A new residential skyscraper planned in downtown Los Angeles has cleared a critical regulatory hurdle that will be in its usual location – above existing parking lots.
The proposed tower will be one of the 53 tallest stories in the city, rising in the center of the city’s most densely populated mixed-use complex, called Bloc, which already has office and hotel towers, as well as Alamo Drafthouse Cineplex, shops and restaurants.
City Planning Commission members approved the supplement to the long-term plan last week, which will head to the city council for a final vote on the proposed 41-story apartment or apartment tower that will be built on the complex’s original 12-story garage.
The group is a downtown dating back to the early 1970s when it was an indoor shopping center that filled the entire downtown neighborhood and also boasts plush hotels and high-rise office buildings. Over the years, tourists have flocked to the Prime Minister’s address on Seventh Hehua Street.
By the time it was sold in 2013, Macy Square was an outdated, out-of-the-art relic with little love, although its location was still the busiest place in the city at the famous office skyscraper, hotel and subway intersection.
Los Angeles developer Wayne Ratkovich made an ambitious makeover that included demolishing the mall’s roof and cutting off the main floor to create a sunken, sun-filled public plaza.
More entrances to complexes were created, including the underground portal of the Seventh Street/Metro Center Light Rail Station.
But unexpected construction problems slowed down work and helped the initial $180 million budget increase costs by more than $250 million. Ratkovich Co.
The National Real Estate Consultant did not respond to requests for comments added to the plan, but public documents before the City Planning Commission showed it would include 466 units, including 83 studios, 271 one-bedroom units, 100 two-bedroom units and 12 three-bedroom units.
The tower will only occupy a portion of the garage roof area, leaving room for the outdoor convenience deck with pool, barbecue area and landscaping, including lawns, shrubs and trees. Plans show that the top level will also have leisure spaces with indoor and outdoor landscaped landscapes.
The garage will undergo an earthquake renovation as part of the developers, which the developers hope to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2030, the developer said. The developer said the timing and decision to build a unit apartment or apartment will depend on market demand.
The plan approved by the Commissioner will also allow owners to erect large digital displays on multiple levels around the complex, surrounded by Nos. 7, 8, Hope and Flower Street.
Real estate data provider Costar said Los Angeles is struggling to cope with housing shortages and a slowdown in new buildings.
The number of multi-family units under construction fell 22% year-on-year, reducing the city’s multi-family vacancy rate to 5%, and tenant rent units 10,000 more units than vacant in the past year.
Macy’s Bloc, which was recently closed, was one of 66 Macy’s companies that management was identified as underproduction in January.
Some downtown stakeholders, including office real estate partners, provided support letters for the Bloc residential project.
“Increasing multifamily use will transform the existing development into a truly mixed-use project that includes residential, commercial and hotel use,” Rising Realty Partners said. “The project will help build a balanced 24-hour community.”
