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Mysterious Mixed-Use Development Planned on Olympic Boulevard

With trendy hotels and apartment complexes literally springing up on all sides, a drab one-story commercial building in South Park is now slated for redevelopment. Plans were filed with the city late last week for a new mixed-use development at northeast corner of Hill Street and Olympic Boulevard. The project’s laconic case filing betrays little in the way of details, neither specifying the proposed building’s height or its intended uses. The only hint thus far is a 2013 permit application from the Department of Building and Safety, which called for the construction of a 22-story high-rise tower featuring hotel rooms, office space, condominiums and ground-floor retail.

New Developments Reshaping Koreatown

Soaring high above Wilshire Bouelvard, the $200 million Vermont Apartments serve as ostentatious symbols of the recent influx of upscale housing into previously downmarket Koreatown. The densely populated community, long overlooked due to its isolation from the Southern California freeway network, has recently become a residential hotspot due in part to its relative affordability and thriving night life. Consequently, the market has responded with dozens of new and revived residential developments in all reaches of the neighborhood, including adaptive reuse projects and ground-up construction.

Details Emerge for Proposed Hollywood Hotel

Last October, vague plans emerged for a 12-story hotel on a half-acre property located just north of Sunset Boulevard. Now, a document from the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council has finally revealed details about the once mysterious development. According to the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee, the proposed mid-rise structure at 1523 Wilcox Avenue would feature 220 guest rooms and multiple food and beverage venues.

The Broad to Open September 20, 2015

The Broad, the new contemporary art museum in downtown Los Angeles, announced today that it will open to the public on Sunday, September 20, 2015. Built by philanthropists and longtime art collectors Eli and Edythe Broad, The Broad will welcome visitors from near and far with free general admission to an inaugural installation drawn from two collections of more than 2,000 works of contemporary art. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), The Broad makes its home in the city’s burgeoning Grand Avenue arts corridor, across the street from architectural icons including Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Proposed Korean American National Museum Adding Housing

According to new information from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, a proposed development which would house the Korean American National Museum (KANM) has received a design overhaul. Revised plans for the half-acre property at 605 South Vermont Avenue call for a seven-story structure featuring 101 apartments above two floors of museum space. An earlier report from New America Media indicated that the museum would encompass 45,000 square feet of floor area, with amenities such as a community auditorium, two exhibition halls and a study room.

Excavation Underway for Hollywood Office Building

Earlier this month, developer Hudson Pacific Properties commenced excavation for Icon, a 14-story office tower on the Sunset Bronson Studios campus (SBS). The 200-foot tall edifice, designed by architecture firm Gensler, will rise from the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, creating a total of 315,000 square feet of creative office space. Artistic renderings portray a mid-rise structure, described by the Architect’s Newspaper as consisting of “five rectangular, stacked volumes, offset horizontally to create exterior terraces.” Icon is part of a $150 million expansion of Sunset Bronson Studios which will completely remodel the eastern half of the approximately 10-acre campus.

More Housing Coming to Howard Hughes Center

Nearly three decades after work first began on Westchester’s Howard Hughes Center, construction is slated to begin soon on a low-rise residential development which would complete the build-out of the mixed-use campus. Earlier this month, Dallas-based Mill Creek Residential Trust announced plans to build the Village at Howard Hughes Center, a 375-unit apartment complex. The project will rise from an approximately three-acres of land at 5901 and 6055 Center Drive, creating three six-story buildings with ground-level parking garages.

Another Office Complex Begins Work in Playa Vista

Google’s impending arrival in Playa Vista has set off a monumental shift in the West Los Angeles office market. After years of searching for space in traditional creative hubs such as Santa Monica and Venice, numerous tech firms are now looking further south in order to situate themselves closer to the Bay Area heavyweight. With this changing landscape in mind, a New York-based developer has broken ground on a speculative office complex directly across the street from Google’s future twelve-acre campus.

Shiny New Renderings Released for Figueroa Central

New renderings have emerged for Figueroa Central, the skyline-altering mixed-use complex which recently broke ground across the street from Staples Center. The $1 billion development from Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings Group will create three high-rise towers, offering 504 luxury condominiums and a five-star hotel. Long envisioned as the retail complement to the restaurants and entertainment venues of LA Live, Figueroa Central will contain approximately 200,000 square feet of commercial space within a two-level open-air galleria.

Apartments Headed for Marina Del Rey Arts District

According to an agenda from last week’s meeting of the Del Rey Neighborhood Council’s Community Planning, Traffic and Transportation Committee, a large mixed-use complex is planned for the Marina Del Rey Arts District. California Landmark, the developer of several loft projects in the neighborhood, intends to construct another low-rise residential development on a current parking lot at 4210 Del Rey Avenue. Plans the approximately two-acre property call for a five-story structure, containing 134 dwelling units and slightly under 15,000 square feet of office space.