Westlake/Macarthur Park WELCOME HOME

With the rapid expansion of Downtown LA’s residential population, a variety of eateries and retail establishments have set up shop in the neighborhood. Another (albeit less exciting) necessity for a growing community is improved medical services, an area which now must play catch up due to Downtown’s growth spurt. With that in mind, Good Samaritan Hospital’s $80 million expansion finally got concrete in the ground this past August. The steel skeleton of the Medical Plaza and Outpatient Pavilion currently stands two floors above the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Witmer Street.

Last year, the LA Times reported that developer Sonny Astani was in the planning stages for a mixed-use project at the corner of Wilshire and Valencia. Today, an initial study is out for the low-rise development, to be known as the Valencia. Details read as follows: 1501 W Wilshire Blvd The project also includes a two-story gym and over 20,000 square feet of open space, divided between multiple courtyards and a dog run.

With a slew of high-rise buildings rising in both Downtown Los Angeles and Koreatown, it appears that construction cranes may soon spread to the adjacent Westlake neighborhood. Yesterday, plans were filed with the City of Los Angeles for the construction of a 41-story tower on a parking lot at Wilshire Boulevard and Bonnie Brae Street. The proposed development would feature 478 apartments - including 39 affordable units - as well as a learning and performing arts center.

A small residential building in Weslake built during the 1920s could make way for a mixed-use complex. Yesterday, plans were filed with the City of Los Angeles to construct a mid-rise building at 1322 W. Maryland Street. The proposed eight-story building would consist of 47 residential units above 760 square feet of retail space and a two-level underground parking garage. The project is contingent on several density bonus incentives, which are requested in exchange for setting aside four apartments for very low income households.

4Site Real Estate, a Los Angeles-based development firm, has begun construction on a residential-retail complex in Westlake. Twenty Three Hundred Beverly, named for its location at 2300 Beverly Boulevard, will consist of a four-story building featuring 45 apartments above ground-floor retail space and a parking garage. According to the developer’s website, the low-rise development will include a mixture of 22 one-bedroom flats and 23 two-bedroom, two-story units. The project, designed by Tighe Architecture, will locate its main driveway and garage off-street, to minimize auto-pedestrian conflicts.

Yesterday, local and state officials joined with the nonprofit developer LINC Housing Corporation to announce the start of construction for Mosaic Gardens at Westlake, a new affordable housing complex on the outskirts of Downtown Los Angeles. The approximately $57-million development, located on a 1.2-acre site at the southwest corner of Beverly Boulevard and Lucas Avenue, will consist of five- and six-story structures featuring 125 residential units reserved for formely homeless families and households making between 30% and 60% of the Los Angeles area median income.

New environmental documents published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning offer a first look at the 7th & Witmer Project, an upcoming affordable housing complex in the Westlake neighborhood. The mixed-use development from the nonprofit real estate firm Deep Green Housing would consist of a six-story structure featuring 76 residential units, 6,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space and a 32-car garage. The project, which is named for its location at the northwest corner of 7th and Witmer Streets, would include a mixture of studio and one-bedroom apartments for very low income households, as well as amenities such as two interior courtyards and a roof deck.

Exterior work is nearing completion for Valencia, a $60-million residential-retail complex in the Westlake neighoborhood. The six-story development, located at 1501 Wilshire Boulevard, will feature 218 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments above 4,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Plans call for a number of residential amenities, including a gym, a swimming pool, multiple interior courtyards and a 258-car underground parking garage. The project, which is being developed by Sonny Astani, was granted density bonus incentives through the inclusion of 18 units of low income housing.

Developer American Communities, LLC has completed vertical construction for the Paseo at Californian, a new affordable housing complex located in Westlake. The project, which replaced a vacant half-acre lot at the northeast corner of 6th and Bonnie Brae Streets, consists of a six-story structure featuring 53 low-income housing units. According to a document from the California State Treasurer’s Office, the building will offer a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $535 to $1,272 per month.

Yesterday, plans were filed with the City of Los Angeles to construct a new mixed-use development on a .31-acre site at the corner of 7th Street and Witmer Avenue in Westlake. According to a case filing from the Department of City Planning, the proposed building at 1307 W. 7th Street would rise six stories, featuring 76 residential units and approximately 6,035 square feet of ground-floor commercial floor area. The project’s applicant is listed as the Executive Director of Deep Green Housing, a non-profit developer of affordable housing complexes.