More Apartments Underway South of Hollywood & Highland

A short walk south from Hollywood High School, the Miami-based Lennar Corporation recently started construction on a mixed-use development at 1411 N. Highland Avenue.  Built on a vacant lot between Leland Way and DeLongpre Avenue, the six-story structure will contain 76 apartment units above 2,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  A combination of studio, one, two and three bedroom units shall be served by 143 parking spaces, located within an 1 1/2 level underground garage.  1411 N. Highland will offer a "rooftop life style center," containing a gym, club room, and a pool deck offering views of the Hollywood Hills.  Promotional materials emphasize the building's central location (walk score of 95!), within easy reach of a variety of restaurants, stores and mass transit.  Designed by Torrance-based Withee Malcolm Architects, the low-rise structure features a white-hued exterior accented by large windows and wood paneling.  Construction is anticipated to last 20-22 months, placing the project's expected opening date in late 2015 or early 2016.  Coincidentally, Lennar's development bears a slight resemblance to the nearby Highland Selma mixed-user, a Killefer Flammang-designed project which broke ground in October 2013.

Massive Vermont Towers Finishing Up

Koreatown's Vermont Towers and their famously obtrusive parking podium are finally in the home stretch.  The mixed-use development from the J.H. Snyder Company is one of only a handful of high-rise projects to break ground in Los Angeles since the recession.  With towers of 29 and 23 stories, the Vermont adds 464 one and two bedroom units directly across the street from the bustling Wilshire/Vermont subway station.  Designed by the Venice-based Jerde Partnership, the $200 million project features residential amenities including an outdoor garden, heated swimming pool, gym and dog park with views of the Downtown skyline.  Despite its highly visible parking accommodations, the Vermont has also extended an olive branch to pedestrians.  The project has resulted in a variety of streetscape improvements along the western and northern sides of the property, including new palm trees and extra-wide sidewalks.  The towers will greet Wilshire Boulevard with a landscaped pedestrian plaza, centered around 40,000 square feet of retail space with room for a full service market.  After two years of construction, the towers are scheduled to open their doors in May of this year.  Mark it of on your calendars, everyone.

A Closer Look at the Historic Core's 34-Story Tower

It's not everyday that Downtown's Historic Core sees the possibility of ground up construction, let alone for a high-rise.  Nevertheless, veteran developer Izek Shomof intends to construct a 34-story residential building at the intersection of 4th Street and Broadway, just one block east of the Pershing Square subway station.  Dubbed "Broadway @ 4th," the project would consist of 450 residential condominiums above approximately 7,000 square feet of ground floor retail and restaurant space.  Rising 388 feet above ground, the tower would dwarf all of its neighboring pre-war buildings.  Designed by the Spring Street-based firm of HansonLA, Broadway @ 4th would be clad in exterior materials such as terra cotta veneer, metal and cement paneling.  Due to a stipulation within the Broadway Design Overlay, the tower's mass would be set back approximately 30 feet from the street above its 11th floor.  This requirement facilitates high-rise construction along the Broadway corridor, while still maintaining the Historic Core's signature mid-rise street wall.  The podium structure would contain five levels of above-grade parking, with residential units screening the garage from view on its upper floors.  Residential amenities would be concentrated on the tower's 12th floor, with offerings including a pool, recreation room, fitness center, and sauna.

Shiny New Rendering of South Park's Onyx Mixed-User

Courtesy of Thomas Cox Architects, feast your eyes on an updated rendering of South Park's upcoming Onyx mixed-user.  Planned by Fashion District landlord Jade Enterprises (Topaz), Onyx will rise on two surface parking lots near the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Flower Street.  The two colorful buildings will stand seven stories, combining to create 410 apartment units and over 30,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  Located across the street from Metro's Pico Station, the transit oriented development will contain less than half the amount of the residential and commercial parking normally required by code.  Further emphasizing the pedestrian over the automobile, vehicular access to the project's underground garage shall be routed through an alleyway on the backside of the property.  Although this blighted stretch of Pico Boulevard has spent decades as a pedestrian dead zone, Onyx is just one of several nearby projects currently in the pipeline.  Just across the street, 4D Development & Investment plans to construct a 112-unit apartment building.  One block east, the Arizona-based Wolff Company and Sonny Astani are collaborating on a 640-unit mixed-use development known as G12.

