Big Arts District Warehouse Becoming Office Space

The Arts District continues to shed its industrial past, as yet another adaptive reuse project joins an already considerable list of proposed developments.  According to an October case filing with the Department of City Planning, a 280,000-square-foot warehouse complex at 2060 E. 7th Street is slated for a mixed-use conversion.  Plans filed with the city call for 40,000 square feet of retail and 20,000 square feet of restaurant uses within the development.  Upper floors of four-story complex feature rectangular floor plates, each of which can be combined to offer 88,000 square feet of contiguous office space.

The project is being developed by the Shorenstein Company, a San Francisco-based real estate firm which recently purchased the towering Aon Center.  The above warehouse, dubbed Seventh & Santa Fe, originally opened in 1915 as the Ford Motor Company's Southern California base of operations (Thank you, John Crandell!).  Designed by famed Los Angeles architect John Parkinson, the facility was used primarily for the assembly of Model T's and Model A's.

Seventh & Santa Fe is located in the southernmost section of the Arts District, an area which has recently experienced a noticeable uptick in investment.  Two additional mixed-use developments are planned nearby along 7th Street, potentially creating over 400 new market rate housing units.  Retailers and eateries have also taken notice of the neighborhood, including Bestia and Stumptown Coffee Roasters, both of which are located across Santa Fe Avenue from the proposed office project.

• Case Information Summary Sheet: DIR-2014-3936-SPR (LADCP)
• Seventh & Santa Fe (Shorenstein Company)

Details Emerge for Coca-Cola Building's Mixed-Use Conversion

The rapid evolution of the Arts District continues to pick up steam, with yet another adaptive reuse project on the way.  Earlier this year, a subsidiary of the New York-based Atlas Capital Group purchased Coca-Cola's former West Coast headquarters, with the intention of converting it into a mixed-use development.  Now, an initial study published by the Department of City Planning has shed light on what's to come.

Per the new environmental document, the three-story edifice at 963 E. 4th Street will feature a combination of office, retail and restaurant uses.  Upper floors in the former warehouse will become approximately 78,000 square feet of creative office space.  This will give the Coca-Cola facility roughly the same footprint as South Park's Desmond Building, a similar adaptive reuse project which was recently leased by Convention Center overlord AEG.

At ground level, the Coca-Cola building will feature 25,000 square feet of  retail and 20,000 square feet of restaurant uses.  The restaurant space will be split between two different eateries, with total seating for slightly over 300 patrons and operations between 7 a.m. and 2 a.m.

These combined uses are anticipated to generate up to 1,000 daily car trips, thus spawning the final aspect of the project: a 306-vehicle garage.  The seven-story structure will rise from an existing surface parking lot, located immediately east of the Coca-Cola building.

In addition to Atlas Capital's adaptive reuse project, several residential and retail developments are also in the planning stages nearby.  On a vacant property adjacent to SCI-Arc, Legendary Development and Associated Estates Realty are collaborating on a controversial 472-unit mixed-use complex.  A few blocks south, a 125,000 square foot shopping center is planned along Palmetto and Mateo Streets.

• Arts District's Old Coke Factory Swept Up in Gentrification Wave (Curbed LA)

• ENV-2014-2443-MND (LADCP)

More Low-Rise Action in the Arts District

1800 East 7th Street (Image credit: HansonLA via The Architect's Newspaper)

In an excellent summary of the Arts District's ongoing identity issues, the Architect's Newspaper has quietly revealed plans for the neighborhood's newest mixed-use complex.  The proposed development, a 122-unit residential building, would rise seven stories from a current parking lot at 1800 E. 7th Street.  The building's exterior would be clad in lightweight concrete panels, accentuated by a "sculptural glass corner."  An artist's rendering of the project, which is being designed by local architecture firm HansonLA, portrays the building with ground-level commercial space at the corner of 7th and Decatur Streets. 

