The Los Angeles City Planning Commission has signed off on a proposal from a local real estate investment firm to build a new apartment complex in Sherman Oaks

The project, slated to replace a commercial building and parking lot at 15027-15033 W. Ventura Boulevard, calls for the construction of a six-story edifice containing 33 one- and two-bedroom apartments - including four very low-income affordable units - above 2,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space and semi-subterranean parking for 49 vehicles.

Kalban Architects is designing the proposed apartment complex, which would used stepped terrace decks to reduce the property's height facing Ventura Boulevard - a requirement of the Ventura Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan.  Plans call for an exterior of stone, cement plaster, and metal.

The project is being developed by Los Angeles-based Chandler Partners, which has built similar multifamily housing projects in Burbank and Glendale.

The development site is located just over three blocks east of the intersection of Ventura and Sepulveda Boulevards, where Metro could build a new elevated heavy rail station as part of the $13.8-billion Sepulveda Pass transit project.