Boutique Hotel Proposed Near Hollywood/Western

While Hollywood and Vine is clearly the place to be at the moment, don't sleep on the Hollywood/Western neighborhood just down the street.  Over the weekend, the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council took a look at plans for a new hotel on the vacant lot at the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and St. Andrews Place.  The self-described "European Style Luxury Boutique Hotel," would rise six-stories, consisting of 80 guest rooms above a two-level, 31-car garage.  An environmentally friendly development, the hotel would contain passive solar energy features, recycled materials, low water usage fixtures, green roofs, and parking for bicycles and electric vehicles.  Catering to the "affordable luxury," market, rates would range from $180-220 per night.  The hotel would also feature a ground-floor cafe with outdoor seating along Hollywood Boulevard.

Although a controversial gentrification wave began sweeping through Hollywood after the completion of the Red Line, few large scale developments have occurred near the Hollywood/Western subway station.  Now, with fewer opportunities available near Highland Avenue and Vine Street, developers have started looking east of the 101 freeway.  A 120-unit senior housing complex opened across the street from the site of the proposed hotel back in 2012.   Local super-developer Sonny Astani has plans for an apartment-retail complex next-door to the historic Mayer Building.  Kitty-corner to the subway station, the CIM Group is well into construction on a one-story shopping center.  Further south on Western Avenue, an affordable housing project and a full-sized Target outpost are both under construction.

Columbia Square Now Going Vertical

The Hollywood skyline was starting to get a little sparse, with construction cranes having recently disappeared at both Emerson College and Blvd 6200.  Then, along came the $380 million Columbia Square development to save the day.  While little more than a giant dirt pit at this point in time, developer Kilroy Realty will eventually turn the parcel at 6121 Sunset Boulevard into over 300,000 square feet of new Class-A office space and a 20-story residential high-rise.  Dubbed "The Residences at Columbia Square," the Rios Clementi Hale-designed tower's 200 units will be divided between luxury rentals and extended stay hotel suites.  The project also entails the adaptive re-use of Columbia Square's historic William Lescaze designed structures, which shall be repurposed as creative office and retail space.

It's difficult to imagine anyone looking at Hollywood in the 1980's and seeing the potential for luxury housing and shiny new office buildings, but here we are all the same.  Kilroy Realty is confident enough in the neighborhood's future that they recently announced plans for a second project just a few blocks away.  The West LA-based developer paid over $45 million to acquire the four acre site on Vine Street where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences once planned to build its museum.  With the proposed museum relocated south to the LACMA campus, Kilroy will instead construct a $285 million mixed-use complex containing 220 apartments, retail and office space.

First Look at Downtown's Upcoming Wave of Canadian Skyscrapers

Lately, the talk of the town has been the recent influx of Chinese investment into the South Park neighborhood.  How about some foreign money from closer to home?  This Tuesday, the DLANC's Planning and Land Use Committee is scheduled to take a look at multiple high-rise projects proposed by two Canadian-based developers.  The Amacon Group, which has stayed north of the border until recently, is revamping its pre-recession proposal for a mixed-use high-rise development at 1133 Hope Street.  The Onni Group, already hard at work on a 32-story tower at 888 Olive Street, has plans for two substantially more ambitious projects nearby.  The three developments would combine to create over 1,500 residential units in glassy towers that would look right at home in Vancouver or Toronto.  Of course, that's no coincidence, since all three projects were designed by Vancouver-based Chris Dikeakos Architects.  Check out the specs and some additional renderings below.