Scaffolding is coming down, and the stucco is coming out on the first phase of Century West Partners’ Avant mixed-use development. The GMP Architects designed project, which began construction in September 2012, will bring just over 240 apartments and 11,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space to the growing South Park neighborhood in 2014. A second phase of the project broke ground earlier this year, and will create an extra 193 units and 9,500 square feet of retail by early 2015. The seven-story complex stands on surface parking lots previously intended for a 43-story high-rise designed by bespectacled architect Daniel Libeskind. While the design of the now cancelled tower project had its own share of critics, Avant is a posterchild for Downtown’s low-rise building spree during the past calendar year. These projects have raised concerns amongst community stakeholders about lost opportunities for high-rise towers, and even prompted a proposed interim control ordinance regulating wood-frame construction from 14th District Councilman Jose Huizar. Avant, which utilizes wood-frame construction, occupies two parcels directly across the street from the Los Angeles Convention Center.