An L.A. big enough for tiny apartments

Is Los Angeles ready for the 250-square-foot apartment?

That's what city planning officials have in mind with a series of sweeping new zoning proposals that would allow developers to build smaller condos and apartments than ever before.

The tiny units -- studios that officials hope would be as small as 250 square feet -- are part of a package of proposed zoning changes aimed at significantly increasing density in downtown L.A. The rules would apply to the roughly five miles around downtown but could eventually be extended elsewhere in the city.

The idea is to encourage developers to continue to build high-rises downtown even as the market appears poised to slow down -- while also spurring them to build units that are more affordable. Supporters -- who include the city's top planning officials, some developers and Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes downtown -- say the rules will encourage the construction of housing at a time when the city desperately needs it.

"This is a landmark event," said Dan Rosenfeld, a principal in the development firm Urban Partners, which is behind several downtown projects. "The people who care about downtown L.A. have been waiting for these ordinances for a long time."

But the proposal -- slated to come before the City Council next week -- is already drawing criticism from those who see it as another effort to boost development in a region that is already in a high-rise building boom stretching from downtown through Koreatown and into Century City, Westwood and Marina del Rey.

Some land-use experts question whether there is much of a market for tiny apartments in downtown L.A., which, despite its recent resurgence, still lacks the cachet of Manhattan, central London or Paris. Others fear overcrowding and slum conditions if the market goes sour and the units are too densely packed.

"I see it as creating a neighborhood where parking is horrendous and families are squeezing themselves into these units which are very small because they are affordable," said Noreen McClendon, a developer of affordable housing. "It's just a tenement."

The tiny apartment is a fairly new concept in Southern California, which has a long history of suburban sprawl and larger spaces.

But in New York, Boston, San Francisco and many European and Asian cities, residents have squeezed into tiny apartments for decades, usually because the lure of the downtown area is so great -- and the prices for larger places so high.