814 apartments, a June 11 City Planning Commission hearing, and a neighborhood fire-safety fight on Ventura Boulevard. Here is what homeowners and buyers need to know.
Along one half-mile of Ventura Boulevard, Studio City is being asked to absorb more new housing than it has seen in thirty years. The largest piece of that is Riverwalk at Studio City, a proposed 814-unit development beside the Los Angeles River. A city hearing officer approved the project's subdivision map with conditions in April 2026, and on June 11, 2026 the City Planning Commission hears the neighborhood's appeals of that decision.
The project would replace the current Pinz Bowling, Carney's, and the former Jerry's Famous Deli and Bed Bath and Beyond sites with a mixed-use complex on a block that has sat largely unchanged for a generation. A community campaign is now fighting it on fire-evacuation grounds. Debbie Pisaro has tracked every major Ventura Boulevard development for more than two decades, and the sections below lay out what is proposed, who is behind it, the safety concerns being raised, and what all of it could mean for Studio City home values.
What is the Riverwalk at Studio City development?
Riverwalk at Studio City is a proposed 814-unit residential and mixed-use development at 12501 to 12665 West Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, California, directly beside the Los Angeles River. The plan replaces the current Pinz Bowling, Carney's, and the former Jerry's Famous Deli and Bed Bath and Beyond sites with buildings up to seven stories and roughly 84 feet, including 46 very low-income affordable units, about 75,968 square feet of restaurant and commercial space, and 1,806 parking spaces. A city Deputy Advisory Agency approved the project's vesting tentative tract map with conditions on April 15, 2026 and found it exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, and the City Planning Commission is scheduled to hear appeals of that decision on June 11, 2026, under case VTT-84453-1A, related to CPC-2025-5697-DB-PR-SPPC-MCUP-VHCA.
It is the largest residential development proposal Studio City has seen in decades, and it would transform an entire block of Ventura Boulevard into a complex that fronts the river. If you are following Studio City real estate or weighing a move near the corridor, this is the kind of change that reshapes a neighborhood for years.
Size and scale
Riverwalk would include 814 apartments, 46 of them affordable at very-low-income levels, plus about 75,968 square feet of restaurant and commercial space and 1,806 parking spaces across four subterranean levels. The buildings reach roughly 84 feet and seven stories closer to Ventura Boulevard and step down toward the river, beside the North Valleyheart Riverwalk linear park. The project record also describes grading and export of up to 521,000 cubic yards of earth, and the April approval included a haul route for that dirt, the figure behind much of the neighborhood concern about truck traffic.
Parking and traffic design
The main parking access would come through a new signalized entry on Ventura Boulevard, with one additional western driveway and two access points on Valleyheart Drive. That design replaces six existing Ventura Boulevard driveways with a single signalized entry, which the developers argue would streamline traffic on a busy commercial stretch. For a closer look at which blocks near the Boulevard are most walkable, and how that affects value, see the guide to Studio City walkability near Ventura Boulevard.
Architectural design
The complex is designed by MVE and Partners, a Southern California firm whose work includes the 21-story One Museum Square apartment community in Los Angeles. The sloping site, a required mid-block crossing, and the step-backs from the river all shaped the massing. For a neighborhood that documents Schindler, Lautner, Neutra, and Soriano residences on the Studio City architectural homes map, how a large building meets the street is not a small question.
The Studio City Neighborhood Council scheduled a special board meeting on Riverwalk for Monday, June 8, 2026 at 7 p.m. via Zoom, and the Los Angeles City Planning Commission is scheduled to hear appeals of the project's approval on June 11, 2026, after 8:30 a.m. at Los Angeles City Hall, with a possible virtual option.
Residents can submit written comments to the Los Angeles City Planning Department referencing appeal case VTT-84453-1A and related case CPC-2025-5697-DB-PR-SPPC-MCUP-VHCA, and can reach the Neighborhood Council at studiocitync.org.
Who is building Riverwalk?
The applicant of record is Studio City Sports Center, LLC, led by Brett Torino and Eleda Cohen, with the engineering firm Psomas as project representative. The Cohen and Torino families have owned and operated the site since the early 1980s. That is patient capital, owners who have held the land for more than 40 years and are now positioned to deliver one of the largest infill projects in Studio City history.
The complex is designed by MVE and Partners, and the project sits in the Ventura-Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan area in Council District 4. You can review the renderings on the official Riverwalk project website, and the coverage on Urbanize LA.
The fire-safety case against the project
The most active opposition is organized as Studio City for Safe Development, a campaign run in coordination with the Studio City Residents Association. Their argument, laid out at Stop Unsafe Development Studio City, is not that Studio City should reject housing. It is that a project of this scale should not be approved before the city shows that evacuation routes, emergency access, environmental rules, and infrastructure can handle the load, because the site sits inside a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The Board of the Studio City Residents Association, Studio City for Safe Development, and resident Marianne King filed the appeals the City Planning Commission will hear on June 11, represented in part by the Channel Law Group, and those appeals also challenge the city's decision to treat the project as exempt from full review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
The group frames three concerns. The first is fire and evacuation risk, since a project this large adds residents, customers, workers, deliveries, and construction traffic to streets that double as emergency access and evacuation routes. The second is emergency response delay, the worry that congested streets slow police, fire, and medical responders when minutes matter. The third is cumulative corridor overload, the point that Riverwalk is one of three projects concentrated on the same half mile of Ventura Boulevard between Whitsett Avenue and Coldwater Canyon Avenue. They cite a March 2026 public briefing in which Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime E. Moore warned that street congestion already affects how quickly fire and law enforcement can reach people.
