A development combining a large self-storage facility with new housing has taken another step forward at 7528 North Bellaire Avenue in Sun Valley.
The Los Angeles City Planning Commission has backed the proposal from Trojan Storage of North Hollywood, which would redevelop a nearly four-acre site beside the Hollywood Freeway. The revised project includes approximately 217,827 square feet of commercial floor area and eight townhouse-style apartments facing Bellaire Avenue.
The residential buildings are intended to screen the storage complex from the street, giving the project a neighborhood-facing frontage rather than placing the commercial use directly along Bellaire.
Eight townhomes along Bellaire Avenue
Jordan Architects designed the contemporary residential component with an L-shaped footprint. Plans show two-story, one-bedroom dwellings with two-car garages at street level.
Earlier versions of the proposal included nine townhomes and approximately 220,000 square feet of storage space. City Planning documents circulated for the commission's June 25 meeting describe the revised plan as eight homes totaling 11,980 square feet, paired with approximately 217,827 square feet of self-storage and office space.
A storage facility screened from the neighborhood
Most of the commercial floor area would sit toward the eastern and rear portions of the property, closer to the freeway. The townhomes would occupy the western side along Bellaire Avenue, near the intersection with Saticoy Street.
That arrangement is the project's defining design move. Instead of presenting the storage buildings to nearby homes, the development places residential architecture, landscaping and individual garages along the public street.
The proposal would replace a vacant single-family house and accessory structures currently occupying the site. Environmental documents identify the property as approximately 3.92 acres.
Between homes, the 170 Freeway and production businesses
The property occupies an unusual edge of Sun Valley. Single-family homes line Bellaire Avenue to the west, while the Hollywood Freeway, State Route 170, runs immediately east of the site. Saticoy Street forms the property's southern boundary and provides its primary connection to the surrounding industrial corridor.
The city's environmental study identifies the Whitsett Tiny Home Village, an interim-housing community for people experiencing homelessness, directly south and east of the proposed development. The village was created on City- and State-owned land along the closed eastern end of Saticoy Street as part of Los Angeles' Homeless Roadmap program.
The neighborhood also has a direct connection to the entertainment industry. Nearby at 12580 Saticoy Street, Hollywood Depot Rentals supplies film and television productions with lighting and grip equipment, communications gear, general production supplies, trucks and trailers.
Before Hollywood Depot, the Saticoy property was home to Cinema Vehicle Services, which stored and rented picture cars for film, television and commercial productions. The company operated at 12580 Saticoy Street from at least 1997 and maintained a fleet reported at roughly 1,000 vehicles, along with facilities for preparing and customizing vehicles for the screen. The SFV Blog previously featured the company in its 2013 article, “Automotive Filming Needs Fulfilled in the San Fernando Valley.†Cinema Vehicles now lists its Southern California operation in Santa Clarita.
Together, the freeway, shelter, production-rental businesses and nearby homes illustrate the varied mix of uses surrounding the Bellaire Avenue project.
A 1938 home with nearly eight decades of Duncan history
The land is not entirely vacant. At its western edge stands a small single-family house that public records date to 1938. Redfin's public-record profile for 7528 Bellaire Avenue describes the residence as a two-bedroom, one-bath house containing approximately 924 square feet. The full parcel measures 170,736 square feet, or approximately 3.92 acres.
The newspaper record traces the Duncan name at 7528 Bellaire much farther back than modern property databases. A July 29, 1948 obituary in The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet identified Joseph William Duncan, 46, as a resident of the address and noted that his survivors included his wife, a son and a daughter in North Hollywood.
Later articles place William Duncan at the same property. A February 3, 1953 report identified 19-year-old William Duncan of 7528 Bellaire Avenue as one of two young men cleared after a narcotics arrest. A February 27, 1958 police report again listed William Duncan, then 24, at the address. The matching name, address and ages across the two reports indicate that the same William Duncan continued to reside there through the 1950s.
The property's rural character also appears in the newspapers. A 1936 classified advertisement offered a bred sow and seven young hogs at 7528 Bellaire, although it did not identify the seller. Decades later, a July 1, 1981 real-estate advertisement listed “W. Duncan†at the address as a prospective buyer seeking a crop farm. Together, the clippings suggest that agricultural activity remained part of the property's identity long after surrounding Sun Valley began to urbanize.
