2022, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled in a case brought by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation that conditional use permits granting extra density are not allowed under the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan, Urbanize LA reported at the time. Bow West shrank the project to 14 stories and 150 units, with 15 affordable apartments, using the density bonus alone. A neighbor appealed, arguing the tower did not fit local zoning. The City Council denied the appeal on Dec. 9, 2022, as recorded in Council File 21-0383-S1. Nearly four years later, nothing has been built.
What the new plan proposes
According to SPF:architects' project page, the design puts 168 homes on a 37,000-square-foot parcel using the city's Mixed Income Incentive Program. LA YIMBY puts the total floor area at about 231,700 square feet, split between two long seven-story buildings that run deep into the lot instead of a single tower. Renderings show dark gray walls with bright yellow accents, recessed balconies and planted roof areas.
Here is how the three versions compare:
- 2021 plan: 17 stories, 200 units, 40 affordable (20%)
- 2022 approval: 14 stories, 150 units, 15 affordable (10%)
- 2026 proposal: 7 stories, 168 units, 20 affordable (about 12%)
The new plan has 18 more homes than the approved tower at half the height and five more affordable units. It has half as many affordable units as the 2021 version.
How modular construction works
In modular construction, apartments are built as box-shaped sections in a factory, trucked to the site and stacked. Foundations and utilities go in on site while the modules are being made, so the two jobs run at the same time instead of one after the other. SPF says it designed every structural and interior system to repeat, which is where it expects most of the savings.
Los Angeles has a track record to compare against. The nonprofit lender Corporation for Supportive Housing financed 12 modular developments in LA County starting in 2020, and the eight finished so far delivered 468 affordable and supportive homes, according to CSH's five-year review. Several cut construction to about 16 months, compared with a typical 18 to 24 months. Those were mostly subsidized projects, though, and total development costs on CSH's two highlighted buildings still ran about $614,000 and $723,000 per unit.
The incentive program behind the 20 affordable units
The Citywide Housing Incentive Program, or CHIP, is the City of Los Angeles' main set of density bonus rules. A density bonus lets a builder put more homes, and often more height or less parking, on a lot than zoning normally allows, in exchange for setting aside some units at below-market rents. The city adopted CHIP in early February 2025, and it took effect Feb. 11, 2025 as part of the city's plan to zone for its state housing target. It applies only inside the City of Los Angeles, not in neighboring cities like West Hollywood or Beverly Hills.
CHIP has three tracks, according to LA City Planning: the State Density Bonus Program, which applies California's density bonus law; the Affordable Housing Incentive Program, for projects that are 80% to 100% affordable; and the Mixed Income Incentive Program, or MIIP, which SPF says this project would use. MIIP's transit section, called Transit Oriented Incentive Areas, codified and updated the city's earlier Transit Oriented Communities guidelines. City Planning's CHIP fact sheet says density bonuses in those areas start at 100% and rise by tier, with larger bonuses in neighborhoods the state ranks as higher opportunity areas. Affordable units built through CHIP carry 99-year rent restrictions under the companion Resident Protections Ordinance.
The program also shapes the timeline. Projects that use only the standard incentives can be approved ministerially, meaning city staff check plans against fixed rules without a discretionary hearing. A MIIP project asking to waive more than one rule goes to the City Planning Commission. In CHIP's first year, more than 90% of applications qualified for ministerial processes, and the program drew proposals for 28,526 homes, City Planning's one-year report found. MIIP accounted for 20% of CHIP projects.
Open questions and skeptics
No organized opposition to the new design has been reported yet. The 2022 appeal argued the 14-story tower clashed with surrounding zoning. A seven-story design answers part of that, though it would still stand taller than many of its neighbors.
The bigger question is execution. CSH's review lists real risks. Modular factories often struggle without a steady pipeline of orders, and one CSH-backed project had to switch manufacturers midstream when a major California builder restructured. The lender also found that misalignment between designers, factories and contractors was a leading cause of delays. The 50% savings figure comes from the architect's own project page, not from contractor bids.
What happens next
No filing date, hearing or construction start has been announced. If the project uses only standard MIIP incentives, it could move through ministerial review. If it asks for more than one waiver, it would need a City Planning Commission decision, per City Planning's CHIP procedures. After approval, it still needs building permits and a factory production slot before any modules ship.
What it means for LA agents
- Hollywood/Western supply keeps growing. The project would join other apartment buildings near the station, including two from Wood Partners that Urbanize LA noted in 2022. Landlords pricing older units nearby should expect more new-construction competition in a few years, not this year.
- Check transit incentives before pricing land. Lots near major transit stops inside the City of LA may qualify for MIIP bonuses that start at 100% more homes. Sellers of infill lots or older small buildings near Metro stations should confirm their incentive tier with City Planning before setting a price.
- An entitlement is not a building. This site held an approved 150-unit tower and still went back to the drawing board. When marketing "entitled" land, show buyers what is approved, what is pending and what a redesign would require.
- Treat modular savings as a claim. Buyers weighing a modular project or land deal should ask for contractor bids and the manufacturer's backlog, the two risks CSH flagged.
- Watch for the case number. Once plans are filed, city records will show which incentives are requested and whether a hearing is required. Nearby owners will ask, and you can answer first.