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Showing posts with label Fashion District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fashion District. Show all posts

Saturday

Century Old Grayco Building Will Become Mixed-Use Development

Just when all was quiet on Downtown Los Angeles' adaptive re-use front, the Department of City Planning sends out this notice

The Grayco Building, as it appeared in the 1920's.  Image from USC's Digital Library.

752, 754, 756 South Los Angeles Street

"...the Adaptive Reuse of an existing nine-story plus basement, mezzanine and penthouse, 46,709 square-foot light manufacturing building with ground-level retail uses, into a mixed-use building containing 54 joint live/work dwelling units and ground-level retail uses
...Average floor area of 583 square feet per unit in lieu of the otherwise required average floor area of 750 square feet per unit..."
The Grayco Building has 100 years of history within its walls, and soon it will also have dozens of permanent residents crammed into tiny apartments.  Just for fun, here are some more images of the building from long before any of us were born.


Seen here in 1926.  Image from USC's Digital Archive.

The Grayco Building's Ground Level Interior in 1927.  Image from USC's Digital Archive.

  
While the exterior is attractive, if unspectacular, the interior was a true work of art.  Of course, it's difficult to say if that beautiful craftsmanship still exists underneath a ground level exterior that currently looks like this:

Anyone want to hit up SuitFellas?  Yeah...great pun, guys.
While I'd love to imagine a scenario where the Grayco Building is restored to its early 20th century appearance, I think we're in for something similar to the treatment received by its next door neighbors: the Santee Village Lofts.

The Santee Village Lofts comprise the two buildings on the left.  The 1913 Grayco Building is on the right.

Tuesday

New Pershing Apartments Begin to Take Form


More than one year after plans were announced to convert Downtown's Pershing Hotel into affordable housing, little remains of the 125 year old structure beyond its Victorian facade.  The approximately $15 million project, developed by the Skid Row Housing Trust, will eventually consist of 69 studio and one bedroom units, ranging from 350 - 500 square feet.  Designed by Killefer Flammang Architects, the New Pershing Hotel Apartments will rise five stories, with upper floors set back from the historic facade.  The desperately needed affordable housing complex will also activate its ground level with retail space and social service offices.  Residential amenities include a landscaped central courtyard and a community room with a kitchen.  Information displayed by the website of contractor Westport Construction indicates that the apartments are scheduled to open their doors this November.  The project is located opposite 5th Street from the New Genesis Apartments, another collaboration between KFA and SRHT which opened in 2012.

Image credit: Killefer Flammang Architects via Westport Construction Inc.





Friday

Shiny New Renderings of the City Market Mega-Development


Take a look at the latest renderings for City Market, the Fashion District mega-development which proposes to transform a century-old produce market into a 10-acre mixed-use campus.  Comprised of 14 development sites roughly bounded by 9th, 12th, San Julian and San Pedro Streets, City Market would create more than 1.9 million square feet of programmed space.  Designed by HansonLA, plans call for 945 units of new housing, a 210-room business class hotel, and 225,000 square feet of ground level retail and restaurant space.  On the southern end of the project site, ground-up construction and the adaptive re-use of existing buildings would create nearly 300,000 square feet of office space.  Known as "City Market South," this segment of the development would be a "symbiotic mixture of creative office, unique food and beverage, and destination retail."  Renderings from HansonLA portray a cluster of re-purposed warehouse buildings centered around a pedestrian friendly central courtyard (see below).  The northern end of the project site would feature a mid-rise urban campus for one or more creative arts colleges, providing space for over 1,400 students.

Buildings would range from 3 to 38 stories in height, with the largest tower peaking at 435 feet above ground level.  This height limit is marketed as a nod towards Los Angeles' iconic City Hall.  Office and residential structures would sit above approximately 3,700 parking spaces, located in podium structures and underground garage space.  City Market would feature ample green space on its first and second levels, serving both tenants and residents in the surrounding neighborhood.  Designed by Olin Landscape Architecture, the project includes linear park dubbed the "Runway," which would traverse the San Julian Street side of the property.

Of course, don't expect to see shovels hit the dirt for most of City Market for several years.  Work may start in the near future on a small adaptive re-use section of the project, but the complete buildout may take two decades to become reality.  Of course, with a project valued between $500 million and $1 billion, a long development timeline is to be expected.  When it's all said and done, City Market could bring thousands of jobs and new residents to a still developing part of the Downtown neighborhood.  More importantly, it could be a catalyst for new investment in the Fashion District, much like Staples Center was in South Park.

City Market's location within Downtown.  All images from City Market, unless specified otherwise.

San Julian Street profile.

Site plan for the project.  Two parcels on the west side of San Julian Street are also included in the project, intended for apartments and a hotel.

Bird's eye view of the project, including Runway's bridge over 11th Street.

Looking north along San Julian Street.

The higher education campus at the northern end of the project site.

City Market South.  Image credit: HansonLA.