Canadian Skyscraper Invasion in Downtown LA

Talk about ending 2013 with a bang.  The Vancouver-based Onni Group has been bullish about Downtown for quite some time, but recent events indicate that their vision for neighborhood's future is literally sky-high.  Earlier this month, the Canadian developer submitted plans to the city for four mixed-use towers, one of which would be Los Angeles' tallest residential building.  On the parking lot of the 1212 Flower office building, Onni would construct two high-rise towers containing 730 condo dwellings and over 7,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  Just up the block, they plan a 28-story tower at 1133 Hope Street, containing 208 units and 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail.  Both project sites sit adjacent to Metro's Pico Station, just a short walk from the flashing lights and bustling activity of Staples Center and LA Live.  Next-door to their project at 888 Olive Street, Onni plans the most ambitious of its South Park buildings: a skyline altering 50-story tower.  Located at 820 Olive Street, the building would contain 589 residential units with 4,500 square feet of ground floor retail, helping to reinvigorate what is now a pedestrian dead zone.  San Francisco-based Carmel Partners also has big plans for this stretch of Olive, with a 700-unit development currently under construction and a 27-story tower planned across the street.  Altogether, Onni's newest projects would add nearly 1,500 residential units to Downtown Los Angeles.  It seems that the uproar over Downtown's low-rise building spree has once again proven to be much ado about nothing.  On the other hand, we'll have to wait and see if market conditions support Onni's projects by the time they're ready to break ground.

Video Flythrough of Eric Owen Moss' Creative Office Tower

All images from Eric Owen Moss Architects

The Eric Owen Moss designed (W)rapper tower is nothing more than a proposal with a stupid name at this point, but developer Samitaur Constructs has nonetheless created a promotional video for their creative office project.  Although standing just 12 stories, high floor-to-ceiling heights would result in a building over 200 feet tall.  The tower would feature a "continuous system of curvilinear ribbons," allowing for open 15,000 square foot floors, completely free of columns.  (W)rapper would utilize an existing bike path to provide direct pedestrian access to the Metro Expo Line's La Cienega/Jefferson Station.  Just down the street from Samitaur's project, Cumulus Media recently put the KLOS/KABC radio broadcast facility up for sale.  The 10-acre site, located just east of the Culver City border, is one of the largest development opportunities on the Westside.  Turning the broadcast facility into a mixed-use community could provide the necessary catalyst for a more urban West Adams neighborhood.  (W)rapper could certainly use the shot in the arm: leasing advertisements have stood at the project site for well over a year, but not a single shovel has hit the ground.

Check Out Downtown's Renaissance Hotel

Renderings from EB5 Global

At long last, we catch a glimpse of LA Live's proposed Renaissance Hotel, which was announced by Williams & Dame Development earlier this year.  The $200 million project will rise 21 stories at the northeast corner of Olympic Boulevard and Georgia Street, creating 450 upscale hotel rooms within easy walking distance of Staples Center and the LA Convention Center.  The hotel will provide guests with event space, recreational amenities, restaurants and bars.  Williams & Dame's newest Downtown hotel replaces a surface parking next to their 23-story Courtyard Marriott/Residence Inn project, which is scheduled to open its 393 rooms in summer 2014.  The Renaissance Hotel will put City Hall slightly closer to its goal of 4,000 new hotel rooms surrounding the Convention Center.  Hoteliers are currently rushing to take advantage of the underserved market, with several new projects in the pipeline.  This includes multiple hotels slated for the Metropolis project, as well as up to 700 rooms in Oceanwide Real Estate Group's Fig Central development.  The project was originally expected to start work in early 2014, but an exact groundbreaking date is unknown at this point in time.  AEG's scale model of the future LA Live Campus indicates that the Renaissance Hotel is scheduled to open in 2017.

K2LA's Last Two Buildings Under Construction

K2LA.  Renderings from of David Forbes Hibbert, AIA.

