The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge developer Midwood Investment & Development has plans for the Studio City area that go beyond retail: a 520-unit apartment project in place of the 190-key Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel on Ventura Boulevard, What Now Los Angeles has confirmed with the company.
First reported by the Los Angeles Times, Midwood has filed plans with the city of Los Angeles for a Marmol Radziner-designed project named The Residences at Sportsmen’s Lodge. Of its 520 studio- through two-bedroom apartments, 78 would be set at below market rate.
Along with the Shops retail development, which is expected to open next month, the new residential project would usher in a new era for the Studio City property. The hotel opened in 1962 alongside the former site of the complex’s banquet center, which itself is being replaced by the Shops development.
“Midwood has been a neighbor in this community since my grandfather invested in the Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel in 1961,” Midwood Chief Executive Officer John Usdan said in a statement. “We understand the historical importance of the Sportsmen’s Lodge site and are committed to improving and enhancing the property in this spirit. We know that it will it continue to be a gathering place for the community when completed.”
The hotel has been closed to visitors since the start of the pandemic but in use for Project Roomkey, a statewide program providing safe isolation spaces for people experiencing homelessness.
“The Sportsmen’s Lodge property is an iconic site with great potential,” Marmol Radziner Managing Partner Leo Marmol said in a statement.
“The hotel has undergone numerous renovations over the decades. With The Shops on the old banquet center site, the hotel was underutilized when compared to other newer hotels in the area. Using an architectural language rooted in the Mid-Century Modern history of Los Angeles, our design would present a vibrant new destination in which locals can dine, shop, and live, without having to leave the Valley.”
The mix of apartments offered in The Residences at Sportsmen’s Lodge would target young professionals and families, according to Midwood. The new development would also include 37,000 square feet of retail space in addition to the over 90,000-square-foot retail-specific development next door.
The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge will feature a list of tenants including high-end grocery store Erewhon Market, fitness center Equinox, sushi restaurant SUGARFISH, clothing retailer Free People Movement, and interior plantscape and home decor retailer Rolling Greens, among more than a dozen others.
Midwood’s newest plans for the Sportsmen’s Lodge property also involve a pedestrian path stretching north from Ventura Boulevard to a new community plaza at the Los Angeles River, it said this month.
“The addition of The Residences would offer a true live-work experience, enhance the transportation infrastructure in the area, and activate Ventura Boulevard and the Los Angeles River,” Midwood Senior Vice President of Development Ben Besley said in a statement. “I will be meeting with residents and stakeholders in and around Studio City to communicate our vision for the property and make sure our neighbors know that we are listening and considering their feedback for this important project.”
