Steven Sharp WELCOME HOME

Although Related California continues to struggle with the Grand Avenue Project, the Irvine-based developer appears to be having better luck with a different stalled project near the Capitol Records Building. A photograph taken by Hollywood resident Paul Danielson shows that site preparation is now underway at 6230 Yucca Street, a vacant lot which Related purchased last year for $10.5 million. According to a grading permit issued last week by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, the half-acre property is being developed with an 18-story tower that will feature 114 apartments, 2,100 square feet of retail space and a five-level, 201-car parking garage.

Exterior work is nearing completion the nearly 100,000-square-foot expansion of the Otis College of Art and Design’s primary Westchester campus. The main component of the project - a five-story structure along the western perimeter of the campus - consists of separate residential and academic wings linked together by a 300-seat auditorium. When completed, the building will offer housing for up to 234 students, a library, academic space, a student union and a resource center.

After successfully navigating an unanticipated level of neighborhood resistance, work is finally getting underway on another large mixed-use development in Downtown Los Angeles’ burgeoning Arts District. Yesterday, while walking the neighborhood with Downtown icon Brigham Yen, a small crew was spotted prepping the dirt lot at 950 East Third Street for construction. The six-acre site, which is being developed in tandem by Associated Estates Realty and Legendary Development, will eventually birth a series of five-and-six-story buildings containing 472 apartments and 21,000 square feet of retail space.

With the recent installation of a tower crane, construction is now going vertical at City West’s massive Sixth & Bixel development. Work kicked off for the $200 million project last year, when Vancouver-based Holland Partner Group began converting a 1920s medical office tower at the corner Sixth Street and Lucas Avenue into apartments. The eight-story edifice, designed by A.C. Martin, will consist of 42 residential units when open in mid-2015. Holland Partner Group will reserve 27 of the building’s units as affordable housing, in accordance with a density bonus granted to the project.

After years of anticipation, Emerson College quietly opened its new Los Angeles campus to 130 students earlier this week. The 10-story structure, designed by LA-based Morphosis Architects, contains classroom space, meeting rooms, outdoor performance space and living accommodations for up to 200 students. A ground floor restaurant known as the Emerson Kitchen features a 40% vegetarian menu and greets Sunset Boulevard with patio dining space. The outdoor seating was well patronized this past Saturday (see below), and will provide a nice shot in the arm for foot traffic along Sunset in years to come.

More than 800 feet above the streets of Downtown Los Angeles, work has commenced on the steel skeleton of the Wilshire Grand’s sailboat-inspired crown. Images captured by architectural photographer Hunter Kerhart and crane operator Josh Wiggins showcase progress on the latticework structure, which will eventually anchor a stainless steel spire. The 1,100-foot tall tower, designed by Los Angeles-based architecture firm A.C. Martin, will feature approximately 360,000 square feet of office space, more than 45,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, and a 900-key InterContinental Hotel.

The effort to improve efficiency and capacity at Union Station has taken another step forward, as Metro begins preparing an environmental impact report for a long-planned series of upgrades to the historic rail terminal. Link Union Station, formerly known as the Southern California Interconnector Project, would allow Amtrak and Metrolink trains to pass directly through the station by creating as many as ten new tracks running south across the US-101 freeway trench, as well as a new loop track for operational flexibility.

An initial study published by the Los Angeles Department City Planning has unveiled new details about the SunWest Project, a residential-retail complex planned in East Hollywood by Los Angeles real estate firm Reliable Properties. The proposed development - slated for the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Western Avenue - would consist of a low-rise structure featuring 293 dwelling units and approximately 34,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space. Residential units would consist of a mixture of studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans, with 15 apartments reserved for very-low income households.

Last year, land owner Petros Tagylan broke ground on a new mixed-use development which is replacing a long vacant property in East Hollywood. The project, located on an approximately .79-acre lot at 5245 Santa Monica Boulevard, will consist of two low-rise buildings featuring a combined total of 49 apartments and 45,000 square feet of retail and office space. A five-story structure will front Santa Monica Boulevard, featuring 35 residential units on its three upper levels.

With the release of a draft environmental impact report (DEIR), a proposed mixed-use complex in East Hollywood has taken another step towards reality. The project, intended for a 1.1-acre site at 5750 Hollywood Boulevard, would consist of a seven-story edifice featuring 161 residential units on its upper levels. According to the DEIR, the low-rise building would offer an assortment of loft, studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, 14 of which would be reserved for very-low income households.