When we last checked in on Century West Partners' K2LA development, the project's first 130-unit building had topped out near the intersection of 7th and Berendo Streets.  Just two months later, the landscape south of Wilshire Boulevard has changed dramatically.  Construction crews are now busy excavating former parking lots to create the subterranean garages for the project's second and third structures, located at 680 Berendo and 685 New Hampshire Avenue.  The two buildings, both designed by architect David Forbes Hibbert, are expected to open in the second half of 2014, combining to create 347 apartments within walking distance of the busy Wilshire Vermont subway station.  680 Berendo and 685 New Hampshire will provide residential amenities including roof decks, pools, fitness centers and club rooms.   K2LA is just one of several projects underway on the eastern edge of Koreatown, which is in the midst of a development boom highlighted by the J.H. Snyder Company's skyline changing Vermont Towers.  A large mixed-use development designed by the Archeon Group is also proposed at the intersection of Vermont Avenue and James M Wood Boulevard, featuring two mid-rise structures with 411 apartments and 44,000 square feet of commercial space.  However, that project remains in pre-development at this point in time.

Meet South Park's Newest Tower: 801 Olive Street

801 Olive Street.  Image from GMP Architects and Carmel Partners.

San Francisco based Carmel Partners made headlines when they restarted the 8th and Grand development, and now they have plans to give their 700-unit monolith a glassy high-rise neighbor.  801 Olive Street, which was first spotted moving through City Planning back in October, would stand 27-stories and approximately 317 feet tall.  The GMP Architects designed tower would contain 363 apartments and 10,000 square feet of ground level commercial space.  Residential units would rise above a five-story parking podium, which stretches south from the intersection of 8th and Olive Streets.  801 Olive would feature an accessible rooftop, offering residents an outdoor pool, a fire pit, and a lounge with spectacular views of the Downtown skyline.  Other amenities include a landscaped courtyard and a fitness center, both located atop the 389-car garage.  While critics will almost certainly point out the conspicuous podium, 801 Olive does offer a reasonable 1:1 ratio between residential units and parking spaces.  Slowly but surely, developers are figuring out that people actually will walk in LA (and pick up a $250 jaywalking ticket in the process).  Carmel Partners' newest project sits at the center of South Park's recent development boom, with several other mixed-use projects under construction nearby.  Hollywood based CIM Group also has a residential tower in the pipeline at the northeast corner of 9th and Hope Streets, although a timeline for that project has yet to be specified.

Downtown's Libeskind Killing Avant Reveals Itself

Scaffolding is coming down, and the stucco is coming out on the first phase of Century West Partners' Avant mixed-use development.  The GMP Architects designed project, which began construction in September 2012, will bring just over 240 apartments and 11,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space to the growing South Park neighborhood in 2014.  A second phase of the project broke ground earlier this year, and will create an extra 193 units and 9,500 square feet of retail by early 2015.  The seven-story complex stands on surface parking lots previously intended for a 43-story high-rise designed by bespectacled architect Daniel Libeskind.  While the design of the now cancelled tower project had its own share of critics, Avant is a posterchild for Downtown's low-rise building spree during the past calendar year.  These projects have raised concerns amongst community stakeholders about lost opportunities for high-rise towers, and even prompted a proposed interim control ordinance regulating wood-frame construction from 14th District Councilman Jose Huizar.  Avant, which utilizes wood-frame construction, occupies two parcels directly across the street from the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Mini Multi-Family Project for Del Rey

5980 Centinela Avenue

Let the stucco rise on the Westside.  Earlier this year, a nondescript single family home at the corner of Centinela Avenue and Culver Drive was unceremoniously demolished.  Fast forward to December, and an equally nondescript five-story structure containing twelve rental units has risen in its place.  The apartments are located just a short drive from a variety of Westside activity and employment hubs, including Venice, Playa Vista, Culver City and Santa Monica.  While it may not offer sweeping views of West Los Angeles like other low-rise developments this side of the 405, the building does overlook Ballona Creek, which has received a variety of community based upgrades over the past several years.  Perhaps Ballona Creek provides a realistic model for those parts of the LA River which aren't included in the Army Corps of Engineer's dramatic restoration project.  Regular neighborhood cleanups, landscaping and improved water flow have transformed a malodorous flood control channel into well patronized public space.  Other nearby projects include the Dinerstein Cos.' Millennium Del Rey and Lincoln Property Group's Runway Playa Vista.