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On August 31, the Trader Joe's at West Hollywood's Movietown Plaza will close to make way for a new development project. Though many may rejoice that the eyesore of a strip mall will be turned into something more glossy, fans of Trader Joe's in the area might not be so stoked. The parking lot was pretty much the only manageable TJ's in the area.
Developer Avalon Bay, which plans to build 370 residential units and 26,000 square feet of retail, tells us they hope to demolish the shopping center in the fourth quarter of this year and start work in early 2014. Avalon brought the project from Casden Properties last year, shrinking what was once a 10-story project down to one that's five- and six-stories in the front and seven in the back.
It seems that the everyone has come to an agreement about the mixed-use space, which was quite controversial.
Says WeHo News of the development project:
All the units will be rental instead of condos. In addition, the back part of the building, which the city council allowed the politically- and philanthropically -connected Casden to build ten-story fronts on the LA side of the building facing away from Santa Monica Boulevard, will only rise to seven-stories tall. The units will be smaller to accommodate the change in cubic footage.
The only issue that remains to be solved is where locals will find their Coco Jo's for the holiday season—and get out of the parking lot unscathed. Godspeed.