Plans for the residential complex are emerging as Arts District stakeholders grapple with the rapid changes sweeping through the community.  Trendy restaurants and coffee shops have made the neighborhood a regional destination, but this increased recognition has been accompanied by an increased demand for housing.  However, rather than accept an uninhibited building spree, residents and business owners have instead taken an active role in shaping the designs and content of new construction.

One example of this dynamic is seen a few blocks east at 695 S. Santa Fe Avenue, the site of a proposed mixed-use development from Bolour Associates.  Although initial plans for 695 S. Santa Fe took inspiration from the Arts District's industrial past (and present), feedback from the community eventually prompted a complete redesign.  The revised proposal, though less visually striking than its predecessor, now includes more live/work units and greater accessibility to its central green space.

These local efforts will likely be aided by the Arts Distric Live/Work Zone, a proposed zoning overlay which aspires to maintain the neighborhood's existing character while doubling its housing stock from 1,500 to 3,000 units.  Specifically, the overlay 1) encourages live/work units in lieu of traditional apartments and condos, 2) regulates more intensive industrial land uses and 3) enforces urban design standards.

Like its proposed neighbor down the street, HansonLA's design for 1800 E. 7th Street is also informed by these principles.  Residential units would consist entirely of live/work lofts, as favored by the Arts District Live/Work zone.  Additionally, the building would wrap around a central courtyard and a paseo, two amenities encouraged by the proposed overlay.

1800 E. 7th Street

• The Art of Planning (The Architect's Newspaper)

Mega Toys Replacing Mixed-User Gets Underway

As reported by the LA Times this morning, the long stalled "Mega Toys," development is finally getting underway in the Arts District.  The $100 million project from Lowe Enterprises includes 320 residential units over ground floor retail, set to come online in 2015.

The re-development of the Mega Toys warehouse joins two other upcoming mixed-use developments on the Arts District's northern edge: the 439-unit One Santa Fe and Legendary Development's 472-unit project adjacent to SCI-ARC.

Image from Togawa Smith Martin, Inc.

• Two Vacant LA Warehouses to be Replaced with Mixed-Use Complex (Los Angeles Times)
• One Santa Fe Inches Forward (Building Los Angeles)
• Major Apartment Complex Planned in Arts District (LA Downtown News)

One Santa Fe Inches Forward

One Santa Fe construction site, viewed from Boyle Heights

While its squat profile makes no impact on the skyline, One Santa Fe is pegged to bring 439 residential units to the Arts District by Fall 2014.  The Michael Maltzan designed project encompasses 510,000 square feet stretched over a thin, quarter mile mile long footprint.  Due to its adjacency to Metro's subway maintenance yard, One Santa Fe may become the entry point to a proposed Arts District station served by the Red and Purple Lines.

One Santa Fe

• One Santa Fe (Michael Maltzan Architecture)
• One Santa Fe to Get Reworked Lease, Metro as Retail Tenant (Blogdowntown)

A Blurry First Look at the Arts District's 950 Third

Image credit: CityGro.ws

Thanks to CityGrows, take a first look at 950 Third, the mixed-use development slated for the vacant lot adjacent to SCI-Arc.  The low-rise project - originally slated to break ground this summer - is being developed by a team consisting of Ohio-based Associated Estates Realty and Glendale-based Legendary Development.  Renderings from Kava Massih Architects portray multiple brick-clad structures, standing between five and six stories in height.  Residential buildings would contain a total of 472 apartments, centered around a 922-vehicle parking garage.  The developers intend to mitigate the project's sprawling footprint by creating a new road through the the property.

Although the empty, 5.6-acre lot represents a major hole in the northern Arts District, some residents have expressed discontent with the the proposed residential-retail development.  In an open letter to City Councilman Jose Huizar, CityGrows creator Stephen Corwin blasted the project's design as "soulless....cheap and uninviting."  He further notes that the project's copious parking accommodations - nearly double what is required by code - run counter to City Hall's effort to build a more walkable, sustainable Los Angeles.

