A Sunset Strip development has been granted more time to be completed. (rendering courtesy of Plus Development)

The West Hollywood City Council moved forward on Oct. 7 with a long-delayed development project at 8920 Sunset Blvd., which has already received two agreement extensions in a saga dating back to 2018. The six-year extension granted by the City Council was less than the eight-year timeframe requested by 8920 Sunset LLC, the organization that purchased the property in 2015. The project is managed by Plus Development, which lists many high-end developments throughout Los Angeles County on its website.

The nine-story mixed-use project, which includes offices, a membership-only club, a garden space, restaurant and 279 parking spaces, would replace the building that once housed a large Hustler store. A focal point of the development is an art gallery and performance space. The private club is meant to be an artistic community called the "London Arts Club."

"The project was approved by the council prior to the pandemic," Councilman John Heilman said. "Some developments were not able to proceed due to high interest rates and the general disruption caused by the pandemic. The council gave an extension to the project to give the property owner an opportunity to move forward, but the extension also has penalty payments built in if they don't begin construction. Through our deliberations, we came up with a reasonable compromise."

The penalty payments would allow the city to benefit financially even if the developer stalled again in a construction of the property. Other details of the project, including a potential community garden and a mural, were discussed, although final directions on those aspects will be negotiated at a later date.

Councilwoman Lauren Meister said that the four-year timeframe on groundbreaking was a "reasonable deadline" so that residents would "see something built as soon as possible."

"Speaking for myself, I do not want an inactive space for the next seven or eight years, on top of the last five years, just to have the developer come back and say they can't do the project," Meister added. "I also would have preferred that the cash portion of the development agreement negotiated in 2018 reflect today's numbers."

Part of the agreement with the developer included cash benefits for the city, particularly $1 million set aside directly for city improvements, which she said should be increased because of inflation.

"Let's face it, $1 million in 2018 is worth [less] today. That said, let's see if there's movement in the approved timeline and if there's not, perhaps we should let the entitlements expire," she said.

"We made it stricter. We made it tighter," Mayor John Erickson said of the new agreement. "Shovels in the ground by year four. If that's not happening, then we have a larger conversation. But what we are seeing here, through this development agreement and through the project itself, is a developer who wants to get the project built."

Erickson added that penalties added to the agreement give a roadmap to "safeguards" on other languishing development projects within the city.

The project has garnered support from local institutions including Friends of West Hollywood Elementary, the Norma Triangle Neighborhood Watch and the West Hollywood Heights Neighborhood Association. For information, visit plusdevelopmentgroup.com/project/london-arts-club.