Back in May, rumors pointed to the development of a high rise hotel on the surface parking lot at the southeastern corner of Olympic Blvd and Grand Avenue. Unfortunately for tall building enthusiasts and Downtown LA boosters, a new Hilton will not be coming to the intersection. Instead, this is what we have in the works: 8/9/2013 1000 S GRAND AVE 90015 PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF A 7-STORY MIXED-USE PROJECT CONSISTING OF APPROXIMATELY 274 DWELLING UNITS AND 12,000 SQ. FT. OF RETAIL SPACE
As noted by Brigham Yen, this lot is entitled for a building as tall as 33 stories. Thus, I wonder if this project meets the standards of “highest and best use,” for the property. The proposal at Olympic/Grand comes amidst the recent (and well documented) trend of low rise developments taking up parcels of land with much more significant entitlements . Then again, a low rise apartment building is still preferable to this erstwhile proposal for the Olympic/Grand corner lot. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the City House and the Olympic: I owe the real estate bust a measure of gratitude for stomping that project out. Not that it really had legs to begin with.