Steven Sharp WELCOME HOME

Roughly half-a-year after breaking ground, a minor expansion project is wrapping up exterior work on the Sony Picture Studios lot (SPS). The new Studio Support Building, located near the Sony complex’s Mentone Avenue gate, will contain approximately 23,000 square feet of production and office space within its four-story frame. Exterior materials appears to consist primarily of earth tone stucco, broken up by misaligned windows. More grandiose expansion plans are also in the works for other parts of the SPS lot.

Yet another property near Hollywood’s iconic Capitol Records Building is slated to give way for a tall mixed-use development. Plans were filed with the City of Los Angeles earlier this month for a new residential-retail complex at 6220 West Yucca Street. The approximately one-acre property, currently occupied by a series of low-rise residential structures, would be redeveloped with a 21-story tower. The proposed building would include 277 residential units and 3,300 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

A striking new look has emerged for Kilroy Realty’s Academy Square development, courtesy of commercial real estate publication Bisnow. The $300 million project, designed by local architect Joey Shimoda, would create a 3.5-acre mixed-use campus in the heart of Hollywood. Plans call for a campus of low-rise and high-rise structures, offering a combination of apartments, offices, ground-floor retail and possibly hotel rooms. The project’s name is a nod to an abandoned plan by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to build a museum on the property.

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.

Five years after the Gold Line’s Eastside branch opened, development is finally headed to one of the Metro-owned properties above Mariachi Plaza Station. According to plans submitted to the city in late October, an mixed-use affordable housing project will be constructed on the vacant 1.5-acre lot at 1750 E. 1st Street. The proposed residential complex, dubbed the Santa Cecilia Apartments, is being developed by a partnership between Metro and McCormack Baron Salazar.

Yesterday brought the pleasant surprise of a new mixed-use development catacorner to the Gold Line’s Mariachi Plaza Station. Looks like that was just the tip of an oncoming TOD iceberg. According to the agenda of the November 5th meeting of Metro’s Planning & Programming Committee, the agency is planning new mixed-use developments on four additional properties in Boyle Heights. This decision follows an 11-month selection process, in which Metro staff evaluated multiple proposals for each site on the basis of 1) their overall development program, 2) project feasibility, 3) the experience and qualifications of the development team and 4) a financial proposal to the agency.

After stalling out amid the global recession, fancy residential developments are once again rising in Marina Del Rey’s so-called “Arts District.“ At 4044 S. Redwood Avenue, construction is nearing completion on a 22-unit low-rise apartment building. The four-story edifice, designed by Venice-based architecture firm Dex Studio, features private balconies and a bright turquoise panels along its western facade. The new residential complex replaces two single family homes, an increasingly rare commodity along the Culver City - Marina Del Rey border.

Six months after breaking ground in South Park, construction has gone vertical at Olive & Pico, a new residential-retail complex from the Wolff Company. The seven-story edifice, designed by Downtown-based TCA Architects, will consist of 293 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments above 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. The low-rise building will sit atop a three-level underground garage, which will accommodate up to 75 vehicles and 342 bicycles.

Late last year, a joint venture between AECOM and developer Mack Urban announced plans for a $750 million mixed-use complex on six acres of South Park real estate. The first phase of the development - a pair of low-rise structures on Pico Boulevard - was revealed in April to consist of 360 condominium units and roughly 6,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Now, take a look at phase two of the mega-project, courtesy of a presentation to the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee.

North Hollywood, home to the dual terminus of Metro’s Red and Orange Lines, is gradually embracing its role as one of the San Fernando Valley’s few urban hubs. Plans are already in the works for a high-rise commercial development atop the station’s sprawling park-and-ride lot. Now, according to environmental documents published by LADCP, smaller infill projects are starting to take form on nearby properties. Ikon Hospitality, a local investor specializing in Southern California hotel properties, is one of several developers active in the neighborhood.