Miracle Mile Apartment Complex Re-Revealed

Image: LOHA Architects

Take another look at 727 Cloverdale Avenue, a striking low-rise apartment complex planned just south of the Miracle Mile.  The purely residential development, designed by Los Angeles-based LOHA Architects, would rise from a half-acre parking lot adjacent to the landmark Dominguez-Wilshire Building.  Plans submitted to the city call for a four-story structure, containing 43 dwelling units above a four-level underground garage.  The project includes a total of 246 parking spaces, intended for use by both residents and office tenants.

LOHA's design for the apartment complex is intended to complement the Art Deco stylings of its octogenarian neighbor.  Facade elements would include repetitive vertical fins and floor-to-ceiling aluminum casement windows.  The building would maintain an elevation of 48 feet, matching the height profile of adjacent structures along Cloverdale Avenue.

The project's design is also motivated by a desire to provide "indoor-outdoor living."  727 Cloverdale would feature two distinct private courtyards, framed by a meandering exterior walkway.  A fourth-floor pool and shade garden would provide additional open space for residents, offering views of Downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills.

As of October, Carnegie Hill is in the process of obtaining permits from LADBS which will allow for construction of the project to begin.  However, an official development timeline has not been released.

• LOHA-Designed Apartments to Rise Near Dominguez-Wilshire Building (Building Los Angeles)
• Miracle Mile (LOHA Architects)
• 727 S. Cloverdale Avenue 90036 (LADBS)

LOHA-Designed Apartments to Rise Near Dominguez-Wilshire Building

One of the Miracle Mile's greatest architectural gems is about to get a contemporary next-door neighbor.  New York-based Carnegie Hill Properties, owner of the historic Dominguez-Wilshire Building, plans to construct an apartment community adjacent to the pre-war office structure. Located at 727 South Cloverdale Avenue, the new building will rise four stories and contain 42 residential units.  Designed by LA-based Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects, the project received rave reviews from members of the Miracle Mile Neighborhood Association.  As reported by the Park La Brea News, the building's cast stone facade will feature a "strong vertical element," that complements the architecture of its art deco neighbor.  The apartments will sit above a four-level underground garage, which would serve both residents and commercial tenants in the Dominguez-Wilshire Building.  An eerily similar development is currently underway one block west, where Associated Estates Realty Group is building 175 apartments on the former parking lot of Desmond's Tower.  Surface parking lots are somehow becoming an endangered species on the auto-dominated Miracle Mile.

The Dominguez-Wilshire Building, built in 1932.  The future site of 727 S. Cloverdale sits in the foreground.

• Case Information Summary Sheet (LADCP)
• Project to Complement Dominguez-Wilshire (Park La Brea News)

Crane Action Hits the Sunset Strip

High above the world famous Sunset Strip, four construction cranes are hard at work on a transformative mixed-use complex from Los Angeles-based CIM Group.

The Sunset La Cienega development - designed by a team consisting of SOM, LOHA and Mia Lehrer + Associates - will create four mid-rise buildings with condominiums, hotel rooms and ground-floor commercial space.  Work on the $300 million project began in earnest nearly two years ago, with the clearing of several vacant structures at the intersection of Sunset and La Cienega Boulevards.

The mid-rise buildings, which will occupy two corners of the intersection, faced numerous hurdles prior to breaking ground in mid-2013.  Originally approved in 1999 under the name of Sunset Millennium, the project remained stalled for nearly fifteen amidst litigation and weak market conditions.  CIM Group purchased the roughly five-acre property and its development rights in 2011.

The 2.48-acre East Parcel, located at the southeast corner of the intersection, will birth twin 10-story hotel towers, consisting of a 286-room James Hotel with ground-level commercial space and an parking garage.  Designs from SOM also feature a central open-air plaza, preserving sight lines to the south.  The hotel towers are strategically positioned to take advantage of an unobstructed view of the Downtown Los Angeles skyline.

Image: CIM Group

The 2.06-acre Middle Parcel, located directly across La Cienega Boulevard, will feature two eight-story residential buildings designed by LOHA and Mia Lehrer + Associates.  When complete, the buildings will contain a cumulative 190 dwelling units above street-level retail and restaurant space and a surface parking garage.

Image: CIM Group

Sunset La Cienega is scheduled for delivery in 2016, at which point in may be joined by several other hotel developments along the Strip.  This includes a proposed West Coast flagship location for Marriott's Edition chain and the potential redevelopment of the House of Blues nightclub.

• Sunset La Cienega (Official Website)
• Sunset Strip Development Revs Up as Long-Delayed Project Gets Going (Los Angeles Times)