Reseda Boulevard, long an auto-dominated corridor, has gradually come to the forefront of the push for walkable urbanity in the West San Fernando Valley.  The latest installment in this saga, a proposed residential-retail complex, would replace a brief stretch of automobile repair shops and drive-thru restaurants.

According to plans submitted to the city earlier this month, the proposed development at 6912 Reseda Boulevard calls for a six-story building, comprised of 170 residential units and 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.  The project would span across an approximately 1.5-acre site, occupying the majority of a city block between Basset and Hart Streets.

6912 Reseda is the second mixed-use development to emerge on Reseda Boulevard during the past year.  In September, renderings surfaced for the WaterMark, a 254-unit apartment complex from Metric Holdings Corporation and the Albert Group Architects.  The project, which was recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal, would feature landscaped terraces and open space along a potentially restored section of the Los Angeles River.

Metric Holdings may have started a trend in the West Valley.  A new case filing from the Department of City Planning indicates that another development is proposed northwest along the concrete-laden waterway.  The project at 18840 W. Sherman Way would consist of 49 apartments above slightly over 700 square feet of street-fronting commercial space.