A time-worn section of North Hollywood that decades ago was a vibrant retail destination is on tap for a $200 million-plus makeover. But it’s not coming without its critics, who say it’s a little much.

If it’s ever approved, NoHo West would transform the old Laurel Plaza property — remember the old ice skating rink? — and the Macy’s department store now there into a mixed-use project, complete with an open-air “main street” shopping district and 742 apartment units, according to plans now being reviewed by Los Angeles’ Department of City Planning.

They’ve got their work cut out for them. The area is not what it once was.

Shopping there dates back to the mid-1950s, as the San Fernando Valley was being urbanized.

But it would create a big retail footprint in the southeast San Fernando Valley that could attract shoppers and keep sales tax dollars in L.A.

“The redevelopment of this area remains my top economic development priority,” said City Councilman Paul Krekorian in a letter he sent to constituents in the area last month. “I have been reviewing all of the feedback sent to me and look forward to working with everyone in the community to ensure that the final project built on this site will be an asset to our neighborhood and a catalyst for improving the area,” Krekorian wrote.

Plans submitted

Plans were submitted by a joint venture between Merlone Geier Partners and GPI Co.’s.

The companies bought the property from Macy’s in 2014. Terms were not disclosed. A draft environmental impact report has been filed with the city, and the comment period expired on Friday.

“We are proposing a Main Street town center concept,” said Scott A. McPherson, executive managing director of Merlone Geier. “We see potential in the property. We see a great future for the type of project we’re proposing.”

It’s on a 25-acre site bounded on the north by Erwin Street, on the south by Oxnard Street, on the east by Radford Avenue and on the west by Laurel Canyon Boulevard and the 170 Freeway.

Laurel Hall School at the southwest corner of Radford and Oxnard and just south of Macy’s is not part of the development.

Plans call for 742 apartments, 300,000 square feet of commercial uses and expanding the Macy’s building into 500,000 square feet of office space. It will also feature a fitness center, grocery store and outdoor cafes.

“It will include these different uses so it will be a place were you can work and shops where you can shop and play, creating the mixed-use environment,” McPherson said.

The project consists of 142,513 square feet of retail stores, 48,687 square feet of restaurants space, a 40,000-square-foot health club/gym, a 68,800-square-foot movie complex with with 1,750 seats and 2 acres of open space.

A 90,000-square-foot office building at the corner of Laurel Canyon and Erwin will be demolished.

The developers say NoHo West will be a destination.

Retail will be along what the developers call NoHo West’s Main Street.

“Well have the ability to close off our Main Street and host events like a farmers market or wine festivals or community festivals,” McPherson said.

Not all are thrilled

This is likely the first of two big projects in the vicinity of Laurel and Victory Boulevard. Late last year New York-based iStar, a firm that finances, invests in and develops real estate, sold the rundown Valley Plaza site at the southwest corner of Victory and Laurel to Los Angeles-based Charles Group International.

Residents’ reaction to NoHo West has been mixed, with the main concern the density of the apartment component and traffic impacts. The apartments are on an 8-acre portion of the site in a three-story building along Erwin and a six-story building on Radford.

“We’re completely fine with the commercial component. It’s the amount of the apartments and the location of the apartments. They’re all crammed onto the same lot,” said Diann Corral, president of the Laurel Grove Neighborhood Association. “We feel like this area is single-family homes. In is not the NoHo area (about a mile away) that was rezoned for apartments.”

The association is not opposed to having apartments in the development, just the number.

“All the new developments seem to have a residential component, which we are OK with, but 742 is a lot and we feel that number needs to be brought down,” Corral said.

Residents of the area will welcome a new local place to shop.

“We’d love to see more commercial so we’d have a place to go and not have to go to Burbank,” Corral said. “Everybody is going to Burbank for everything. So we’re not opposed to residential. We’re just saying they need to bring it down.”

Community activist Mindy Tennen, who lives within walking distance of Laurel Plaza, objects to the project because of the traffic it could create and the number and location of the apartments. She also does not like the layout.

“The traffic is going to kill this area. Laurel Canyon is gridlocked,” she said of the vehicle flow during rush hour.

She “absolutely not, not in a million years” wants to see NoHo West built according what’s laid out in the environmental review.

“I would recommend putting residential up against the freeway and have all the shopping over on the Macy’s side. I’d flip it and limit the height to three stories, period,” she said.

A ways to go

Krekorian, in a letter to community members, noted that the project will be reviewed by the city’s planning staff and several public hearings will be held, including one on the environmental impact report.

“During this extensive public input process, the community will have many opportunities to comment on the project. I urge you to take advantage of them if you wish to do so,” Krekorian wrote in the letter. “I also want to remind you that I have formally asked the developer to continue their outreach efforts and work closely with all community groups, schools, neighbors and neighborhood councils in the area.”

McPhearson said the development group is still digesting local input on the project.

“We will listen to the community and listen to all of the local concerns and roll that into the analysis of the plan as we move forward,” he said.

McPhearson added that it’s too soon to comment on the apartment density because “we’re still in the listening stage.”