Burnside Avenue, Mid-City Los Angeles
LA Small Lot Subdivision (similar to SB 1123) + ADU
10 homesFrom 3 existing units, including 1 ADU
2 → 6 lotsTwo parcels became six fee-simple lots
15,517 sfTwo parcels combined, R3 zone
4 BRNew 3-story homes, about 1,860 to 1,980 sf
The site
A vacant lot beside a 1940 duplex and a 1947 cottage. Clearing everything would have meant losing existing rental homes and starting from scratch.
Our approach
- We modeled four options: standard zoning, TOC Tier 1, the State Density Bonus and Los Angeles's Small Lot Subdivision ordinance. Small lot won. It works much like SB 1123: separate fee-simple lots, each with its own home.
- Combined the two parcels into a small lot subdivision with four new 4-bedroom homes, each with a two-car garage.
- Kept and remodeled the duplex, added a unit above the cottage, and replaced the old garage with a shared carport carrying another home.
- Added an ADU inside the garage below one of the new two-bedroom units, for a total of 10 homes.
- Removed an unsafe rear addition and provided 19 parking spaces plus bike parking.
Two lots and three units became six lots and ten homes. Keeping the existing buildings saved demolition cost and kept rental income, while the new homes sell individually on their own lots.
