Koreatown WELCOME HOME

According to plans filed earlier this month with the LA City Planning Department, more apartments are coming to Vermont Avenue at its intersection with James M. Wood (almost spitting distance from the busy Wilshire/Vermont Station). Here is what we know so far: 2855 W JAMES M WOOD BLVD NEW MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT WITH 187 RESIDENTIAL UNITS AND 18,000 SF. GROUND RETAIL ON THE NORTH SITE, AND A MIXED-USE BUILDING WITH 224 UNITS AND 25,800 SF.

Jamison Services, one of Southern California’s largest private office landlords, is continuing its expansion into multifamily residential development by converting two of its landmark Koreatown properties into apartments. 3350 Wilshire Boulevard At 3350 Wilshire Boulevard, the company is currently gutting the interior of a mid-century office tower that once served as the West Coast headquarters of Texaco. The 12-story building, which flanks the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, is receiving a full interior and exterior overhaul designed by Corbel Architects.

Construction is slow but steady in Koreatown, where developer Century West Partners is (still) working on the 347-unit phase two of their K2LA apartment complex. The two seven-story buildings, designed by local architect David Forbes Hibbert, have progressed slowly since breaking ground in late 2013. After nine months of construction, the structure at 685 New Hampshire Avenue protrudes just one floor above ground, while its companion at 680 Berendo Street has yet to reach street level.

Looks like another underutilized Koreatown parcel is set to bite the dust, as the neighborhood continues with its development renaissance. According to a case filing with the Department of City Planning, the property at the southeast corner of Western Avenue and San Marino Street is the site of a proposed mixed-use development. Plans call for 79 apartment units above ground floor retail, served by a three-level subterranean parking garage. The project is located just across the street from Koreatown Plaza, one of the neighborhood’s largest shopping malls.

Thanks to a plan from a locally based investor, a blighted property on the eastern fringe of Koreatown is slated to be replaced by a mixed-use residential community. Century West Partners, developer of the K2LA apartment complex, is proposing a similar project immediately west of Lafayette Park. Planned at the southeast corner of 6th Street and Virgil Avenue, the development entails a seven-story structure with 399 rental apartment units and 20,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.

A half-block of modest apartment buildings and strip malls on Koreatown’s southern fringe may have a date with the grim reaper. According to plans submitted to the city in late September, a 1.6-acre site at 3076 W. Olympic Boulevard is slated for demolition, to be replaced by a low-rise residential-retail complex. The mixed-use development, which would rise between Kingsley Drive and Ardmore Avenue, calls for a four-story structure featuring 226 residential units, ground-floor commercial space, and a two-level subterranean parking garage.

Long-standing plans for a 27-story residential tower in Koreatown continue to plod forward, with the release of the project’s initial study by the Department of City Planning. The proposed Catalina Apartments would rise from a 1.5-acre site at the corner of 8th and Catalina Streets, replacing a small cluster of low-rise buildings. Designs from Oakes Architects call for an approximately 300 foot tall structure, offering 269 apartments (studio, one and two-bedroom units) and 7,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

Longstanding plans to build a high-rise apartment building in eastern Koreatown have suddenly kicked back into gear. According to a series of permit applications with the Department of Building and Safety, Colorado-based developer UDR, Inc. is moving forward with an 18-story residential tower at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Virgil Avenue. The 201-foot building, designed by Steinberg Architects, would feature 190 residential units and slightly over 5,500 square feet of ground-level retail space.

New information has emerged regarding 3033 Wilshire Boulevard, a proposed high-rise apartment complex which would straddle the border between Westlake and Koreatown. Los Angeles-based Steinberg Architects, design architect for the project, recently updated its website with a new a page for the proposed 18-story building. The tower, as envisioned by developer UDR Incorporated, would consist of 190 apartments, 5,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and four levels of below-grade parking.

In Koreatown, construction forges onward for phase two of K2LA, a low-rise apartment complex from developer Century West Partners. The project, designed by Los Angeles-based architect David Forbes Hibbert, will consist of two seven-story buildings at 680 Berendo Street and 685 New Hampshire Avenue. Phase two, which is replacing back-to-back surface parking lots, will offer a total of 347 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments. Each building will feature a fitness center, conference rooms and a rooftop amenity deck.