Downtown Residential-Retail Complexes Gets Moving

Six months after breaking ground in South Park, construction has gone vertical at Olive & Pico, a new residential-retail complex from the Wolff Company.  The seven-story edifice, designed by Downtown-based TCA Architects, will consist of 293 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments above 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.  The low-rise building will sit atop a three-level underground garage, which will accommodate up to 75 vehicles and 342 bicycles.

Plans filed with the city indicate that Olive & Pico will offer a diverse assortment of residential amenities, including a fitness center and multiple outdoor decks.  Additionally, the project will feature 24-hour on-site concierge and valet service, providing a hotel-like experience for residents and guests.

Completion of the $54 million development is scheduled for mid-2016.

Olive & Pico (Image: The Wolff Company)

Excavation is also underway on an adjacent property at 1200 S. Grand Avenue, future site of G12, a second low-rise development from the Wolff Company.  The seven-story building, as designed by TCA Architects, will consist of 347 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments above 20,000 square feet of street-level commercial space.

G12 would feature a similar blend of residential amenities to its next-door neighbor, with outdoor decks, a fitness center, and 24-hour concierge and valet service.  Those similarities also permeate underground to the building's three-level garage, which will provide parking for as many as 320 vehicles and 402 bicycles.

G12 (Image: The Wolff Company)

As can be said for nearly any address in South Park, the Wolff Company projects are surrounded by a profusion of ongoing and future developments.

Last year, a joint venture between AECOM and Mack Urban announced bold plans for a cluster of nearby parking lots.  Their project, valued at $750 million dollars, could accommodate up to 1,900 residential units in a series of high-rise and low-rise structures.  The first phase of the development - a pair of seven-story condominium buildings - is scheduled to break ground sometime before the end of 2014.

One block west on Pico Boulevard, local landlord Jade Enterprises is planning another mixed-use development.  Their project, known as Onyx, would create 410 apartments on two parking lots adjacent to Pico Station.

G12 and Olive & Pico sites

• Another Big Housing and Retail... (Los Angeles Times)
• Phase II of South Park's Massive G12 Development Revealed... (Building Los Angeles)
• 12 & Grand (The Wolff Company)

G12 Preparing to Start Work

It must be a nice time to own a business that rents temporary construction fencing.  Last week, a couple of Downtown parking lots were closed off, making way for new mixed-use projects on 9th Street and Olympic Boulevard.  We can now add a third surface lot to that tally, as the phase one site of South Park's G12 development is now fenced off in preparation for construction.  Designed by locally-based TCA Architects, phase one will rise seven stories at the southeast corner of 12th Street and Grand Avenue. The low-rise building is being developed by a partnership between the Wolff Company and Sonny Astani, and will contain 347 apartments above 18,500 square feet of ground floor retail space.  G12 will offer its residents 24-hour concierge and valet service, in addition to standard amenities such as a pool and a fitness room.  The project has gained some praise for its relative lack of automobile parking (at least by LA standards), as well as its ample bicycle accommodations.  Although the project's current surroundings are a mixture of parking lots and forgettable one-story buildings, this section of South Park is slated for explosive growth in the immediate future.  A second phase of G12 is planned for an adjacent parking lot, although a timeline for that half of the project has yet to be announced.  Developer Mack Urban also intends to construct multiple residential and hotel towers nearby, the first of which could break ground late this year.

• 12th & Grand (The Wolff Company)

Phase II of South Park's Massive G12 Development Revealed

Image from the Wolff Company

With the first half of the bike-friendly G12 development scheduled to begin construction later this year, it's time to take a look at 12th & Olive, the second phase of the $245 million project.  Replacing the current surface parking lot at 1243 Olive Street, the new building will rise seven stories, containing 293 apartment units above 17,300 square feet of ground floor retail and restaurant space.  Phase two includes 7,000 square feet of residential amenities, with the added bonus of 24/7 on-site concierge and valet service.  Like seemingly every other low-rise development sprouting up in Downtown these days, the project was designed by TCA Architects.  Not coincidentally, 12th & Olive bears a strong resemblance to its phase one counterpart.  Owned by the Arizona-based Wolff Company, G12 arrives as the South Park neighborhood is on the cusp of a sea change.  Nearby on Pico Boulevard, Jade Enterprise's Onyx development is planned for two surface parking lots on the path of Metro's Blue and Expo Lines.  North on Grand Avenue, developer Mack Urban proposes multiple high-rise residential and hotel towers adjacent to the AT&T Center.

Phase one, planned for the adjacent surface parking lot at Grand Avenue and 12th Street.  Image credit: Wolff Company

Phases one and two, outlined in red.

• 12th & Olive (Wolff Company)