Breaking Down Olympic Boulevard's Low-Rise Building Spree

Clockwise from the top left corner: Olympic & Hill, 1000 Grand Avenue, 1001 Olive Street, Olympic & Olive

In the past year, Olympic Boulevard has become a major epicenter of Downtown's resurgent development scene.  On the western edge of the neighborhood, the boulevard is host to a slew of new and proposed hotel projects in the shadow of LA Live.  One mile east in the Fashion District, Olympic dead-ends near the center of the potentially transformative City Market development.  However, the greatest concentration of new investment along the Olympic corridor can be found on a two-block span between Grand Avenue and Hill Street.  There, four low-rise residential-retail complexes are in various stages of construction or pre-development, eradicating what was previously a five-acre sea of  parking lots.  Altogether, these projects will add over 1,000 market-rate apartment units in the heart of the booming South Park district.

1000 Grand Getting Ready For Construction

With Danny's Tacos safely relocated to the opposite side of the street, it's time to bid farewell to the beloved surface parking lot at Olympic Boulevard and Grand Avenue.  The arrival of construction fencing signals the start of work on the Hanover Company's latest South Park development.  Set to rise seven stories, 1000 Grand Avenue will create 274 apartment units above 12,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  Designed by TCA Architects, the facade of the low-rise building will feature bricks salvaged from Myron's Ballroom, an early 20th century structure which was demolished to make way for the new development.  1000 Grand is one of three South Park projects currently in the works from the Hanover Company, all of which are located along Olympic Boulevard.  The Houston-based developer currently has a 281-unit apartment building under construction at the corner of Olympic and Hill Street, with plans for a 263-unit development on an adjacent parking lot.  Like 1000 Grand, both projects were designed by TCA Architects.  The Miami-based Lennar Corporation has also entered the mix, planning to break ground on a 201-unit building at Olympic and Olive Street later this year.  Further east, local developers Geoff Palmer and Barry Shy have plans for mid-rise and high-rise buildings at Olympic's  intersection with Broadway.  While this stretch of Olympic Boulevard is currently a pedestrian dead zone, it looks like that may not be the case for much longer.