Thursday, January 15, 2015

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.

If and when the proposed development comes to fruition, it will find itself in the midst of a neighborhood bustling with construction activity.  More than 1,000 residential units are currently in development within a two-block radius of the project site at 940 South Hill Street, with substantially more scheduled to break ground within the next two years.

Adaptive reuse projects are also in store for several historic buildings along the adjacent Broadway Corridor.  Following in the footsteps of the Ace Hotel, which opened last January in the former United Artists Building, the Kor Group is currently converting the former Case Hotel at 11th Street and Broadway into a boutique inn.  On the opposite side of the intersection, the Hearst Corporation has revived plans to transform the former headquarters of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner into creative offices.

940 S. Hill Street

14 comments:

  1. Still a lot of parking lots in that photo remaining to be developed.

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  2. That photo is already outdated. At least 4 of those lots are currently under construction and 2 more will be shortly

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    1. Kind of crazy to have so much going on in just a couple of blocks.

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  3. Thank goodness.. that ugly little building looks like it belongs in a dated office park in the outskirts of LA county, certainly not DTLA.

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    1. That's why I don't worry about losing surface parking lots in Downtown. Even when easily buildable sites are gone, there are still plenty of tiny buildings like this which can be easily knocked down to make room for something bigger.

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  4. We are thankful that the developer is going for a highrise at this ROBUST, busy location! And that the project will be at LEAST 22 stories! Can't wait to hear more!

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    1. Those plans were from a different owner, so I would take that information with a huge lump of salt. We'll probably learn what's in store here in the next couple of months.

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  5. The listed client contact appears to be virtually unknown - Julia Chang has been listed as client contacts for a couple of minor remodels, but never any major construction as far as I can tell. Odd.

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  6. Also, what's your source for the property being sold? I can find records of a lis pendens, but not a sale. The property appears to be owned by an LLC that shares an address with the owners of Joia Trading, a Fashion District wholesaler.

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    1. ZIMAS shows the property being sold in September, although the sales price appears to have only been $9. So perhaps they set up an LLC to specifically handle development of the property?

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    2. For the sake of accuracy, I'll remove any reference to a sale from the post.

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    3. It's possible that Lexis Public Records hasn't updated it yet, but the Assessor website has the last deed date as 7/1/08 (and it has sales nearby up to December). The mystery surrounding this property, it seems, deepens. Anyway, I guess we'll find out eventually.

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  7. Considering how NYC and Miami is shoring upward...let's hope this developer will surmise a super highrise for DTLA! Especially with the upswing of the economy...and the fact that WE ARE CALIFORNIA one of the MOST desired places to live in the World!

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    1. Love the enthusiasm, although I think it's important to remember that the Southern California lifestyle has a different appeal than Miami or New York. We have an abundance of hills within city limits, so luxury housing doesn't require building tall to get a view.

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