A new 12-story apartment building could be coming to Westwood.

Landmark Properties, the creators of The Mark, proposed an 84-unit apartment building in Westwood, dubbed “The Metropolitan,” on Oct. 25. The complex, which will be built at 504 Glenrock and 505 Landfair Avenues, will feature residential amenities including a pool, fitness area, recreation rooms and landscaped outdoor areas, according to a Landmark press release.

Landmark revised their original proposal for the structure from October 2023, adding an additional five stories to their original plan to employ city density incentives from Assembly Bill 2334 and AB 1287. These laws allow the company to construct a larger building than normally permitted in exchange for the inclusion of 12 affordable units for “low and very low-income households,” in the plan, according to a Landmark press release.

Shane Phillips, the housing initiative manager for the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, said the incentive adds up to an 85% increase in unit density, which is common amid recent developments in the city.

“To not use the density bonus would pretty much guarantee that you would lose money, and it would just be a very inefficient way of building,” he said. “It’s intended to be used.”

Phillips said he estimates that a household making around $40,000 or less per year could expect to pay around $1,200 a month for a single-bedroom apartment in the complex. An unsubsidized one-bedroom unit in the complex could cost around $2,500 to $3,000 a month, he said.

The Metropolitan’s projected 16-space parking lot also uses a caveat in local zoning rules, said Jacob Wasserman, secretary of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council.

Because the city wants more subsidized housing, Landmark does not need to invest in as large a parking lot as city law would normally require, Wasserman said, allowing for the company to instead spend on building more units. This arrangement makes sense for most North Westwood residents, as only 24.5% of people drive alone and 28.9% carpool, Wasserman said, quoting the district’s latest commute census data.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t have a vehicle and they’re looking for somewhere to live, and oftentimes they might get a place that has a parking space, but that goes to waste because they don’t have a car,” he said. “I really appreciate this development because it’s offering an option. It’s saying if you want to live somewhere new and nice and for that reason potentially expensive, it won’t be more expensive because you won’t be paying for a parking space you don’t need.”

However, limited parking and the potential construction, which will take upwards of two years according to Landmark Properties, has created apprehension among some residents living near the complex’s location.

The complex is set to replace a pair of two-story apartments built in 1948. Olivia Pilson, a third-year mechanical engineering student, said she lives on a nearby street and walks past the current units daily.

“Whenever they tear down old architecture in Westwood it feels like a piece of the heart of Westwood is falling with it,” she said. “We don’t want new architecture. We want something that resonates with the people who inhabit it.”

There are very few tenants in the current buildings, but some have lived there for several years, Wasserman said. When people moved out, the apartments were not refilled, so they have gradually emptied with one of the lots already vacant, he added.

“The LA Housing Department will coordinate with the existing tenants to determine if they are eligible to return to a comparable affordable unit within the new project when it is built, in accordance with state law (SB 8),” Landmark media representative Brian Lewis said in an emailed statement.

Tenants will also be given assistance to relocate into new accommodations at least six months before the buildings are set to be fully vacated, he added in the statement.

If built, the complex will occupy a space located near multiple existing large housing developments such as three university co-ops and fraternity houses. One such property is Alpha Gamma Omega, UCLA’s Christ-centered fraternity, which houses 20 residents directly southeast of the Landmark’s lot.

“Constant construction … might make it more difficult and uncomfortable for the guys to live in the house,” said Daniel Nava, the president of AGO. “More housing is a good thing, but it comes at a cost. It’s unfortunate that we have to be the ones who front the costs in a way by dealing with the noise and all the things occupying the street.”

Nava, a fourth-year anthropology and psychology student who resides in the AGO fraternity house, said he is also wary of the potential traffic congestion that could come from construction and new residents.

Pilson said she also has concerns about potential road and sidewalk damage amid the development’s construction, an issue she has noted with current construction on Glenrock Avenue. Pilson added that she has personally been affected by the impaired roads from construction, saying she believes they damage the suspension on the cars that drive through.

However, Lewis said in the statement that Landmark will develop a construction mitigation plan to lessen impacts on their neighbors by working alongside a contractor to employ noise and dust reduction measures.

The future of the structure is still uncertain. While the building’s proposal already passed with a 4-2 vote within the planning and land use committee of the NWWNC, the full board will vote on the proposal in February 2025, Wasserman said.

Though its proposal has spurred debate, Wasserman said that if passed, the project would bring more good than harm to Westwood, potentially decreasing pressure on rents.

“I think it’s a sign that the development community is taking student needs seriously. The floor plans have a lot of multiple bedroom units for roommates, and a lot without parking spaces,” Wasserman said. “I see this building as emblematic. There are others in the pipeline as well of hopefully a change coming to development in the area.”

Patrick Conlon, a student at Santa Monica City College and a resident of the University Cooperative Housing Association located directly across the proposed structure, said he also believes the new complex is a step in the right direction for housing.

“We just need housing. People will be mad about the skyline, but housing is such an issue in this county,” he said. “There are 75,000 homeless people (in Los Angeles County). It’s never going to be solved unless we build.”