Calabasas Approves 135 New Apartments at Avalon

Current residents are unhappy about the impending construction.

July 28, 2026 · Calabasas

Facing a packed chamber of angry tenants, the Calabasas Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to move AvalonBay's expansion of the 600-unit Avalon Calabasas complex toward approval.

The development comprises 135 new apartments in nine three-story buildings, built atop existing parking lots and tennis courts, with 27 units deed-restricted for low-income households.

Commissioners were unusually blunt that the outcome was never really in doubt. Because the project sets aside 20% affordable units, state density bonus law entitles the developer to waivers from city rules, including the 35-foot height limit and the 100-foot creek setback.

Denying it would invite a lawsuit "we'd probably end up losing," one commissioner told the crowd.

Former mayor Fred Gaines put a number on the warning: the city was previously found in bad-faith violation of the state's Housing Accountability Act for rejecting a compliant project, at a cost he pegged at $5 million.

"Let's not do that again,” [he said.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRB59syOmZc)

Roughly twenty speakers, most of them Avalon residents, said they had signed leases with no disclosure of the coming construction.

After some prodding by the Vice Chair, AvalonBay's attorney  Edgar Khalatian said tenants unhappy about the two-year construction project could be relocated to another unit on the property, or moved to another AvalonBay community nearby.

If neither works, Khalatian said, "we will terminate leases and allow folks to live comfortably where they want.”

He also confirmed available rent-reduction for those who stay.