South Park WELCOME HOME

More construction cranes appear to be on the horizon for Downtown’s rapidly growing South Park neighborhood. Last week, tenants of the office complex at 1212 S. Flower Street were notified that their parking accommodations are being relocated to an off-site garage. Onni Group, the owner of the five-story building and its adjoining parking lot, has planned for several years to construct a high-rise development on the surrounding property. According to plans filed with the City of Los Angeles, the project would feature two high-rise structures featuring a combined 730 residential units and approximatley 8,000 square feet of retail space fronting Flower, Hope and 12th Streets.

Back in May, rumors pointed to the development of a high rise hotel on the surface parking lot at the southeastern corner of Olympic Blvd and Grand Avenue. Unfortunately for tall building enthusiasts and Downtown LA boosters, a new Hilton will not be coming to the intersection. Instead, this is what we have in the works: 8/9/2013 1000 S GRAND AVE 90015 PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF A 7-STORY MIXED-USE PROJECT CONSISTING OF APPROXIMATELY 274 DWELLING UNITS AND 12,000 SQ.

It appears that nothing can put a damper on the Downtown Los Angeles apartment boom, as another new residential building is set to rise in South Park. Check out these plans that were submitted to the Department of City Planning last week: 1001 S OLIVE ST MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT - 201 DWELLING UNITS AND 4126 SQ. FT. OF GROUND FLOOR COMMERCIAL Surface parking lots in the Central City are being eaten up at a scorching pace these days.

While the LA City Council just began considering legislation to entice developers to build taller in Downtown, the Vancouver based Onni Group jumped on the high-rise bandwagon months ago. Construction of their 33-story residential tower at 888 S Olive has now progressed to the third floor above ground. When complete, the 375 foot tall building will contain 283 residential units and 11,000 square feet of ground level retail. 888 Olive was designed by San Diego based Martinez + Cutri Corporation, the firm that was recently commissioned by developer Joseph Hellen to design a 40-story tower destined for Spring Street.

When IDS Realty put the long stalled Metropolis development on the market earlier this year, they commissioned a series of renderings showing the approximate size and scope of the project’s full build out. The 6.3 acre site is entitled for a total of 1.65 million square feet of hotel, residential, office and retail uses divided between five towers. The completed development would include roughly 400,000 square feet of office space and up to 1,676 hotel rooms.

CityGro.ws creator Stephen Corwin recently got his hands on new renderings of the planned adaptive re-use of the former Desmond’s department store warehouse in South Park. The Los Angeles Times reports that the five-story structure was purchased by the Lincoln Property Company earlier this year, with the intention of converting the building into a mixed-use development containing creative offices, ground level commercial space and a roof top bar. The long vacant building dates back to 1916, when it started its life as full-service dealership for the Willys-Overland Motor Company.

Back in August, the Downtown LA Examiner reported that the parking lot at the southwestern corner of 8th and Olive Streets was in escrow. It appears that the sale has now closed, as plans were filed earlier this month for a 27-story mixed-use tower at 801 S Olive Street. The building would contain 363 apartments above 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Quite a change of pace for a corner that has served as a parking lot for over 60 years.

It’s the same old song and dance in South Park, as yet another surface parking may bite the dust to make way for apartments. Plans were submitted earlier this month for a seven-story mixed-use development at the northeastern corner of Olympic Boulevard and Olive Street. The new project, located at 924 Olive Street, would contain 263 residential units above 14,500 square feet of ground level retail space. The owner of the land appears to be Steve Needleman of Anjac Fashion, a major landlord in Downtown.

Anyone tired of reading about mixed-use developments in Downtown yet? If so, you should probably leave now. The Department of City Planning just released the initial study for the Olympic and Olive Project, which was first spotted moving through the planning process in late summer. The seven-story development from Lennar Multifamily Investors would consist of 201 residential units above 4,126 square feet of ground floor commercial space. Plans also call for a three-level, 228 car garage in addition to 221 bike parking spaces.

Courtesy of the DLANC Planning and Land Use Committee, I offer you updated renderings of Carmel Partners’ proposed tower at 801 Olive Street. Set to rise 27-stories, the GMP Architects designed tower would contain 363 residential units above a four-story podium. The building activates the corner of 8th and Olive Streets with 10,000 combined square feet of retail and restaurant space. Not a bad complement for the future Whole Foods Market across the street.