Little Tokyo WELCOME HOME

After seven months of digging, construction is finally going vertical for a new residential-retail complex adjacent to the deconsecrated Cathedral of St. Vibiana. The eight-story building, which being developed by Holland Partner Group, will consist of 237 apartments and nearly 4,000 square feet of ground-level retail and restaurant space. Designs from architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin call for a wide array of residential amenities, including a fitness center, a clubhouse and a shared pedestrian paseo with the former cathedral.

After nearly three years of slow-paced construction, Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group is finally nearing completion on Wakaba LA, a $100-million development in the heart of Little Tokyo. The seven-story building, located at the southwest corner of 2nd and San Pedro Streets, is slated to feature 240 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments above approximately 16,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space when it opens later this year. The project, which was designed by TCA Architects, will also include 470 parking stalls in an underground garage, as well as residential amenities such as a fintess center, a sky deck and a swimming pool.

A flythrough video posted to YouTube provides a sneak preview of the Budokan of Los Angeles, a proposed community center in Little Tokyo. The multipurpose facility, which is being developed by the non-profit Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), is slated for a nearly one-acre site at 229-249 S. Los Angeles Street. According to the Budokan’s official website, features will include: The project, which will target LEED Gold certification, is being designed by Los Angeles-based architecture firm Gruen & Associates.

Yesterday, the Weintraub Real Estate Group presented their revised plans for a mixed-use development adjacent to the Cathedral of St. Vibiana at a meeting of the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee. The new plans for the Vibiana Lofts call for a nine-story structure designed by Nadel Architects. The building will stand a maximum of 123 feet tall, containing 238 apartment units and 3,600 square feet of ground level commercial space.

In 1923, the Catalina Swimwear Company opened its new headquarters at San Pedro and Winston Streets, on the southern perimeter of what is now Little Tokyo. The six-story Neoclassical building was the first major commission for the independent practice of architect William Douglas Lee, who would go on to design the Chateau Marmont hotel and the El Royale apartments. However, without the landmark status enjoyed by those later commissions, the Catalina Swimwear Building gradually fell into disrepair.