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| Bixel & 6th. Image credit: LoopNet. |
Take another look at Bixel & 6th, the fortress-like mixed-use development currently sprouting next to Good Samaritan Hospital. Designed by Togawa Smith Martin, the six-story complex will offer 606 studio to three-bedroom apartment units, seated above 25,000 square feet of commercial space and a 762-vehicle parking garage. The $200 million development also entails the adaptive reuse of an A.C. Martin-designed office building, located at the corner of 6th Street and Lucas Avenue. The eight-story edifice, built in the 1920s, will contain a total of 42 apartments (including 27 affordable units).
Planned amenities will include rooftop decks, an outdoor pool, a fitness center and new landscaping. Designs call for a pedestrian paseo to bisect the newly constructed buildings, running north to south from the project's 6th Street frontage. The paseo would provide open space for residents and potentially outdoor seating for ground-floor commercial tenants.
The approximately 900,000 square foot complex is being developed by Holland Residential, a subsidiary of the Holland Partner Group. The Vancouver-based organization is no stranger to City West, having previously developed a smaller residential-retail project immediately south of Bixel & 6th. That project, known as 1111 Wilshire, has helped usher a new wave of development into Downtown's westernmost nabe.
In addition to Holland Residential, prominent Beverly Hills developer Sonny Astani plans a similar complex two blocks southwest at Wilshire Boulevard and Valencia Avenue. Some demolition work for the $60 million project has already occurred. North of Bixel & 6th, a 122-unit residential-retail development is proposed near the intersection of 3rd and Witmer Streets.
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| View looking south from 6th Street. Image credit: Downtown News |
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| An A.C. Martin-designed office building at 6th Street and Lucas Avenue. Currently being converted to apartments by Holland Residential. |
- Downtown L.A. Building Boom Stretching West of Financial District (Los Angeles Times)
- Two Residential-Retail Complexes Start Work in Westlake (Building Los Angeles)
Atrocious
ReplyDeleteWell...the corner windows are nice.
DeleteMy god these multi colored pile of boxes buildings are getting uglier by the month.
ReplyDelete6th Street is developing a bizarre look, between this project and the Palmer development across the street.
DeleteTacky mess. Aside from the obvious need for a meaningful design review process in this city, we should also reconsider the continued planting of palm trees on sidewalks which provide no shade for pedestrians. And in this case, they only add to the awful '90s South Beach vibe of this building.
ReplyDeleteLike I said in a previous comment, 6th Street is developing a very strange look between the Italian Renaissance themed at one corner and the colorful peacock directly across the street. The palm trees seem a little bit out of place for the rehabbed office tower, but they in with the Miami Beach-looking new buildings.
Deleteum id rather have this than the Piero across the street..... lol think what you are comparing it to when you say atrocious.
ReplyDeleteThey can (and are) both be atrocious
DeletePersonally, I don't see what's wrong with buildings like this. Good height, interfaces well with the street, not a bunch of boring glass or running bond brick like you'd get on the east coast. As Market Urbanism has said, everything will look atrocious in 40 years and amazing in 100 years. For all the armchair architects out there... if you don't like it, go start your own development company and try to make a project pencil out with all kinds of unnecessary architectural flourishes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible argument
DeleteI think a lot of people who have commented here might prefer the East Coast style bond brick. Of course, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
DeleteWhy does it have to be bond brick or tacky colors? It's not a zero sum game. Take away the childish, simplistic large areas of colors and this wouldn't be nearly as offensive.
ReplyDelete