Another Skyscraper Planned in the Historic Core

737 S. Spring Street

Yesterday, the Downtown News reported that Holland Partner Group had recently paid $12.5 million for a parking lot at the intersection of 8th and Spring Streets, with still unrefined plans to build apartments.  According to a recent case filling from the Department of City Planning, the Vancouver-based company intends to join the the burgeoning trend of high-rise development in Downtown's Historic Core.

Plans for the property at 737 South Spring Street call for a 24-story tower, containing 320 apartment units and ground-floor retail uses.  The proposed development would result in a larger building than the property currently allows for, and will thus require a transfer of floor area rights from a different site.

A set of promotional renderings, first seen on DTLA Rising, may offer hints about the project's future.  The conceptual design from Chris Dikeakos Architects featured a soaring 34-story tower above a retail and parking podium.  The actual project at 737 S. Spring Street calls for a slightly shorter building, albeit with a significantly higher level of residential density.

Although Holland Partner Group is no stranger to Downtown, or the Southern California region, the proposed tower will be their first project located east of the 110 Freeway.  The developer is currently building a large residential-retail complex at the corner of 6th and Bixel Streets in City West.  Their earlier work includes a 210-unit mixed-use development on Wilshire Boulevard.

• 11-17-14 (Downtown News)
• Case Information Summary Sheet:  DIR-2014-4189-TDR-SPR (LADCP)
• Downtown LA Parking Lot...Looking for High-Rise Developer (DTLA Rising)

Redesigned Bixel & 6th Development Rendered

Bixel & 6th.  Image credit: LoopNet.

Take another look at Bixel & 6th, the fortress-like mixed-use development currently sprouting next to Good Samaritan Hospital.  Designed by Togawa Smith Martin, the six-story complex will offer 606 studio to three-bedroom apartment units, seated above 25,000 square feet of commercial space and a 762-vehicle parking garage.  The $200 million development also entails the adaptive reuse of an A.C. Martin-designed office building, located at the corner of 6th Street and Lucas Avenue.  The eight-story edifice, built in the 1920s, will contain a total of 42 apartments (including 27 affordable units).

Planned amenities will include rooftop decks, an outdoor pool, a fitness center and new landscaping.  Designs call for a pedestrian paseo to bisect the newly constructed buildings, running north to south from the project's 6th Street frontage.  The paseo would provide open space for residents and potentially outdoor seating for ground-floor commercial tenants.

The approximately 900,000 square foot complex is being developed by Holland Residential, a subsidiary of the Holland Partner Group.  The Vancouver-based organization is no stranger to City West, having previously developed a smaller residential-retail project immediately south of Bixel & 6th.  That project, known as 1111 Wilshire, has helped usher a new wave of development into Downtown's westernmost nabe.

In addition to Holland Residential, prominent Beverly Hills developer Sonny Astani plans a similar complex two blocks southwest at Wilshire Boulevard and Valencia Avenue.  Some demolition work for the $60 million project has already occurred.  North of Bixel & 6th, a 122-unit residential-retail development is proposed near the intersection of 3rd and Witmer Streets.

View looking south from 6th Street.  Image credit: Downtown News

An A.C. Martin-designed office building at 6th Street and Lucas Avenue.  Currently being converted to apartments by Holland Residential.

• Downtown L.A. Building Boom Stretching West of Financial District (Los Angeles Times)
• Two Residential-Retail Complexes Start Work in Westlake (Building Los Angeles)

Two Residential-Retail Complexes Start Work in Westlake

After more than a year of inactivity, mixed-use construction is finally returning to City West.  In the shadow of Good Samaritan Hospital, two developers are now in the midst of site preparation for a pair of residential complexes that will infuse the Westlake neighborhood with more than 800 new market rate apartment units.

On a 4.1 acre property immediately northeast of the hospital, the Vancouver-based Holland Partner Group recently commenced work on a long delayed $125 million mixed-use development.  Known as the Bixel and Lucas project, plans call for a low-rise development with 648 residential units and 40,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  According designs drawn up in 2011, the project will consist of two phases, the first of which entails the conversion of a vacant eight-story office building at 1136 W. 6th Street into 42 apartments.  The second stage, which consists of approximately 600 residential units, calls for the construction of a new, six-story building that would occupy most of the project site.  Residential amenities would include a landscaped interior courtyard, recreation room, dog run, and parking accommodations for 762 vehicles.  As part of a density bonus granted by the city, Bixel and Lucas shall reserve 30 of its residential units very low income households.  The almost 925,000 square foot development comes on the heels of 1111 Wilshire, a significantly smaller building opened by HPG in early 2013.  Bixel and Lucas, like 1111 Wilshire, features a colorful facade designed by Nadel Architects.

