Posts WELCOME HOME

A series of large residential developments will soon bring more than 1,000 new apartments, plus street-level shops and restaurants, to a three-block section of Pico Boulevard in Downtown Los Angeles. Now, a developer is looking to expand the neighborhood’s booming residential population to a new frontier through a proposed mixed-use complex on the eastern fringe of South Park. The project - slated for a .67-acre site at 1340 S. Olive Street - would consist of a seven-story building featuring 154 apartments above approximately 10,700 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

The website of Monrovia-based architecture firm Nardi Associates may offer a first glimpse of the next addition to the Downtown Los Angeles skyline. Renderings for a project called “Olympic Tower,” appear to portray the highly anticipated mixed-use development slated for the current home of the Downtown Car Wash at Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street. Plans filed last month with the City of Los Angeles indicate that the project would consist of a high-rise structure featuring 374 residential units, a 373-key hotel, approximately 33,500 square feet of commercial office space, a 10,800-square-foot conference center and over 65,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

This Tuesday, the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC)’s Planning and Land Use Commitee will review updated plans for the Alexan, an upcoming high-rise complex at the northeast corner of 9th and Hill Streets. The proposed 27-story tower, which would feature 305 residential units, did not receive the approval of the committee during its initial presentation last year due to the excessive height of its above-grade parking podium. Developer Trammell Crow Residential (TCR) and architecture firm RTKL have since revised the shape and layout of the tower to comply with the Downtown Design Guide and address criticism from residents of the adjacent Eastern Columbia Building.

At long last, Hollywood Boulevard’s most conspicous parking lot bites the dust. Last week, DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners quietly commenced with site preparation with the second phase of Eastown LA, a large residential-retail complex near the Pantages Theater. The project, which is rising from a 3.18-acre site at 6200 Hollywood Boulevard, will consist of a series of seven-story buildings featuring 507 apartments and approximately 60,000 square feet of ground-level retail and restaurant space.

A new set of architectural renderings depict the mixed-use makeover now underway at the Arts District’s landmark Alameda Square. The 30-acre industrial complex, highlighted by its trio of hulking 98-year-old warehouses, is being rebranded by owner Atlas Capital Group as ROW DTLA, a two-million-square-foot campus consisting of creative offices, green spaces, shops and restaurants. According to a marketing brochure from the Runyon Group, a Los Angeles-based real estate firm that is partnering with Atlas Capital on the project, plans call for approximately 1.3-million square feet of office space capable of housing as many as 20,000 employees.

Three years after the adoption of the Warner Center 2035 Plan, developers are striving to realize the vision of a pedestrian-friendly downtown for the West San Fernando Valley. Last week, The Woodland Hills - Warner Center Neighborhood Council’s Planning, Land Use and Mobility Committee viewed a courtesy presentation for a new mixed-use development at 6041-6045 Variel Avenue. The two-phase project, which will be filed with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning in February, would begin with the construction of a five-story, 328,000-square-foot building containing approximately 275 residential units.

Later today, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission will review a proposed development which would add a new hotel to an existing commercial complex in Koreatown. The Grand Spa Hotel, slated for a nearly half-acre parking lot at 6th Street and Commonwealth Avenue, would consist of a six-story building designed by Los Angeles-based SBL Architecture. Plans call for 99 guest rooms on the building’s four upper levels, a spa and fitness center on the second floor, and an at-grade and below-grade parking garage capable of accommodating 144 vehicles and 85 bicycles.

Over the past two decades, Del Rey’s Loft District, once an expanse of industrial-zoned land, has gradually transformed into a thriving residential community. As the number of remaining development sites dwindles, three new projects providing three different types of housing gradually take form. X67 X67, located at 4140 Glencoe Avenue, is an upcoming condominium complex from Beverly Hills-based developer ETCO Homes. The project, which includes 67 one- and two-bedroom condominiums, was designed by Bucilla Group Architecture.

Downtown residents, community leaders, greenspace advocates and members of the media braved the cold yesterday morning to celebrate the opening of the Hope Street Parklet — South Park’s first and Downtown Los Angeles’ third. Located on South Hope Street just south of 11th Street, the parklet fronts a parking garage that was recently reonvated to include new ground-level retail space and across the street from tthe venerable Desmond Warehouse, now home to the offices of AEG Live.

Renderings of four competing designs for the First & Broadway Civic Park in Downtown Los Angeles were presented at a public meeting earlier this week. The four teams competing were led by AECOM, Brooks + Scarpa, Eric Owen Moss, and Mia Lehrer + Associates, with several other firms supporting each lead. The proposed two-acre green space will comprise a full city block of the Civic Center, bounded by 1st Street, Broadway, Spring Street and Grand Park.