Groundbreaking on delayed Grand Avenue apartment tower slated for this week
Hayley Fox/blogdowntown
Officials say that although minor excavation work has begun, the official groundbreaking of the residential tower will take place on Thursday.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Developers will hold the official groundbreaking this week for a DTLA residential tower on Grand Avenue, which is only one portion of the massive and oft-delayed Grand Avenue project.
Minor excavation work has already began on the site but city officials including Mayor Villaraigosa and Councilmembers José Huizar and Jan Perry, will gather on Thursday, January 10 to usher in the official start of the project.
When completed, the $120 million apartment complex will have 19 stories and 271 apartments, stretching from Grand Avenue to Hope Street. Twenty percent of the units will be affordable housing and there will be 5,000 square feet of designated restaurant space on the ground floor of the Grand Avenue side.
The Los Angeles Business Journal reports that the current plans are "scaled back" from the original concept which included two taller residential towers.
Related California is the developing firm behind the Grand Avenue project, which aims to help further revitalize Downtown by building new retail locations, hotels and housing along Grand Avenue and near the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Since the project's announcement more than six years ago, it has faced multiple false starts while struggling to secure all the necessary funding. Press representatives for the project say delays have been strictly due to "the recession and market conditions."
The only portion of the Grand Avenue project to be completed so far is the Grand Park, which began opening in phases last year and was completed in October.
The Grand Avenue residences, designed by architecture firm Arquitectonica, are expected to be completed by 2014.
John G on January 08, 2013, at 01:48PM – #1
This project should have never been scaled back. If finance was the issue, it should have been delayed instead until the market warrants its development.
By building this lower density building, the structural density of downtown LA is not being effectively utilized for further growth. Instead, this type of development will only slow down the type of economic vibrancy this area needs. I still think this is better than nothing, but in my opinion there is too much "rush" out there without proper long-term planning of high-density sustainability. "Scaled-back" basically ensures more urban sprawl...