The second and final phase of the Playa Vista development near Playa del Rey appears headed toward approval in early 2010, as the Los Angeles Planning Commission recommended approval of the project earlier this month.

The city originally approved phase two in 2004, but the Second District Court of Appeal two years ago ruled the environmental impact report was deficient (see CP&DR In Brief, October 2007). Master developer Playa Capital, LLC, started the process over and a new EIR was released this year.

The second phase is proposed for 111 acres between a nearly complete 6,000-unit, mixed-use residential community to the west, and a slow-to-develop office campus on the east. The middle section is viewed as the heart of Playa Vista and is planned to have 2,600 housing units, nearly 200,000 square feet of retail development and 175,000 square feet of offices.

Although a number of Playa Vista residents testified at the Planning Commission meeting in support of phase two, environmental groups that have fought the project for years – including the Ballona Institute and the Sierra Club – continued their opposition. They maintain that much of the site should provide wetlands and open space.