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.

Two Residential-Retail Complexes Start Work in Westlake

After more than a year of inactivity, mixed-use construction is finally returning to City West.  In the shadow of Good Samaritan Hospital, two developers are now in the midst of site preparation for a pair of residential complexes that will infuse the Westlake neighborhood with more than 800 new market rate apartment units.

On a 4.1 acre property immediately northeast of the hospital, the Vancouver-based Holland Partner Group recently commenced work on a long delayed $125 million mixed-use development.  Known as the Bixel and Lucas project, plans call for a low-rise development with 648 residential units and 40,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  According designs drawn up in 2011, the project will consist of two phases, the first of which entails the conversion of a vacant eight-story office building at 1136 W. 6th Street into 42 apartments.  The second stage, which consists of approximately 600 residential units, calls for the construction of a new, six-story building that would occupy most of the project site.  Residential amenities would include a landscaped interior courtyard, recreation room, dog run, and parking accommodations for 762 vehicles.  As part of a density bonus granted by the city, Bixel and Lucas shall reserve 30 of its residential units very low income households.  The almost 925,000 square foot development comes on the heels of 1111 Wilshire, a significantly smaller building opened by HPG in early 2013.  Bixel and Lucas, like 1111 Wilshire, features a colorful facade designed by Nadel Architects.

Image credit: Nadel Architects

Astani's Latest Westlake Mixed-User Revealed

Image Credit: Astani Enterprises

The resurgent Westlake neighborhood is about to get another influx of market rate units, this time courtesy of Sonny Astani.  As reported by the Downtown News, the Beverly Hills-based developer plans to start construction later this year on Valencia, a mixed-use development to be located at 1501 Wilshire Boulevard.  Designed by Santa Monica-based Killefer Flammang Architects, the six-story building will contain 218 apartment units, 18 of which shall be reserved for low income households.  The project will also feature 4,400 square feet of street level retail and a 253-car garage.  Valencia utilized the city's bicycle parking ordinance to receive a 10% reduction in the required number of vehicle parking spaces.  The $60 million development will require the demolition of several low-rise commercial structures that currently occupy the 1.5 acre parcel at Wilshire and Valencia Avenue.

Astani's project arrives as the long neglected Westlake neighborhood is witnessing a revival of construction activity at all ends of the specturm.  One block east of Valencia, Good Samaritan Hospital is currently in the midst of an $80 million expansion project.  North of the hospital, Holland Partners intends to break ground this year on a 648-unit development at the corner of Bixel Street and Lucas Avenue.  The Seattle-based company also completed a 210-unit building at 1111 Wilshire Boulevard in early 2013.  Further west, Metro and developer McCormack Baron Salazar are planning the second phase of an affordable housing project on the land above Westlake/MacArthur Park Station.

Killefer Flammang to Design Sonny Astani's "Valencia"

Last year, the LA Times reported that developer Sonny Astani was in the planning stages for a mixed-use project at the corner of Wilshire and Valencia.  Today, an initial study is out for the low-rise development, to be known as the Valencia.  Details read as follows:

1501 W Wilshire Blvd

The Proposed Project consists of the demolition of approximately 44,168 square feet of commercial office and multi-family residential land uses and the construction of a mixed-use project with 218 residential apartment units and 4,441 square feet of neighborhood serving commercial land uses on the ground floor.  11% of the Proposed Project’s permitted residential component will be set aside as Very Low income affordable units (18 units).  A total of 253 vehicular parking spaces, including 248 residential and 5 commercial, will be provided in two levels of subterranean parking within the proposed building.  The structure would includes six levels (approximately 75 feet high) above grade.

The project also includes a two-story gym and over 20,000 square feet of open space, divided between multiple courtyards and a dog run.  As with several other mixed-use developments in Westlake, the Valencia is moving forward with a reduced parking ratio (1.14 : 1).  Astani utilized the city's Bicycle Parking Ordinance, passed into law earlier this year, to swap out 28 vehicular parking spaces for less costly bicycle accommodations.

The Valencia's EIR also revealed that Santa Monica based Killefer Flammang is the architectural firm behind the project's design. While the grainy black and white images from the EIR provide only a glimpse at the Valencia's appearance, exterior finishes are listed as metal, masonry/tile, plaster and glass.  KFA's work in other parts of the city may also hint at what's to come, examples of which include the NMS@Culver City and the Motor Avenue Apartments in Palms.

Construction of the Valencia is expected to begin this year and wrap up in 2014.

• Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (Department of City Planning)