Work Ramping up on South Park Megaprojects

Image: Oceanwide Real Estate Group via the Los Angeles Times

In what amounts to an excellent Christmas for Downtown boosters, work will soon begin on multiple new high-rise buildings in the South Park neighborhood.

Earlier in December, Oceanwide Real Estate Group started clearing the large surface parking lot at 1101 Flower Street, future site of Fig Central.  Now, after much speculation, the Los Angeles Times reports that the long-stalled mixed-use complex is on track for an early 2015 groundbreaking date.

The $1-billion development will feature a trio of skyline-altering towers designed by architecture firm RTKL.  The largest of the buildings - a 49-story edifice at the corner of Flower and 11th Streets - will rise 677 feet above street level, making it slightly taller than the nearby Ritz Carlton Hotel & Residences.  In total, the three towers will comprise 504 condominiums and a five-star, 183-room hotel.

Fig Central was originally conceived as the retail complement to the nearby restaurants and entertainment venues of the LA Live complex.  The retooled proposal from the Oceanwide Group places a similar emphasis on shopping, with approximately 200,000 square feet of stores and restaurants planned for the development

The project as a whole is expected to cater to an affluent clientele, with plans calling for an array of luxurious amenities.  In addition to a variety of high-end stores, the proposed hotel will feature multiple event spaces and a "celebrity chef restaurant."  DTLA Rising reports that Fig Central may also include the first American outpost of the ultra posh Cavalli Club.

A Closer Look at the Skyline Altering Metropolis

Later this week, the DLANC Planning and Land Use Committee is scheduled to take a close look at details of the Greenland Group's plans for Metropolis.  The first stage of the $1 billion project, which quietly began site preparation last week, will create 350 hotel rooms and 308 condominium units in towers of 19 and 38 stories.  Buildings will surround a ground-level automobile courtyard, lined by more than 7,000 square feet of pedestrian-oriented retail space.  Both towers would sit atop a seven-floor parking garage, featuring five above-ground levels.

The more ambitious second phase of the development calls for two additional high-rise towers, oriented towards the northern end of the 6.3-acre project site.  Buildings would rise to heights of 58 and 40 stories, containing a cumulative 1,250 condominiums and 67,000 square feet of retail space.  The larger structure, peaking 647 feet above street level, would narrowly edge out the Onni Group's proposed tower at 820 Olive Street for the title of Los Angeles' tallest residential building.

Watch Metropolis Reshape the Downtown Skyline

Your eyes do not deceive you: the surface parking lot at the corner of 9th and Francisco Streets is no more.  With a $39 million taxpayer subsidy in hand, Shanghai's Greenland Real Estate Group has officially commenced work on the first half of the long-awaited Metropolis development.  A skeleton crew quietly kicked off on the $1 billion project yesterday morning, stripping asphalt from the phase one site.  The dirt lot seen above will eventually birth high-rise towers of 19 and 38 stories, creating 350 hotel rooms and 308 condominium units above street-level retail space.  San Francisco-based Webcor Builders, general contractor for the Metropolis development, has fortunately installed a construction camera directly across 9th Street.  Take your progress updates every fifteen minutes in glorious HD.

The Greenland Group is currently in the planning stages for a more grandiose phase two of the project, which would create larger buildings near the intersection of 8th and Francisco Streets.  Gensler-designed plans filed with the city call for a total of 1,250 condominium units and 67,000 feet of commercial space.  An updated rendering of Metropolis from brokerage firm Douglas Elliman portrays the second phase with two additional towers, featuring glass exteriors and sloping roof lines (see below).

Check Out the Specs for Metropolis Phase II

Image credit: Gensler via Kilograph

Although likely years away from the start of construction, the Shanghai-based Greenland Group is already working on plans for the second half of their ambitious Metropolis development.  According to a memo released by CRA/LA earlier this month, phase two of the $1 billion project tentatively calls for two high-rise towers that would comprise over 1.4 million square feet of floor area.  The first structure, an approximately 50-story tower, would stand flush with Francisco Street and consist of 510 condominium dwellings above a parking podium.  The second building, standing roughly 60 stories, would abut the corner of 8th and Francisco Streets with 740 condominiums and 67,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.  Both towers would be located directly across the street from an allegedly "sexy, mixed-use," parking structure, currently under construction next to the CTBC Bank Tower.

