Vibiana-Adjacent Residential Complex Breaks Ground

Image: Togawa Smith Martin, Inc. via the Downtown News

Yet another mixed-use development is now pushing dirt in Downtown Los Angeles.

Earlier this week, Holland Partner Group broke ground on a new residential-retail complex adjacent to the deconsecrated Cathedral of St. Vibiana.  The eight-story development, located at 222 South Main Street, will feature 238 apartments above 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail or restaurant space.  The low-rise edifice will feature numerous amenities, including a 247-car garage and a rooftop pool deck.

The project, slated to open in early 2017, is being designed by architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin.  Their plan for the apartment complex are is a minor revision of an earlier proposal from the Weintraub Real Estate Group, which had called for a nine-story steel-framed structure on the property.  The minor height reduction will allow Holland Partner Group to utilize less expensive wood-frame construction for the development.

The new apartment complex will continue to improve connectivity between Downtown's Historic Core and Little Tokyo, which was once separated by a six-acre expanse of surface parking lots known as "Block 8."  Recent years have seen that gap fill in, thanks to new mixed-use complexes from developers Avalon Bay at the Sares-Regis Group.  A variety of new eateries, including the popular Redbird, have also improved foot traffic through the neighborhood.

Holland Partner Group is also an active player in other parts of the greater Downtown community.  In addition to their project on Main Street, the company is currently building a $200 million low-rise complex on the Westlake-City West border.  The Washington-based developer is also in the planning stages for a 24-story apartment tower at the intersection of Spring and Eighth Streets.

Construction Cranes Rises in City West

With the recent installation of a tower crane, construction is now going vertical at City West's massive Sixth & Bixel development.

Work kicked off for the $200 million project last year, when Vancouver-based Holland Partner Group began converting a 1920s medical office tower at the corner Sixth Street and Lucas Avenue into apartments.  The eight-story edifice, designed by A.C. Martin, will consist of 42 residential units when open in mid-2015.  Holland Partner Group will reserve 27 of the building's units as affordable housing, in accordance with a density bonus granted to the project.

The project also includes the construction of two colorful six-story buildings, designed by architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin.  The low-rise structures will comprise an additional 606 residential units, seated above 25,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 762-car garage.  Plans call for a slew of residential amenities in this phase of the project, including a fitness center, an outdoor pool, and multiple rooftop decks.

A complete build out of the 900,000-square-foot complex is expected by late 2016.  By total number of residential units, Sixth & Bixel is the currently the second largest development under construction in Downtown, following Carmel Partners' monolithic G8 apartments.

Lots of Progress on Expo-Adjacent TOD

Amidst the rumble of passing Expo Line trains, construction pushes ahead for the highly anticipated development known as Access Culver City.

The mixed-use complex from Greystar Real Estate Partners broke ground just over one year ago at the intersection of Washington and National Boulevards, directly across the street from Metro's Culver City Station.  When completed in July, the five-story structure will offer 115 apartment units above 30,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a subterranean parking garage.  Proposed amenities include a swimming pool and an on-site recreation center.

The building, designed by architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin, will feature a stucco exterior accented by metal siding and steel canopies.  Access, which is seeking LEED Silver certification, will also feature lush landscaping, a private courtyard and a street-fronting plaza.

Rainy Day Westlake Construction Update

As the supply of unclaimed parking lots decreases in Downtown Los Angeles, many developers have begun looking to the neighborhood's fringe for new infill opportunities.  During the past year, multiple projects have emerged in once unfathomable locations outside the Central City freeway ring, including proposed high-rise complexes in Chinatown and South Los Angeles.  However, the chief beneficiary of this shift is undoubtedly the long downtrodden Westlake neighborhood.  The predominantly immigrant community, once considered "Los Angeles' answer to the Champs-Élysées," is now experiencing a resurgence in commercial and market-rate residential development.

