The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills hotel, in photo above, was part of an original proposal for a larger development. The hotel was completed last year, but a condo tower, the Waldorf Astoria Residences, is still be debated. (Inset: Beny Alagem)
The Waldorf Astoria Residences, a controversial condo development slated for Beverly Hills, is now a decade in the making. The project still hasn’t broken ground.
The owner, Beny Alagem, just submitted a revised proposal for the condo, which he cut to 23 stories, from the previous 26 stories. It would rise at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, next to his nearby Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills and The Beverly Hilton hotels.
Alagem will go through the Beverly Hills approval process for the new proposal, a process he skipped in 2016 in favor of a ballot initiative. He was trying to amend a version of the development the city had approved in 2008, according to the Beverly Hills Courier.
In that 2016 attempt, Alagem essentially wanted to combine the 110 condo units the city approved for an eight- and 18-story structure, into a single 26-story project. His plan would allow for a 1.7-acre garden on site.
Voters rejected the 26-story tower, which would be the tallest in the neighborhood. A representative for the development team told the Courier the majority of the opposition was over the process, not the actual height of the tower, which some opponents have also opposed.
The new proposal includes 5.39 acres of open space and a public garden. There will be 30 more units than originally proposed, but they will be smaller, so the overall square footage of the project has not changed.
The units will be marketed to locals who want to downsize. The original 2008 project approval also allowed for the construction of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, which opened in 2017. [Beverly Hills Courier] — Dennis Lynch
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