Past development schemes at 950 East 3rd Street have also been met with criticism.  Nearly a decade ago, Downtown-based Meruelo Maddux Properties (since rebranded as EVOQ Properties) proposed two 40-story condo towers for the lot.  Arts District residents staunchly opposed that plan, which was deemed to be out of character with the surrounding neighborhood.  Legendary Development experienced similar difficulties with their first attempt at the project two years ago, producing a design that was described to the Downtown News as "banal [and] boring."

The project is representative of a sea change currently underway in the Arts District.  Up until recently, most residential and commercial development in the neighborhood had consisted of the adaptive reuse of former warehouses and factories.  However, high demand for housing has a introduced a new element into Downtown's easternmost nabe: ground-up construction.  Developments such as One Santa Fe and the revived AMP Lofts offer a stark contrast to the aesthetics and amenities of the Arts District's existing housing stock.

Image credit: CityGrows

Image credit: CityGrows

Image credit: CityGrows

Image credit: CityGrows

• An Open Letter to Jose Huizar (CityGrows)
• Major Apartment Complex Planned in Arts District (Downtown News)

Construction Cranes Arrive in the Arts District

Anyone approaching Downtown Los Angeles from the east may have noticed that a new object joined the skyline earlier this week: a bright, orange construction crane.  Rising high above the low-slung Arts District, this tower crane will assist in the construction of Lowe Enterprises' Mega Toys killing mixed-use development.  Scheduled to open in 2015, the Togawa Smith Martin designed complex will consist of 320 apartment units and 15,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  Buildings are set to rise five stories on opposite sides of Garey Street, which will be converted into a pedestrian-only paseo flanked by stores and restaurants.  Located a short walk down the street from the nearly finished One Santa Fe development, the Mega Toys crane can expect some company within the coming year.  According to the Downtown News, Legendary Development plans to break ground on a three-building, 472-unit project next to the SCI-Arc campus this Spring.  Further south, Bolour Associates revived the pre-recession AMP Lofts late last year, with a new look courtesy of the Downtown-based Shimoda Design Group.  To top it all off, Metro is also looking into the possibility of adding as many as two new Red/Purple Line stations near 1st and 6th Streets.  With a wide variety of mixed-use developments in the pipeline and a subway link potentially on the way, we're looking at a very different Arts District five years down the line

Viewed from the elevated Gold Line tracks feeding into Union Station

• Mega Toys Replacing Mixed-User Gets Underway (Building Los Angeles)

Controversial Arts District Complex Begins Work

After successfully navigating an unanticipated level of neighborhood resistance, work is finally getting underway on another large mixed-use development in Downtown Los Angeles' burgeoning Arts District.

Yesterday, while walking the neighborhood with Downtown icon Brigham Yen, a small crew was spotted prepping the dirt lot at 950 East Third Street for construction.  The six-acre site, which is being developed in tandem by Associated Estates Realty and Legendary Development, will eventually birth a series of five-and-six-story buildings containing 472 apartments and 21,000 square feet of retail space.

The design of the 400,000-square-foot complex, crafted by Kava Massih Architects, is intended to match the existing feel and aesthetics of the Arts District.  Renderings indicate that the project would include numerous murals, as well as industrial-themed exterior finishes with metal accents.

950 East Third Street (Image: Downtown News)

However, those initial touches proved insufficient to nearby residents and property owners, many of whom descended upon a community meeting this past summer to voice their displeasure with the development's scale, dearth of live-work units and auto-oriented design.  In the end, the outcry from neighborhood stakeholders yielded results, including a slight reduction in the project's parking accommodations (from 922 stalls to 774 stalls) and the addition of pedestrian-friendly green space in lieu of a new street.

A full build-out of 950 East Third street is expected to take three years, beginning with an initial phase of 248 residential units.  It is the third large-scale mixed-use development to break ground in the Arts District over the past several years, following One Santa Fe and the Garey Lofts.

• A Blurry Look at the Arts District's 950 Third (Building Los Angeles)
• Outcry Leads to New Look for Arts District Project (Downtown News)
• The 20 Most Important Projects in Downtown in 2014 (Downtown News)