A property-record report supplied to the blog adds the modern end of the timeline: a September 1994 transfer involving Marie M. Duncan as trustee and a July 2026 transfer to the Trust of Marie Madeline Duncan. Taken together, the newspaper and title records document a Duncan association with 7528 Bellaire from at least 1948 through 2026—nearly eight decades.
The property in the newspaper record
Revised after commissioners requested design changes
The City Planning Commission was initially scheduled to consider the project in June 2026. Commissioners delayed action and asked the development team to revise the design. Most of those requested changes were incorporated before the project returned for consideration.
The development requires several discretionary approvals, including a conditional-use permit for household-goods storage near residential property and site-plan review. It also seeks a zone change and general plan amendment to apply a Commercial Manufacturing designation across the full site.
Because the zone change and general plan amendment are legislative actions, the commission's support is an important step rather than the end of the approval process. Those requests must still proceed through the remaining city review process before the project is fully entitled.
Street View
Construction was projected for 2026 through 2027
An environmental study previously circulated by the City of Los Angeles projected that construction could begin in 2026 and finish in 2027. That schedule should be treated as preliminary while the requested land-use changes and other approvals remain in process.
Trojan Storage has pursued the same basic development strategy elsewhere in the northeast San Fernando Valley. In June 2026, this blog covered the company's proposed mixed-use self-storage project on Maclay Street in Sylmar. That plan would combine replacement apartments, artist studios and storage buildings, with publicly accessible open space along Bromont Avenue.
At Bellaire Avenue, the unusual mix would add only a small number of homes compared with the size of the storage component. Still, the townhomes would substantially shape how the freeway-adjacent development meets the surrounding Sun Valley neighborhood.
Readers can find more local development, architecture and property stories on the SFV Blog Architecture and Real Estate page.
Sources and Credits
- Los Angeles City Planning Commission agenda for June 25, 2026 — revised commercial square footage, eight-unit residential count, requested entitlements and existing site conditions.
- City of Los Angeles Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration — site area, project description, environmental review and development details; dated September 2025.
- Los Angeles City Council District 2: Saticoy Street Homeless Roadmap project — establishment of the Tiny Homes village on City- and State-owned land east of Bellaire Avenue and temporary closure of the eastern end of Saticoy Street.
- Hollywood Depot Rentals — Saticoy Street location and rental categories, including production supplies, lighting and grip equipment, communications gear, trucks and trailers; accessed August 23, 2026.
- Cinema Vehicles contact page — current Santa Clarita location and company contact information; accessed August 23, 2026.
- San Fernando Valley Blog: “Automotive Filming Needs Fulfilled in the San Fernando Valley†— Cinema Vehicle Services' former 12580 Saticoy Street location, rental fleet and studio-preparation work; published August 31, 2013.
- Inside the Valley: “Oil Company Strikes Deal in Warner Center†— reports that Cinema Vehicle Services had operated at 12580 Saticoy Street since 1997 and renewed its lease there in 2013.
- California CEQAnet project record — environmental filing, land-use requests, development summary and public-review dates.
- Redfin property record for 7528 Bellaire Avenue — 1938 construction date, residence size, bedroom and bathroom count, parcel area, APN and public-record property details; accessed August 23, 2026.
- Property-history screenshot supplied to the blog — July 2026 transfer to the Trust of Marie Madeline Duncan and September 1994 transfer involving Marie M. Duncan as trustee. Verify against the underlying recorded documents before publication.
- Newspaper clippings supplied to the blog — The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet, August 20, 1936; July 29, 1948; and February 27, 1958; Valley Times, February 3, 1953; and The River News-Herald and Isleton Journal, July 1, 1981. The clippings document agricultural activity at the address and Duncan-associated residents from 1948 through 1981.
- San Fernando Valley Blog: “Mixed-Use Self-Storage Project Proposed for Maclay Street in Sylmar†— previous blog coverage of a separate Trojan Storage proposal combining housing, artist studios and self-storage; published June 12, 2026.
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