Thanks to a plan from a locally based investor, a blighted property on the eastern fringe of Koreatown is slated to be replaced by a mixed-use residential community. Century West Partners, developer of the K2LA apartment complex, is proposing a similar project immediately west of Lafayette Park. Planned at the southeast corner of 6th Street and Virgil Avenue, the development entails a seven-story structure with 399 rental apartment units and 20,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space. The project is being designed by Santa Monica-based Killefer Flammang Architects, the same firm that converted the adjacent Sheraton Townhouse into affordable housing in 1996.
Located at 2968 W. 6th Street, the 1.8-acre site has sat unused for years, with previous redevelopment attempts proving unsuccessful. One decade ago, a different investment group planned to construct a retail-entertainment center on the property, containing 15 restaurants and a movie theater. However, that proposal was derailed in 2008, amidst the global economic downturn. Six years later, the project site finds itself in the middle of a rapidly evolving neighborhood, centered around the Wilshire/Vermont Metro station. A few blocks west of of 6th & Virgil, a developer is planning to build apartments above an existing four-story parking structure. To the southwest, the J.H. Snyder Company reportedly opened the 464-unit Vermont Towers last month.