Image credit: Nadel Architects

1136 W. 6th Street, currently being refurbished as part of HPG's Bixel and Lucas Development.  See what it looked like before.

A few blocks southwest, Astani Enterprises recently commenced demolition on the cluster of one-story commercial buildings formerly located at 1501 Wilshire Boulevard.  In their place, the Beverly Hills-based developer intends to construct Valencia, a 218-unit complex designed by Killefer Flammang Architects.  Rising six stories, the building will offer 4,400 square feet of ground floor commercial space, in addition to a 258-car underground parking garage.  Similar to many Downtown projects currently in predevelopment, the project utilized the city's recently instated bicycle parking ordinance to allow for a 10% reduction in total number of vehicular parking stalls required.  Like Bixel and Lucas, stipulations of a density bonus granted by the city also require Valencia to include affordable housing.  In this case, a total of 18 residential units will be reserved for low income households.  The $60 million development is located just one block west of Vero, another residential-retail complex opened by Sonny Astani in 2006.

• City West Project With 640 Units to Break Ground in 2014 (Downtown News)
• Good Samaritan Mixed-Use (Nadel Architects)
• Astani's Latest Westlake Mixed-User Revealed (Building Los Angeles)

Excavation Progress at Long Stalled La Brea Gateway

After years of delay, Hollywood's controversial La Brea Gateway is finally pushing dirt.  Located at the northwest corner of La Brea and Willoughby Avenues, the mixed-use development will create 179 apartment units and a 33,500 square foot Sprouts Farmers Market.  Designed by Van Tilburg, Banyard & Soderbergh, the five-story building will feature parking accommodations for 463 automobiles and 231 bicycles in an subterranean garage.  Located at 915 North La Brea Avenue, the project is being developed by Holland Residential, a subsidiary of the Vancouver-based Holland Partner Group.  La Brea Gateway has existed in one form or another since 2005, when it was first envisioned as a seven-story, 219 unit building.  That slightly larger version of project, proposed by the Martin Group, drew the ire of an especially vocal group of neighbors who successfully negotiated the planned building down to its current size.  Three years later, work is finally underway, with an estimated completion date of November 2015.

NIMBY haircuts aside, Holland Residential's project is really just one example of a broader trend for La Brea Avenue.  Historically considered a commercial boulevard, a recent uptick in mixed-use construction has added over 1000 residential units along the 2.7 mile stretch of La Brea in-between Wilshire and Hollywood Boulevards.  The City of West Hollywood has been particularly active in this regard, having recently opened several new residential-retail developments north of Santa Monica Boulevard.  The construction boom is also evident further south, near the Miracle Mile, where mixed-use developments are popping up left and right in advance of the coming Purple Line extension.

• Case Information Summary Sheet (LADCP)
• La Brea Gateway (Holland Partner Group)
• Controversial La Brea Willoughby Project Will Shrink (Curbed LA)

Construction Cranes Rises in City West

With the recent installation of a tower crane, construction is now going vertical at City West's massive Sixth & Bixel development.

Work kicked off for the $200 million project last year, when Vancouver-based Holland Partner Group began converting a 1920s medical office tower at the corner Sixth Street and Lucas Avenue into apartments.  The eight-story edifice, designed by A.C. Martin, will consist of 42 residential units when open in mid-2015.  Holland Partner Group will reserve 27 of the building's units as affordable housing, in accordance with a density bonus granted to the project.

The project also includes the construction of two colorful six-story buildings, designed by architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin.  The low-rise structures will comprise an additional 606 residential units, seated above 25,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 762-car garage.  Plans call for a slew of residential amenities in this phase of the project, including a fitness center, an outdoor pool, and multiple rooftop decks.

A complete build out of the 900,000-square-foot complex is expected by late 2016.  By total number of residential units, Sixth & Bixel is the currently the second largest development under construction in Downtown, following Carmel Partners' monolithic G8 apartments.

• Rainy Day Westlake Construction Update (Building Los Angeles)