Development WELCOME HOME

The website of architecture and design firm KTGY has unveiled renderings for a proposed mixed-use development in Los Feliz. Plans from Santa Monica-based Dynamic Development Company call for the construction of a five-story structure at the southeast corner of Western and Franklin Avenues, replacing a gas station and a pair of small residential buildings. The proposed development would include a total of 96 apartments - including 16 units of affordable housing - above roughly 5,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

Last month, architecture firm Omgivning granted us a first look at the transformation underway at 801 S. Broadway, a historic building in Downtown Los Angeles which was most recently known as the Broadway Trade Center. The mid-rise structure, formerly a flagship May Company department store, is being converted by real estate firm Waterbridge Capital into a 1.1-million mixed-use complex in the model of New York’s Chelsea Market. When completed in 2018, the 108-year-old building will include 400,000 square feet of office space, a boutique hotel and pedestrian-oriented commercial space.

An initial study published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning has cast new light on the Fig, a proposed mixed-use complex in Exposition Park. Spectrum Group, the Irvine-based real estate firm behind the development, is planning for mid-rise and high-rise buildings on a 4.4-acre site located across the street from the future LAFC soccer stadum. The project is divided into three components: a hotel, student housing and mixed-income apartments.

According to a document from the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, a major upgrade is planned for a prominent tower in the Financial District. Dallas-based real estate firm Lincoln Property Company intends to add new restaurant space and outdoor seating to the Wedbush Center, a 22-story office building at 1000 W. Wilshire Boulevard. The project would require the demolition of an existing cafe counter and associated features on the building’s ground floor.

Charles S. Cohen, the owner and developer of West Hollywood’s Pacific Design Center, has announced that two creative tenants are expanding their offices at the Red Building. Digital Brand Architects, a marketing communications firm, is increasing its footprint on the 9th floor of the building from 9,000 square feet to 13,200 square feet. At the same time, the company behind the social networking application Grindr is expanding its headquarters to 26,000 square feet - the entirety of the building’s 14th floor.

Tomorrow, the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee will review a proposal to build a mid-rise office building in the Arts District. The project, which is being developed by Los Angeles-based real estatate firm Lowe Enterprises, would rise from an approximately .75-acre site at 2130 E. Violet Avenue. Plans call for a nine-story building which would feature 90,700 square feet of office space, 6,100 square feet of ground-floor retail and a 274-car garage.

We don’t hear much talk about skyscrapers in-between Century City and Downtown Santa Monica, but some recent events might change that. A filing with the Department of City Planning indicates that a sizeable mixed-use development is on the way at 11750 Wilshire Boulevard. Specifically, a 376-unit residential high-rise accompanied by a one-story retail building. The 2.8 acre parcel, which straddles the West LA - Brentwood border, is owned by Santa Monica based Douglas Emmett, Incorporated.

One of the sleepier sections of Wilshire Boulevcard may become a little less so, as development begins spreading east from the Miracle Mile and west from Koreatown. The surface parking lot at the southeast corner of Wilshire and Crenshaw Boulevard is slated for a 30-unit apartment building. Residential units would rise within a four-story structure, served by a 67-vehicle parking garage. Construction equipment will also be on site at a neighboring parcel over the next several years, albeit for a very different type of project.

West LA could be getting a new residential tower, but Westwood’s Condo Canyon continues to see shorter wood-frame projects coming out of the er….woodworks. According to an e-mail tipster, a trio of mid-century apartment buildings at 10763 - 10787 Wilshire Boulevard were demolished late last year. In their place, a six-story, luxury apartment complex designed by GMP Architects (Avant, 801 Olive Street) shall rise. 10777 Wilshire would contain 60 residential units above a 150-stall underground parking garage.

The dusty lot at 3670 Wilshire Boulevard, once intended for a glassy condo tower, is instead headed in the low-rise direction. An environmental report released by LADCP indicates that property owner Don Hankey has plans for a six-story structure, housing 377 apartment units and just under 8,500 square feet of ground floor retail space. Designed by the architectural firm of Van Tilburg, Banyard & Soderbergh (Casden West LA, Picasso Brentwood), the stucco-clad building would span a full city block in between Wilshire Boulevard and 7th Street.