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.

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.