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The formerly quiet intersection of La Brea and Willoughby Avenues is rife with acticity these days, as construction forges ahead on a pair of new commercial developments. One year ago, Washington State-based developer Holland Partner Group broke ground on La Brea Gateway, a low-rise residential-retail development at 915 North La Brea Avenue. The five-story building, designed by Santa Monica-based VTBS Architects, will include 179 apartments, a 33,000-square-foot Sprouts Farmers Market and parking accommodations for up to 463 vehicles and 231 bicycles.

Halfway through the construction process, a more refined look has emerged for the La Brea Regency Lofts, an upcoming residential-retail complex near the Hollywood & Highland Center. Artistic renderings by local architecture firm OML Consultants portray a modern five-story structure, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies. The project, located on a .37-acre property at 1616 North La Brea Avenue, will consist of 56 apartments and and 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space when completed.

Heavy construction has officially commenced for Icon at Sunset Bronson Studios (SBS), the latest shiny object to grace Hollywood’s formerly low-slung skyline. The 14-story building, described as a vertical creative campus, is the centerpiece of a $150 million expansion of the 92-year-old SBS campus. In addition to the 323,000-square-foot office tower, plans from property owner Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP) also include a 1,600-car parking garage and a five-story, 90,000-square-foot production building known as the Hub.

The unrelenting South Park development boom is gradually spreading east through Downtown Los Angeles. Earlier this week, plans were filed with the City of Los Angeles for a new mixed-use development at 1148 South Broadway in the Fashion District. The project, slated for a half-acre parking lot at the northeast corner of Broadway and 12th Street, would include more than 50 residential units. City records have disclosed few details about the proposed development thus far, revealing neither its height nor its mix of uses.

Following the success of its LEVEL Furnished Living flagship in Vancouver, Canada, Onni Group – a leading Vancouver-based real estate developer – announces the debut of LEVEL Furnished Living in Downtown Los Angeles’ South Park District. The area’s only luxury development of its kind, LEVEL Furnished Living is a $200 million, 33-story tower with one-, two- and three-bedroom fully furnished suites that range from 710 - 2,035 square feet. “Demand for luxury housing in Downtown Los Angeles is soaring to an all-time high with the area’s recent revitalization,” said Javier Cepeda, regional vice president of LEVEL Furnished Living.

One decade ago, local developer Sonny Astani became part of the initial push to build residential towers in Downtown Los Angeles’ then fledgling South Park neighborhood. His development, dubbed Concerto, reimagined the formerly moribund corner of 9th and Figueroa Streets with a high-rise and low-rise complex featuring 629 condominiums and pedestrian-oriented commercial space. However, the global economic crisis of 2007 proved to be an insurmountable obstacle for Astani. Following the bankruptcy of his lender, the Beverly Hills-based developer was forced to sell the partially finished project in 2011.

Meta Housing Corporation has completed its first “family arts colony” apartment project - a new, 49-unit arts-focused affordable apartment community that integrates artistic live/work space in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The community, the Pacific Avenue Arts Colony, is the fourth arts colony project developed by Meta Housing, and the first that is open to non-senior residents. “Our senior arts colony apartment communities have proven successful in supporting and encouraging imaginative thinking and meaningful creative achievement among residents, while also bringing affordable housing and thoughtful architecture to many Cities,” says Kasey M.

Yet another mixed-use development may be headed to the Los Angeles River-adjacent neighborhood of Frogtown. According to an environmental report published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, the locally-based Harridge Development Group is planning a new residential-retail complex which would abut the western bank of a soon-to-be revitalized segment of the concrete waterway. The proposed development, dubbed the Blake Avenue Riverfront Project, would encompass two separate properties at 1771 West Blake Avenue and 2645 North Blimp Street.

If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try, try, try, try and try again. That is the lesson to be learned from Colony Holdings LLC, the relentless developer of a proposed residential-retail complex in Koreatown. For nearly six years, the Beverly Hills-based company has attempted to obtain a zone change and general plan amendment which would allow for the construction of a high-rise apartment tower at the intersection of 8th and Catalina Streets.

Yet another blighted property near the Red Line’s Hollywood/Western Station is slated to give way for a mixed-use development. Earlier this month, the City of Los Angeles issued a grading permit for 5400 Hollywood Boulevard, a proposed low-rise residential-retail complex. The project, which is being developed by the nonprofit Meta Housing Corporation, would consist of a five-story structure featuring 40 units of affordable housing and 3,300 square feet of ground-level retail space.