Steven Sharp WELCOME HOME

Yesterday, the Downtown News reported that Holland Partner Group had recently paid $12.5 million for a parking lot at the intersection of 8th and Spring Streets, with still unrefined plans to build apartments. According to a recent case filling from the Department of City Planning, the Vancouver-based company intends to join the the burgeoning trend of high-rise development in Downtown’s Historic Core. Plans for the property at 737 South Spring Street call for a 24-story tower, containing 320 apartment units and ground-floor retail uses.

New information has emerged regarding 3033 Wilshire Boulevard, a proposed high-rise apartment complex which would straddle the border between Westlake and Koreatown. Los Angeles-based Steinberg Architects, design architect for the project, recently updated its website with a new a page for the proposed 18-story building. The tower, as envisioned by developer UDR Incorporated, would consist of 190 apartments, 5,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and four levels of below-grade parking.

Vertical construction is largely complete for Vermont Manzanita, an affordable housing project located in the Pico Union neigborhood. The five-story structure, which is being developed by the West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (WHCHC), will feature 40 one- and three-bedroom apartments units. According to a document from the State Treasurer’s office, rents in low-rise complex will range from $233 to $1,292 per month. In developing Vermont Manzanita, one of WHCHC’s primary motivations is ensuring the safety of at-risk children.

MGA Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based manufacturer of the popular Bratz doll line, is planning a 1.2-million square-foot mixed-use complex in the San Fernando Valley The proposed development, located at 20000 West Prairie Street in Chatsworth, would rise upon a nearly 24-acre site which once served as a printing plant for the Los Angeles Times. The project, which is being designed by Killefer Flammang Architects, calls for a campus-style setting that would include office space, rental apartments, and community-serving retail.

Reseda Boulevard, long an auto-dominated corridor, has gradually come to the forefront of the push for walkable urbanity in the West San Fernando Valley. The latest installment in this saga, a proposed residential-retail complex, would replace a brief stretch of automobile repair shops and drive-thru restaurants. According to plans submitted to the city earlier this month, the proposed development at 6912 Reseda Boulevard calls for a six-story building, comprised of 170 residential units and 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.

In October, Oceanwide Real Estate Group finally revealed their new three-tower plan for the long-awaited Fig Central mega-development. Just two months later, the Bejing-based developer is already moving ahead with an important first step in the construction process. Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety issued demolition permits for the existing structures at 1101 S. Flower Street. The 4.6-acre property, purchased by Oceanwide in late 2013, is currently developed with a pair of low-rise mechanical buildings and an underground bank vault.

An initial study published earlier this week by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning has revealed new details about the AMP Lofts, a proposed mixed-used complex in the eastern Arts District. The project, which is being developed by Bolour Associates, would rise from a 2.38-acre site bounded by Seventh Street, Santa Fe Avenue and Imperial Street. Designs from local architect Joey Shimoda call for a seven-story building, featuring 320 joint live-work apartments and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial uses.

In Koreatown, construction forges onward for phase two of K2LA, a low-rise apartment complex from developer Century West Partners. The project, designed by Los Angeles-based architect David Forbes Hibbert, will consist of two seven-story buildings at 680 Berendo Street and 685 New Hampshire Avenue. Phase two, which is replacing back-to-back surface parking lots, will offer a total of 347 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments. Each building will feature a fitness center, conference rooms and a rooftop amenity deck.

According to a series of recent case filings from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, a slew of new multi-family residential developments are planned throughout the hyper-dense Koreatown neighborhood. Plans were submitted to the city in late November for a new 16-story, 220-unit residential tower at 3875 Wilshire Boulevard. The one-acre property, listed amongst the portfolio of office landlord Jamison Services, is currently developed with the 12-story Wilshire Professional Building.

As excavation for the $2-billion Crenshaw Line continues to frustrate business owners and motorists alike, two locally-based non-profit organizations are working to build affordable housing near the light rail line’s forthcoming northern terminus. Los Angeles-based American Communities, LLC has filed plans with the city to build a low-rise complex known as the Crenshaw Villas Apartments. The project would replace an existing commercial building at 2631-2645 Crenshaw Boulevard. Plans call for a five-story structure containing 50 one-and-two-bedroom apartments, 3,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 36 parking stalls in a partially underground garage.