Steven Sharp WELCOME HOME

A planned residential-retail complex near the southern terminus of the Harbor Freeway is moving full steam ahead, according to a recent article from the San Pedro Beacon. West Hollywood’s Charles Company, developer of the three-story building at 335 North Gaffey Street, intends to break ground on the $1.5 million project sometime during the first half of 2015. The Gaffey Street Apartments, slated for a currently vacant lot at Gaffey’s intersection with Sepulveda Boulevard, will offer 28 residential units and 4,800 square feet of ground-level retail space above a partially underground garage.

One year after announcing ambitious Downtown expansion plans, Barry Shy is officially putting his money where his mouth is. Over the past several weeks, SB Properties has filed plans with the city for four new residential developments, including multiple high-rise towers and an adaptive reuse project. The four mixed-use complexes are being designed by Los Angeles-based DT Architects, and will invigorate current pedestrian dead zones along Broadway, Main and Hill Streets with approximately 1,000 market rate apartment units and street-level commercial space.

Later this week, the DLANC Planning and Land Use Committee is scheduled to take a close look at details of the Greenland Group’s plans for Metropolis. The first stage of the $1 billion project, which quietly began site preparation last week, will create 350 hotel rooms and 308 condominium units in towers of 19 and 38 stories. Buildings will surround a ground-level automobile courtyard, lined by more than 7,000 square feet of pedestrian-oriented retail space.

In an excellent summary of the Arts District’s ongoing identity issues, the Architect’s Newspaper has quietly revealed plans for the neighborhood’s newest mixed-use complex. The proposed development, a 122-unit residential building, would rise seven stories from a current parking lot at 1800 E. 7th Street. The building’s exterior would be clad in lightweight concrete panels, accentuated by a “sculptural glass corner.“ An artist’s rendering of the project, which is being designed by local architecture firm HansonLA, portrays the building with ground-level commercial space at the corner of 7th and Decatur Streets.

Although the proposed Bergamot Transit Village went belly-up this past summer, other Expo-adjacent TODs are having better luck in Downtown Santa Monica. Case in point: excavation is in full swing at the intersection of 5th Street and Colorado Avenue, the future site of two “limited-service,” hotels from OTO Development. The six-story structures, both designed by Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio, are scheduled to open concurrently with the Expo Line in Spring 2016.

In Hollywood, new hotel developments are suddenly spreading like wildfire. Back in July, rumblings emerged of a new 55-room boutique establishment setting up shop on Cahuenga Boulevard, in-between Sunset Boulevard and Selma Avenue. Now, it appears that a significantly larger project is slated for a half-acre site one block west. According to a case filing published last week by the Department of City Planning, a mid-rise hotel tower is planned at 1523 Wilcox Avenue.

Palms’s shabby three-mile stretch of Venice Boulevard is flanked by an assortment of strip malls and drive-thru restaurants. Perhaps a new mixed-use development will finally begin the process of converting the auto-centric corridor into a more liveable environment. Earlier this month, plans were filed with LADCP for a residential-retail complex at 10300 Venice Boulevard. City records indicate that the low-rise structure would vary from four to five stories in height, containing 34 residential units above 2,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space.

According to an initial study recently published by the Department of City Planning, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) is about to embark on a complete rebuild of its modest Pico Union office. Contingent on city approvals, plans call for the forgettable low-rise building at 1550 W. 8th Street to be demolished. In its place, LAFLA would construct a four-story structure, containing approximately 34,000 square feet of office space and a 33-car parking garage.

In early September, rumblings from the Department of Building and Safety hinted that the stalled Fig Central development was about to become much more active. Now, a recent case filing from the Department of City Planning has revealed developer Oceanwide Real Estate Group’s updated vision for the mixed-use complex. The revised proposal for Fig Central plans for three high-rise towers, containing 504 residential units, 183 hotel rooms, and nearly 170,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

Seven months after breaking ground in Playa Vista, construction is going vertical for the Collective, an $80 million office complex from developer Tishman Speyer. The speculative development, designed by local architect Joey Shimoda, will create approximately 204,000 square feet of office space within a series of two-story structures. Each of the Collective’s five buildings are designed to emanate an “inviting yet industrial feel,” with an open floor plan and exposed double-height ceilings.