The campaign also proposes an alternative plan with lower density, lower height, stronger setbacks, native landscaping, river-sensitive lighting, and reduced excavation. Whatever side a homeowner lands on, these are substantive planning questions, and they are the ones most likely to come up at the June 11 hearing. Debbie Pisaro's view is that legitimate concerns about traffic, fire safety, and neighborhood scale deserve serious, record-supported answers rather than dismissal.
The 1,361-unit Ventura Boulevard corridor
Riverwalk is part of a broader shift along this half mile of Ventura Boulevard. To the west at Coldwater Canyon Avenue, Sportsmen's Lodge will become a mixed-use complex with 520 homes, approved by the Los Angeles City Council on a 13 to 1 vote in April 2024, and a smaller project called Sunswept Place would add roughly 27 units nearby. Combined, the three represent about 1,361 new residential units and around 139,000 square feet of new commercial space, on top of the existing Shops at Sportsmen's Lodge that opened in 2021.
Like many recent Los Angeles projects, Riverwalk uses California's density bonus law, which permits a larger structure than base zoning would allow in exchange for the 46 affordable units. This is the same mechanism Sportsmen's Lodge used, and that project drew appeals from the Studio City Residents Association, Erewhon, and the hotel workers union Unite Here Local 11, all of which the City Council ultimately denied. For the full story of that site, from an 1880s trout farm to Clark Gable at the bar to its current redevelopment, read the Sportsmen's Lodge history. For a week-by-week, street-level read on the corridor, the Just Studio City neighborhood guide and the Studio City business directory follow the Boulevard closely, and the larger employment story connects to Netflix buying Radford Studio Center just up the road.
A site with deep Studio City memory
Jerry's Famous Deli opened on Ventura Boulevard in 1973 and became a neighborhood institution, patronized by Adam Sandler, Will Smith, and the cast of Seinfeld, with comedian Andy Kaufman famously bussing tables there at the height of his fame on Taxi. Jerry's closed permanently in October 2020. Pinz Bowling, which traces back to Kirkwood Lanes in 1958, still operates on the site and was physically connected to the deli, and Carney's, the longtime hot dog spot in a converted yellow train car on Ventura Boulevard, sits on the same block. Their eventual displacement would mark the end of some of the neighborhood's longest-running businesses.
What the corridor means for home values
The honest answer is that the impact depends on where a property sits relative to the Boulevard, and it reads differently for buyers, sellers, and renters. The single-family neighborhoods north of Ventura, including the hillside streets, the architectural pockets, and the historic flats, are expected to stay largely unchanged in character.
For buyers
The Ventura Boulevard commercial corridor is shifting toward a denser, more walkable character. Homes within an easy walk of new retail and dining may gain appeal for walkability-focused buyers, while quieter streets further off the Boulevard may benefit from the contrast. The canyon parks that define hillside living, like TreePeople at Coldwater Canyon Park, are part of why demand for the hills tends to hold.
For sellers
Major developments create both opportunity and friction. Some buyers are drawn to a neighborhood investing in itself, and others prefer a settled block. Positioning a home correctly takes local judgment, including the timing question of whether to sell now or wait and how Measure ULA affects net proceeds on a higher-value sale. Debbie Pisaro works with Studio City sellers to identify which buyer profile is most likely to compete for each property, and you can request a home valuation through Coastline 840.
For renters
The combined projects would add hundreds of apartments to Studio City's rental inventory. Market-rate units will likely command premium rents, while the affordable set-asides, 46 at Riverwalk and 78 at Sportsmen's Lodge, give income-qualified renters more options than the neighborhood has offered in a generation.
How to weigh in before the hearing
There are two near-term ways to follow the project. The Studio City Neighborhood Council scheduled a special board meeting on Riverwalk for Monday, June 8, 2026 at 7 p.m. via Zoom, with details at studiocitync.org, and the City Planning Commission hears the appeals on June 11, 2026, after 8:30 a.m. at Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, with a possible virtual option noted on the agenda. Residents can submit written comments to the Los Angeles City Planning Department referencing appeal case VTT-84453-1A, and the assigned city planner is Adrineh Melkonian. A specific comment about evacuation routes, emergency access, traffic, or construction impact carries more weight in the record than general opposition.
