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Hollywood’s Mark Twain Hotel, a Spanish Colonial revival building built in 1924, is being renovated into a modern boutique inn. The three-story structure, located at 1622 N. Wilcox Avenue, has served as single room occupancy housing for much of its lifespan. Already regarded as somewhat of a “flophouse,” by the early 1930s, the Mark Twain has played host to countless down-on-their luck individuals through its nine-decade existence, including the famed animator Joe Barbera, who once compared the building to a prison.

This week, the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee will review Sapphire and Emerald, a pair of residential-retail developments planned by Jade Enterprises. Sapphire Sapphire, slated for a roughly two-acre site in the City West neighborhood, would consist of two seven-story structures linked by a pedestrian bridge. The north building, which would replace a parking garge on 5th Street, would offer 142 residential units and 139 parking stalls in a three-level, partially underground garage.

Last year, the Dalian Wanda Group announced its intention to add a five-star hotel to a proposed $1-billion condominium complex in Beverly Hills. In preparation for an early 2017 groundbreaking, the Chinese conglomerate and its partner the Athens Group have set up an official website for the development. The project, which was purchased by Wanda in 2014 for $420 million, would rise from an eight-acre site at 9900 Wilshire Boulevard. The property, previously the home of a Robinsons-May department store, is sandwiched between the Beverly Hilton hotel and the Los Angeles Country Club.

Long Beach city officials announced today that the master lease of the iconic Queen Mary has been formally transferred to the real estate investment and development firm Urban Commons. During the course of a 66-year master lease, the Los Angeles-based company will restore the historic ship to its glory days and develop a retail, dining and entertainment district on surrounding properties. Urban Commons intends to complete the project in phases over the next several years, beginning immediately with upgrades to the Queen Mary.

Aerial images captured by photographer Hunter Kerhart showcase the construction of 801 S. Olive Street, a new residential tower in Downtown Los Angeles. The 33-story building from San Franciso-based real estate firm Carmel Partners will feature 363 residential units and 10,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space when completed in 2017. According to the website of Solomon Cordwell Buenz, the project’s design architect, plans call for two amenity decks located on the fifth and roof levels of the building.

Project management and construction firm Lendlease has announced the topping out of TEN50, a high-rise residential development in Downtown Los Angeles. The $100-million project from San Francisco-based developer Trumark Urban consists of a 24-story structure featuring 151 condominiums and approximately 5,900 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The building, which rises to a peak height of 235 feet, is built with more than 20,000 cubic yards of concrete and 2,300 tons of reinforced steel.

Tristar Realty Group, a privately-held real estate firm based out of Los Angeles, is nearing completion on a four-story medical office building in Tarzana. The $50-million project, known as the Ventana Medical Plaza, is located on a 2.37-acre site near the northwest corner of Ventura Boulevard and Lindley Avenue. The 112,000-square-foot Class A facility is billed as the largest and most integrated cancer treatment center in the San Fernando Valley, with more than half of its floor area dedicated to radiology, oncology and surgical centers.

North of Griffith Park, construction is underway on a $230-million underground water storage facility. The 110-million-gallon Headworks reservoir, billed as the largest facility of its type in the Western United States, will consist of two large concrete tanks buried under public green space along the banks of the L.A. River. Nearly five miles south, questions loom over the future of the underground reservoir’s above-ground predecessors: the Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs.

Legacy Partners, a privately-owned national real estate firm, has announced the closing of a ground lease for a 2.81-acre property in Monrovia, adjacent to the city’s new light rail station. The San Francisco-based company is partnering with Griffin Capital and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners to develop MODA at Monrovia Station, a 261-unit multifamily residential development. The project, which is scheduled for completion in early 2018, would include state-of-the-art appliances and finishes, as well as amenities such as a clubhouse, a fitness center, two landscaped courtyards and a 4,000-square-foot roof terrace.

Brentwood Capital Partners, a Santa Monica-based real estate firm, is converting a trio of vintage buildings in Playa Vista into a creative office campus. The project, dubbed the Hangars at Playa Vista, will feature 22,400 square feet of leasable floor area. Located at 11811-11821 Teale Street, the property is highlighted by a pair of semi-circular Quonset huts which are intended for single-tenant occupancy. All buildings on the campus were built between 1947 and 1951, and previously served as manufacturing support facilities for the Hughes Aircraft Company.