Arguably the most conspicuous addition to the neighborhood is Good Samaritan Hostpital's Medical Plaza and Outpatient Pavilion.  The seven-story structure, designed by architecture firm Ware Malcomb, will feature an exterior of shimmering blue-tinged glass.  Budgeted at $80 million, the Medical Plaza will eventually house a pharmacy, multiple clinics and a new ambulatory surgery center.  Additionally, the building will feature a ground-floor café and a window display focused on medical history.

The approximately 190,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in 2015.

New Renderings Revealed for Martin Expo Town Center

A draft environmental impact report published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning has revealed new details about Martin Expo Town Center (METC), a large mixed-use development proposed in West Los Angeles.  The project, designed by architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin, would create three low-rise and mid-rise structures with a combination of office, residential and retail uses.  Located at 1201 W. Olympic Boulevard, METC would rise from the current home of Martin Cadillac, just one block north of a future Expo Line Station at Bundy Drive.

Redesigned Bixel & 6th Development Rendered

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.

Construction Cranes Arrive in the Arts District

Anyone approaching Downtown Los Angeles from the east may have noticed that a new object joined the skyline earlier this week: a bright, orange construction crane.  Rising high above the low-slung Arts District, this tower crane will assist in the construction of Lowe Enterprises' Mega Toys killing mixed-use development.  Scheduled to open in 2015, the Togawa Smith Martin designed complex will consist of 320 apartment units and 15,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  Buildings are set to rise five stories on opposite sides of Garey Street, which will be converted into a pedestrian-only paseo flanked by stores and restaurants.  Located a short walk down the street from the nearly finished One Santa Fe development, the Mega Toys crane can expect some company within the coming year.  According to the Downtown News, Legendary Development plans to break ground on a three-building, 472-unit project next to the SCI-Arc campus this Spring.  Further south, Bolour Associates revived the pre-recession AMP Lofts late last year, with a new look courtesy of the Downtown-based Shimoda Design Group.  To top it all off, Metro is also looking into the possibility of adding as many as two new Red/Purple Line stations near 1st and 6th Streets.  With a wide variety of mixed-use developments in the pipeline and a subway link potentially on the way, we're looking at a very different Arts District five years down the line

Hard at Work on Access Culver City

The future site of Access Culver City, seen from a westbound Expo Line train.

My oh my, that is a lot of dirt.  Kitty-corner to the Expo Line's Culver City Station, construction crews are busy with excavation work for Access Culver City.  The mixed-use development from Greystar Real Estate Partners is slated to open its doors in 2015, creating 115 apartments above ground floor commercial space.  The five-story structure, designed by Togawa Smith Martin, will greet the intersection of Washington and National Boulevards with a 7,000 square foot public plaza.  However, Greystar Real Estate's project is just one of three developments either planned or under construction in Culver City Station's immediate vicinity.  A short walk west on Washington Boulevard, the Runyon Group is hard at work on "The Platform," which will will transform a former Hyundai dealership into retail, restaurant and office space (take that, Southern California car culture!).  Culver City Station's park-and-ride lot is also slated for a massive development from LA-based Lowe Enterprises, featuring a four-story/200,000 square foot office building, 200 apartments, a 150-room hotel, 75,000 square feet of ground floor retail, a tranit plaza, and a park "roughly the size of a football field."  The LA Business Journal reports that Lowe has commissioned the Minneapolis-based Cunningham Group to design the project.

Mega Toys Replacing Mixed-User Gets Underway

As reported by the LA Times this morning, the long stalled "Mega Toys," development is finally getting underway in the Arts District.  The $100 million project from Lowe Enterprises includes 320 residential units over ground floor retail, set to come online in 2015.

The re-development of the Mega Toys warehouse joins two other upcoming mixed-use developments on the Arts District's northern edge: the 439-unit One Santa Fe and Legendary Development's 472-unit project adjacent to SCI-ARC.

Image from Togawa Smith Martin, Inc.

• Two Vacant LA Warehouses to be Replaced with Mixed-Use Complex (Los Angeles Times)
• One Santa Fe Inches Forward (Building Los Angeles)
• Major Apartment Complex Planned in Arts District (LA Downtown News)