WEST HOLLYWOOD—Developer Jason Illoulian’s Robertson Lane hotel and retail project in West Hollywood received favorable reviews from residents and the design review subcommittee of the city’s Planning Commission at a meeting on Thursday, June 22.

The project is located between parallel streets Robertson Boulevard and La Peer Drive, just south of Santa Monica Boulevard. Plans include a 35-foot walkway, called a “paseo,” which will connect La Peer to Robertson Boulevard. Two towers will include 242 hotel rooms, a rooftop restaurant, a pool, and a helicopter-landing pad. The ground floor of the complex will include retail shops and restaurants, an underground club, a subterranean parking garage, and a 9,000-square-foot event space.

The space is currently occupied by West Hollywood’s historic “The Factory,” a structure built in 1929 for the Mitchell Camera Corporation, which helped transition silent films to those with sound. The building is also famous for being the site of the nightclub Studio One, which opened in 1974 and became associated with the gay rights movement. One of the first major AIDS fundraisers in the country was hosted there.

The project is being developed by Faring and designed by Culver City-based company Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture, according to reports. Plans include dismantling and reconstructing The Factory building along Robertson with a restored exterior, according to the Design Review Committee meeting agenda. Until 2015, the structure was in danger of demolition and was among the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “most endangered list,” Curbed LA reported. Residents and historic preservation groups rallied to save the building. In July 2016, Faring announced plans to incorporate The Factory into the project.

West Hollywood’s Historic Preservation Commission will review the Robertson Lane project’s Environmental Impact Report in August. The Planning Commission may choose to make a recommendation to the City Council, after which the project will be considered at a future City Council meeting, according to information provided by Joshua Schare, Public Information Officer for West Hollywood.