Debbie Pisaro's take as your Studio City agent
Debbie Pisaro has sold homes in Studio City for more than two decades, and she has never seen this level of proposed residential development along Ventura Boulevard. Change can feel unsettling, especially when it touches landmarks like Jerry's Deli and Sportsmen's Lodge. At the same time, Los Angeles needs housing, and infill along commercial corridors makes more sense than sprawl. The concerns about fire safety, evacuation, and traffic deserve real answers, and the June 11 hearing is where residents can press for them. If you own near the corridor, the practical move is to understand how proximity to the new development might affect your specific property, and to make a plan rather than react to headlines.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Riverwalk at Studio City hearing?
The Los Angeles City Planning Commission hears appeals of the Riverwalk approval on June 11, 2026, after 8:30 a.m. at Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Room 430, with a possible virtual option. A city Deputy Advisory Agency had approved the project's tract map with conditions on April 15, 2026. The appeal is case VTT-84453-1A, related to CPC-2025-5697-DB-PR-SPPC-MCUP-VHCA.
When will construction start on the Riverwalk at Studio City?
No construction date has been set. A city Deputy Advisory Agency approved the project's vesting tentative tract map with conditions in April 2026, but that approval is under appeal to the City Planning Commission on June 11, 2026, and the project still requires further approvals. Studio City homeowners can track status under appeal case VTT-84453-1A.
Why are some Studio City residents opposing Riverwalk?
A community campaign called Studio City for Safe Development, working with the Studio City Residents Association, argues that the site sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and that a project of this scale should not be approved until the city shows that evacuation routes, emergency access, and infrastructure can handle the added load. They support safe housing but want lower density and stronger safety review.
How many units and how tall is the Riverwalk project?
Riverwalk proposes 814 apartments, including 46 very low-income affordable units, in buildings up to roughly 84 feet and seven stories, with lower massing stepping toward the Los Angeles River. It also includes about 75,968 square feet of restaurant and commercial space and 1,806 parking spaces.
How much parking will the Riverwalk at Studio City have?
The project would include 1,806 parking spaces across four subterranean levels, exceeding municipal code requirements. It would also consolidate six existing Ventura Boulevard driveways into one signalized entry, plus a western driveway and two access points on Valleyheart Drive.
Will there be affordable housing at Riverwalk Studio City?
Yes. 46 of the 814 units would be reserved as affordable at very-low-income levels under the project's density bonus. Combined with 78 affordable units at the approved Sportsmen's Lodge redevelopment, the corridor would deliver more than 120 new affordable units to Studio City.
What other major developments are happening in Studio City?
Along the same half mile of Ventura Boulevard, Sportsmen's Lodge is becoming 520 apartments, approved by the City Council in April 2024, and a smaller project called Sunswept Place would add about 27 units. Together with Riverwalk, the three total roughly 1,361 units and about 139,000 square feet of new commercial space.
How do I voice my opinion about the Riverwalk project?
Attend the Studio City Neighborhood Council special board meeting on Riverwalk on Monday, June 8, 2026 at 7 p.m. via Zoom, details at studiocitync.org, and the City Planning Commission hearing on June 11, 2026. You can also submit written comments to the Los Angeles City Planning Department referencing appeal case VTT-84453-1A. The Studio City Residents Association also organizes community feedback.
Will the Riverwalk development affect Studio City home values?
The impact is nuanced. Homes within walking distance of new retail and dining may gain appeal for walkability-focused buyers, while quieter streets further off the Boulevard may benefit from the contrast. The single-family neighborhoods north of Ventura, including the hillside streets and architectural pockets, are expected to stay largely unchanged in character. Debbie Pisaro can run a specific impact read for any Studio City address.
What happened to Jerry's Famous Deli?
Jerry's Famous Deli on Ventura Boulevard closed permanently in October 2020 after nearly 50 years. The Riverwalk site also includes Pinz Bowling, which still operates and traces back to Kirkwood Lanes in 1958.
About Debbie Pisaro. Debbie Pisaro, California DRE #01369110, is a luxury real estate agent and the founder of Coastline 840, an independent California brokerage affiliated with Side, Inc. She specializes in Studio City, Los Feliz, branded residences, and architecturally significant homes throughout California, with 24 years of experience and recognition as an Inman Luxury Leader in 2025. For the full case on her Studio City work, see why she is considered the best real estate agent in Studio City.
Sources. Los Angeles City Planning Notice of Public Hearing for the June 11, 2026 City Planning Commission appeal hearing (appeal case VTT-84453-1A, related case CPC-2025-5697-DB-PR-SPPC-MCUP-VHCA, environmental case ENV-2025-5698-SE); Riverwalk at Studio City official project website; Stop Unsafe Development Studio City and the Studio City Residents Association; Studio City Neighborhood Council; Urbanize LA reporting (October 13, 2025); Los Angeles Fire Department public briefing remarks by Chief Jaime E. Moore (March 2026); reporting on the April 2024 City Council approval of the Sportsmen's Lodge redevelopment.
Debbie Pisaro has been the Studio City neighborhood expert since 2002 and has followed every Ventura Boulevard project from Sportsmen's Lodge through Riverwalk. Reach out for a no-obligation read on how the corridor could affect your home's value or salability.