Low-Rise Apartments Begin Work in Westlake

In the latest example of investment dollars spilling outside the Central City freeway ring, construction has started on another mixed-use development in Westlake.

Last month, Los Angeles-based Canfield Development broke ground on a low-rise apartment building on a vacant half-acre lot at 1329-1419 West Seventh Street.  The residential-retail complex, first reported in 2013, will consist of a seven-story structure featuring 87 studio, one-and-two-bedroom apartments above nearly 1,000 square feet of ground-level retail space.  Plans filed with the city call for multiple communal amenities, including a 135-car garage, an on-site fitness center, and a third-level recreation deck .  The project is also the beneficiary of a 25% density bonus due to its inclusion of five very-low income housing units.

Like many recent developments west of the Harbor Freeway, the Seventh Street Apartments will employ wood-frame construction and a painted plaster finish.  Designs from Nadel Architects also incorporate substantial glass and metal paneling to obscure two above-grade parking levels.

A precise completion date for the project is currently unclear.  The Seventh Street Apartments are the third market-rate apartment complex to break ground in Westlake since the beginning of 2014, following two larger developments located on Wilshire Boulevard and Sixth Street.

1402 W. 7th Street (All images: Canfield Development and Nadel Architects)

Renderings Revealed for Pico Union Hotel Development

Planning documents presented to the Los Angeles City Council have unveiled renderings for a new hotel development in Pico Union.

The low-rise Hotel Olympia would be built a one-acre property at 1700 West Olympic Boulevard, located within a half-mile of LA Live and approximately one mile from the Los Angeles Convention Center.  Plans from developer CK Hospitality call for a five-story structure containing 149 guest rooms above 8,600 square feet of street-level restaurant space.  The hotel would feature a standard array of guest amenities, including a banquet room, outdoor pool deck and a 113-car underground garage.

Designs from architecture firm PKA & Associates orient the tallest portion of the building towards Olympic Boulevard, so as to maintain better harmony with adjacent residential buildings to the south.  Hotel Olympia would feature a variety of exterior finishes, including tile, tinted glass and corrugated metal.

The project, which first began meandering through the City Planning process in 2013, requires multiple discretionary approvals to begin construction.  Most notably, CK Hospitality has requested a General Plan Amendment from the highway-oriented commercial and medium residential land use designations to a community commercial land use designation throughout the entire site.

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.

Redesigned Bixel & 6th Development Rendered

Bixel & 6th.  Image credit: LoopNet.

Take another look at Bixel & 6th, the fortress-like mixed-use development currently sprouting next to Good Samaritan Hospital.  Designed by Togawa Smith Martin, the six-story complex will offer 606 studio to three-bedroom apartment units, seated above 25,000 square feet of commercial space and a 762-vehicle parking garage.  The $200 million development also entails the adaptive reuse of an A.C. Martin-designed office building, located at the corner of 6th Street and Lucas Avenue.  The eight-story edifice, built in the 1920s, will contain a total of 42 apartments (including 27 affordable units).

Planned amenities will include rooftop decks, an outdoor pool, a fitness center and new landscaping.  Designs call for a pedestrian paseo to bisect the newly constructed buildings, running north to south from the project's 6th Street frontage.  The paseo would provide open space for residents and potentially outdoor seating for ground-floor commercial tenants.

The approximately 900,000 square foot complex is being developed by Holland Residential, a subsidiary of the Holland Partner Group.  The Vancouver-based organization is no stranger to City West, having previously developed a smaller residential-retail project immediately south of Bixel & 6th.  That project, known as 1111 Wilshire, has helped usher a new wave of development into Downtown's westernmost nabe.

Brooks + Scarpa Designed Affordable Housing Breaks Ground

Image credit: Skid Row Housing Trust

According to a Facebook post from earlier this month, the Skid Row Housing Trust has broken ground on the Six Apartments, a new 52-unit affordable housing complex in the Westlake neighborhood.  Keeping in trend with several of SRHT's other recent developments, the project packs quite a bit of architectural punch.  Designed by Brooks + Scarpa Architects, renderings portray a white hued low-rise structure, featuring a street facing urban window and lush ground level landscaping.  Located at 811 South Carondolet Street, the wood-framed apartments would rise five-stories above a first floor parking garage.  A document from the California State Treasurer's Office indicates that the Six would feature a mixture of studio and one bedroom units.  The project, which will cater to veterans and chronically homeless persons, is scheduled for full occupancy in October 2015.

Although most of their portfolio consists of adaptive reuse projects, SRHT has ventured into ground up construction in recent years.  The Downtown-based nonprofit frequently collaborates with architect Michael Maltzan, with previous efforts including the critically acclaimed Star Apartments.  SRHT is also in the midst of construction on the New Pershing Hotel Apartments, a project which converts one of Downtown Los Angeles' last remaining Victorian structures into 69 units of affordable housing.