Proposed USC research facility approved by City Council

The Los Angeles City Council voted Thursday to approve a proposed expansion of USC’s Health Sciences Campus in north Boyle Heights. 

The 13-1 vote comes after the Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) rejected an appeal earlier this week brought on by neighborhood activists against the project, called the USC Discovery and Translation Hub.

Approval of the major conditional use permit allows for the development of a seven-story, 200,000-square-foot research facility, which is to be built along the western side of the existing Keck Hospital at 1500 San Pablo Street. At 143 feet high, the facility contains two subterranean levels, and ornamental landscaping, and includes several research labs to accommodate more than 84 researchers.

Opponents have argued that the development would accelerate gentrification in the surrounding community and indirectly displace local residents around Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights. 

In June, an appeal was filed by local labor union SEIU Local 721, USC Forward and Eastside LEADS, organizations that have been resistant to the campus’ growing footprint. 

The appeal claimed that the undertaking failed to adequately consider the impacts of increased traffic in the area and would exacerbate gentrification by “enabling further enrollment growth without commensurate on-campus housing.” The appeal also argued that an additional environmental impact report (EIR) was needed for the project. 

The PLUM committee rejected the appeal, saying that the certified EIR in 2006 and its addendum in May 2024 satisfied all EIR requirements. PLUM members also argued parking at the campus’ new facility would be more than adequate for incoming students and USC staff. 

As part of the approved plan, PLUM and CD 14 will require USC to host annual workshops, town halls and health fairs for the residents at the Ramona Gardens public housing site free of charge or at low cost to directly serve the neighborhoods closest to USC’s Health Sciences Campus. 

It’s unclear when construction is set to begin.