Finishing Touches on Culver City Apartments

In Culver City, construction is wrapping up on the Oliver Apartments, a residential-retail complex from the Vancouver-based Bastion Development Corporation.  Standing three stories at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Marcasel Avenue, the building will include 30 one-and-two-bedroom apartments above 8,700 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.  The low-rise structure, clad mostly in smooth-finish stucco and wood paneling, features private balconies on three sides.

Bastion's project is slated for completion in March 2015.  It may be joined in the near future by a larger neighbor which would straddle the Los Angeles-Culver City border.  Plans filed with the city at 11925 Louise Avenue call for a five-story building, containing 97 apartments and 15,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space.

Budokan of Los Angeles Gets a New Look

Budokan of Los Angeles (Image: Rafu Shimpo)

In October 2014, the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) proudly announced that it had crossed the 50% threshold in its $23 million fundraising campaign to build the Budokan of Los Angeles.  The proposed recreation center, a longtime goal of many community stakeholders, would replace a surface parking lot at 229-49 S. Los Angeles Street.  Now, in an article published by the Rafu Shimpo, LTSC has unveiled a new look for the project designed by local architecture firm Gruen Associates.

The proposed three-story edifice--named for Tokyo's famous Nippon Budokan--would feature two full-size basketball courts, meeting rooms, a kitchen and landscaped rooftop terraces.  A one-level garage would sit beneath the 44,000-square-foot building, offering parking accommodations for up to 64 vehicles.  LTSC expects multiple uses for the facility, including after-school programs, martial arts tournaments, basketball and volleyball.

Toy Manufacturer Planning Mixed-Use Campus in the West Valley

MGA Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based manufacturer of the popular Bratz doll line, is planning a 1.2-million square-foot mixed-use complex in the San Fernando Valley

The proposed development, located at 20000 West Prairie Street in Chatsworth, would rise upon a nearly 24-acre site which once served as a printing plant for the Los Angeles Times.  The project, which is being designed by Killefer Flammang Architects, calls for a campus-style setting that would include office space, rental apartments, and community-serving retail.

MGA Entertainment's new corporate headquarters would serve as the development's focal point.  The toy maker would relocate approximately 250 employees into an existing 250,000-square-foot facility.  The nondescript two-story structure would be substantially remodeled "with a theme reflective of MGA's products."  Proposed additions include a 7,500-square-foot employee cafeteria, a daycare center, outdoor patio space and significant water features and landscaping.  The building would also contain 43,000 square feet of leasable creative office space and limited assembly, production and showroom space.

Plans Emerge for Playa Vista's Remaining Office Parcels

12099 and 12126 W. Waterfront Drive

With Yahoo! on the cusp of signing a 130,000-square-foot lease in the under-construction Collective campus, Tishman Speyer Properties is now forging ahead with plans for their remaining Playa Vista real estate.

According to a November case filing from the Department of City Planning, the New York-based developer intends to construct two low-rise office buildings adjacent to Playa Vista Central Park.  The first, a six-story structure, would rise from a nearly four-acre site at 12126 West Waterfront Drive.  Directly across the street, plans call for a five-story building and associated surface parking on the six-acre property at 12099 West Waterfront Drive.

City records do not currently indicate the exact footprints of the proposed buildings.  However, a January article from the Los Angeles Times reported that Tishman Speyer had entitlements to build up to 400,000 square feet of office space on the two properties

New Wave of Residential Developments Hitting K-Town

Wilshire Professional Building, 1932 (Image: Water and Power Associates)

According to a series of recent case filings from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, a slew of new multi-family residential developments are planned throughout the hyper-dense Koreatown neighborhood.

Plans were submitted to the city in late November for a new 16-story, 220-unit residential tower at 3875 Wilshire Boulevard.  The one-acre property, listed amongst the portfolio of office landlord Jamison Services, is currently developed with the 12-story Wilshire Professional Building.  The Art Deco landmark has stood at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and St. Andrews Place since 1929.

It is currently unclear whether the proposed development entails the adaptive reuse of the historic building, or new construction on an adjacent surface parking lot.  Jamison Services had previously submitted plans to the city for a low-rise apartment building which would abut the historic office tower.

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.

New Look for Culver-City-Adjacent Mixed-User

Image: NMS Properties

Developer NMS Properties has unveiled a new rendering for the NMS Culver City, a residential-retail complex currently under construction along the border between Palms and Culver City.  The $63 million development, designed by Santa Monica-based Killefer Flammang Architects, will feature 131 apartments above 12,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.  The low-rise structure is located at the northwest corner of Washington Boulevard and Hughes Avenue, directly across the street from both Sony Picture Studios and the Kirk Douglas Theater.

Construction crews recently began applying exterior materials to the building's six-story wooden frame.  However, progress on the low-rise development has fallen significantly behind its previously announced schedule.  At the time of groundbreaking, the project was expected to reach completion in mid-2014.  According to the NMS Properties website, opening is now scheduled for sometime during 2015.