Harridge Development has swatted away the latest lawsuit against its Crossroads of the World megaproject in Hollywood.
A judge has tossed the lawsuit from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which sought to overturn the city-approved residential towers development from beginning work on Sunset Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The suit contended that the $1 billion project — which will feature 950 apartments and condos, a hotel, and 190,000 square feet of space — would violate local housing laws. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation said Harridge’s development would lead to higher rents across the neighborhood and displace longtime tenants, many of them black and Latino.
But L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert Draper sided with the city and Harridge, which has said there will be a net increase of 2,096 housing units from the project, including 180 units for low- or very low-income families.
Draper criticized AHF — whose executive director is Michael Weinstein — for filing multiple housing-related lawsuits against the city.
“California courts have made final decisions in two previous cases, both involving AHF and the city, both not in AHF’s favor,” the judge wrote, according to the Times. “AHF is attempting to circumvent these previous decisions by repeatedly filing similar cases based on different legal theories.”
Some of AHF’s separate cases include developments close to the nonprofit’s Hollywood headquarters. One lawsuit seeks to prevent GPI Companies from building a 26-story residential tower at the site of Amoeba Records on Sunset Boulevard. Another case opposes CIM Group’s 299-unit Sunset Gordon tower project, on Gordon Street by Sunset Boulevard.
Both projects, AHF contends, would accelerate Hollywood gentrification, leading to the displacement of longtime residents. AHF’s most recent court complaint, alleges the city should have set aside money under the Measure HHH bond act toward its construction of a housing project on Skid Row. AHF is also still seeking to get a statewide rent control referendum on next year’s ballot. [LAT] — Matthew Blake
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