Motor Avenue Apartment Complex Nearly Finished

Palms' Motor Avenue Apartments--a $30 million residential-retail complex from Frost/Chaddock Developers--is inching towards the finish line.  When we last dropped by in March, construction crews were applying the five-story structure's exterior finishes.  Three months later, the project more closely resembles renderings drafted by Santa Monica-based Killefer Flammang Architects.

The building's design is highlighted by a street-facing urban window, offering a "framed glimpse," into an internal courtyard.  The structure greets Motor Avenue with a galvanized sheet metal facade, to be supplemented by brick veneer at ground level.

Located a half-block north of Palms Boulevard, the Motor Avenue Apartments will create 115 studio-and-one-bedroom units above nearly 1,000 square feet of street-level commercial space.  As part of the SB1818 density bonus granted to the project, a total of 17 residential units will be reserved for low income households.  Additional features will include an outdoor atrium and an amenity-laden rooftop deck.

Sitting four blocks west of the Expo Line's future Palms Station, the low-rise development will provide just one parking stall per residential unit, in addition to three commercial spaces.  The 118-car garage will be located underground, with vehicular access provided via an alley way at the back of the property.

Palms' Motor Avenue Apartments Take Form

Check out some grainy cell phone pictures from a rainy afternoon in Palms.  The aptly named Motor Avenue Apartments, which broke ground just over one year ago, now rises five stories north of Palms Boulevard.  The $30 million project from locally-based Frost/Chaddock Developers includes 115 apartment units above ground level retail space.  The building's street-facing urban window provides a glimpse into an internal courtyard, while a rooftop atrium offers residents sweeping views of the Los Angeles basin.  Designed by Santa Monica's Killefer Flammang Architects, 3425 Motor Avenue stands in stark contrast to Palms' almost limitless stock of low-rise, stucco-clad residential buildings.  One of those stucco-clad neighbors is Palms Point, the fascinatingly ugly mixed-use project which recently opened across the street.  Taking the name "Motor Avenue," to heart, almost half of the building appears to be devoted to automobile parking.  We'll have to take the good with the bad, as developers look to cash in on the coming Expo Line station located a quarter-mile northeast.  When Palms Station opens in approximately two years, residents of the Westside's most densely populated neighborhood will have destinations such as Santa Monica, USC and Downtown LA just a short train ride away.