Phase one, revealed in a February groundbreaking ceremony, will reportedly start excavation and shoring work later this month.  Consisting of two additional towers, the first stage of Metropolis will create 310 residential units, more than 6,000 square feet of pedestrian oriented retail, and up to 350 hotel rooms.  A 19-story hotel tower, to be located at the corner of Francisco Street and James M. Wood Boulevard, will rise 271 feet above a retail and parking podium.  Although official reports have yet to specify an operator, earlier documents produced by the LA City Council point to the Hotel Indigo brand.  A 38-story residential building, set towards the eastern side of the property, will stand 442 feet tall.

Metropolis Scheduled to Break Ground on Valentines Day

The Greenland Group raised more than a few eyebrows when they boldly proclaimed that they'd break ground on the long awaited Metropolis development before the end of 2013.  Turns out that they might not have been that far off.  According to a document from the city's Chief Legislative Analyst, the Chinese developer plans to start shoring and grading work for phase one of Metropolis on February 14.  Phase one will emerge at the intersection of Francisco Street and James M Wood Boulevard, consisting of two high-rise structures above a pedestrian plaza.  The first tower, a 350-room Hotel Indigo, will rise approximately 19-stories.  Guest rooms will stand above a podium structure containing food and beverage outlets, meeting space, recreational amenities, and street level retail.  Records from LADBS indicate that the second tower is intended to rise 38-stories, containing 290 residential units above a parking podium.  Phase two, which has no scheduled groundbreaking date, will consist of three two towers with a "mix of residential and commercial uses."

Unfortunately, not all is not well on Metropolis' 6.3 acre parking lot.  The Greenland Group claims that the project's hotel component is facing an $82-92 million finance gap, and requests assistance from the city to make up for the deficit.  In years past, Los Angeles has granted tax rebates to both the J.W. Marriott and the Wilshire Grand for this purpose.  While the city will conduct its own analysis of Greenland's project before making a decision, representatives of the Convention Center have already indicated a willingness to provide financial incentives to get 4,000 new hotel rooms by 2020.  In other words, it seems likely that the Greenland Group will get their tax break.  In the meantime, get your popcorn ready and keep your eyes peeled for construction equipment come Valentines Day.  Or go spend time with your loved ones...whatever.  Either way, Downtown's long delayed mega-project will finally get shovels in the ground.

• Economic Development Incentives for the Metropolis Hotel Project (LA City)
• Greenland Group Gets Serious About Metropolis (Building Los Angeles)

Greenland Group Gets Serious about Metropolis

The Metropolis site, seen from the intersection of James M Wood Boulevard and Francisco Street.

When the Shanghai based Greenland Group announced their intent to purchase the long delayed Metropolis development in June 2013, many details from the press release were muddled in the Mandarin-to-English translation.  IDS Realty quickly stepped in to put the kibosh on the rumored sales price of $1 billion, but all parties involved have remained adamant that the project would be going vertical as soon as possible.  It appears that the Chinese developer remains true to its word, with the project's first buildings set to be a 19-story hotel at 899 Francisco Street and a 38-story apartment tower next door at 889 Francisco.  According to permits filed with LADBS, the hotel's guest rooms would rise above a four-story podium containing event, retail and restaurant space.  The residential building would contain 290 units, stacked atop a four-story parking garage.  Both towers would also feature two levels of subterranean parking.

Curbed LA recently caused a stir when they provided renderings of two Gensler-designed Metropolis towers via structural engineering firm Saiful Bouquet.  Although those renderings have been verified as outdated, they do hint at the the intended scope of the project.  While perhaps not as grand in scale as some of the Greenland Group's developments across the Pacific, the first phase of Metropolis will still make a noticeable impact on the Downtown skyline.  On the other hand, Gensler has their work cut out for them at ground level.  Isolated from the activity of LA Live and sandwiched between the 110 freeway and series of parking garages, the Metropolis site does not easily lend itself towards pedestrian activity.  That doesn't bode well for the effort to transform Francisco Street into Downtown LA's wannabe French Quarter.

• Property Activity Report (LADBS)
• Are These the Latest Renderings for Downtown's Re-Jumpstarted Metropolis Megaproject? (Curbed LA)
• Metropolis Rendered in the LA Skyline (Building Los Angeles)