Beverly Connection Will Try to do Better, Bigger

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We're about to find out if the Beverly Connection can be sexified. The City Council's Planning and Land Use Committee approved a revised plan for an expansion of the complex on Tuesday. Owner Vornado Realty Trust's original 2005 plan involved two residential high-rises and was torpedoed by neighborhood activists last year, but this new plan calls only for commercial space, including permits for a grocery store, restaurants (several liquor licenses were also approved), and a health/fitness studio (there are rumors it's a yoga studio). The mall's renovation and reconfiguration will net it about 13,000 square feet and requires structures top out at 45 feet. The Burton Way Foundation opposed the earlier proposal because of traffic concerns, but are supporting the latest despite the City Council waiving street-widening requirements on La Cienega, Beverly, and Third. There is some parking appeasement--the redone space will have 1,448 parking spaces, and, as promised, a 100-space valet parking system for Third Street patrons. Vornado hopes to have it all done by the end of 2010.—Adrian Glick Kudler
· NIMBY victory: Beverly Connection Plan Downsized [Curbed LA]
· Sweat—Yoga (and More) to the Beverly Connection? [Blackburn and Sweetzer]