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)

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)

An Overhead Look at the WeHo Depot Redevelopment

Image from Cohen Brothers Realty via WEHOville

Way back in 2013, WEHOville reported on a presentation from Cohen Brothers Realty about their massive redevelopment plans for Metro's West Hollywood Bus Depot.  The sprawling 10.4 acre site on Santa Monica Boulevard would be anchored by a pair of high-rise towers containing office, hotel and residential space.  Closer to ground level, the project would feature retail space, a movie theater, an open-amphiteater, and a 50,000 square-foot sheriff's station.  Since this project would replace an existing bus maintenance facility, Cohen Brothers Realty would build a three-level replacement garage underneath the complex.  Altogether, the vision drawn up by Los Angeles-based Gruen Associates would create an approximately 1.2 million square foot campus.  Quite a substantial project for development wary West Hollywood.  Then again, perhaps this is the type of project needed to push a Santa Monica Boulevard subway closer to reality.  West Hollywood, whose citizens strongly supported both Measures R and J, was left out of Metro's immediate expansion plans when the Pink Line concept was eliminated from the Westside Subway Extension.

• Cohen Bros. Realty Pitches Santa Monica Boulevard Project to Neighbors (WEHOville)