Beverly Hills to Weigh Resi Highrises From Aflalo Equities

The City of Beverly Hills will consider greenlighting two builder’s remedy projects from a local family-owned property management and development firm.

Aflalo Equities’ proposal for two eight-story residential buildings will go before the city planning commission next week. Plans call for a 135-unit building at 353 South Beverly Drive, and a 105-unit building at 9467 Olympic Boulevard, to replace a Pavilions grocery store. 

The projects were filed under the builder’s remedy, a loophole in state housing law that lets developers skirt zoning rules in cities that fail to certify their state housing plans, as long as they include at least 20 percent affordable housing.

The development could also skirt environmental rules.

The planning commission will also consider finding the project exempt from further review under California Environmental Quality Act, aka CEQA, enacted in 1970 to balance environmental protection and development though developers often find it slows or stops development.

Sammy Aflalo of Aflalo Equities is helming the two Beverly Hills projects. Aflalo is the son of Moshe and Laura Aflalo, whose Aflalo Family Trust grew a portfolio of stores in L.A.’s Garment District in the 1990s. The sites are co-owned with Harkham Family Enterprises, run by Uri Harkham.

Architectural plans from Los Angeles-based Ottinger Architects for 333-353 South Beverly call for an 85-foot building with 135 units. The project would span 202,570 square feet with homes ranging from one- to three-bedrooms. Twenty-seven of them would be earmarked for low-income households. The communal roofdeck will include a pool and spa, fire pit as well as outdoor cooking and sitting areas.

The Olympic Boulevard building would span 282,620 square feet, per Ottinger Architects plans, with one- to three-bedrooms and a roof deck and gym. Twenty-one units would be set aside for low-income tenants. 

Next week’s Planning Commission’s public hearing will be the first time the commission is considering the projects, according to Michael Forbes, director of community development for the city. The commission will then deliberate on the project and vote to approve or deny the project, likely at the same meeting, he said.

Separately, Aflalo Equities, in a joint venture with Fisch Property, the property management arm of the family business, is planning two 10-story buildings — one at 9430 Olympic Boulevard and the other at 9441 West Olympic Boulevard, with 45 units and 63 units, respectively. The former would replace a three-story office building, while the latter would replace a two-story office building, per the preliminary applications. 

In addition, at 8822-8826 West Olympic Boulevard, Aflalo Equities plans to replace a single-story commercial building with a nine-story 30-unit building.

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