LA is exploding!!! If you’re even remotely hooked in on whats happening out there then you’ll know that LA is the place to be (and yes, the place to be seen)! The real estate market has been on a tear these past few years, and despite seasonal pressures and uncertainty there is no end in site. Demand coupled with a lack of inventory (supply) has created the perfect storm driving prices straight through the roof. The higher prices pull in investors looking to cash in through development deals, and voila we are left with a city that is currently experiencing a massive construction boom!
So what’s in the works? A lot. Where? Everywhere. But let’s start with the 10 biggest proposed projects and go from there:
10. Hazens L.A. Center
Size: 750,000 Square Feet
Address: 1020 S. Figueroa St.
The Scoop: The LUXE hotel will be demolished and replaced by a 42-story residential tower along with an adjacent 32-story tower. Together they will hold 650 Condo Units, and the projects is budgeted for $700,000,000.
9. NoHo West
Size: 816,200 Square Feet
Address: 6150 North Laurel Canyon Blvd.
The Scoop: Currently located at 6150 Laurel Canyon Blvd., The Laurel Plaza will soon become a mixed use community with over 800,000 square feet of space. Comprised of shops, restaurants, commercial office space, and residential units, this is one of the more exciting developments happening in the valley currently!
8. Sears Hollywood
Size: 900,000 Square Feet
Address: 5601-5667 Santa Monica Blvd.
The Scoop: The Sears Building in Hollywood has been a sad, empty, 100,000 square foot shell since 2008 – it’s about time someone did something with this space! CIM group purchased the building, and the nearly 1,000,000 square feet of buildable space last year for roughly $43.5 Million and they have ambitious plans. They are shooting for 700 Units and 300,000 square feet of retail to be in this development.
7. Stationer’s Building
Size: 916,640 Square Feet
Address: 525 S. Spring St.
The Scoop: This is the vision on an 87 year old developer who says that this project will put LA on the map as a world class city (I wasn’t aware we weren’t!). The ground floor will house between 12-15,000 square feet of retail space, and the other 39 floors would be strictly residential.
6. Jordan Downs Redevelopment
Size: 1,100,000 Square Feet
Address: 9800 Grape St.
The Scoop: Unlike the others on this list, the Jordan Downs Redevelopment is not just a building (and the surrounding area) is it 119 acres of land. To be specific it is 119 acres of land in South L.A. currently home to one of the most dangerous housing projects in the city. The redevelopment will be a massive undertaking, and one that is majorly reliant upon federal funding (currently an issue for them). The vision is an “urban village” featuring townhouses, parks, stores, and restaurants, along with 1,400 redeveloped house units. Ambitious is an understatement!
5. The Reef
Size: 1,600,000 Square Feet
Address: 1900 S. Broadway
The Scoop: So, we just almost doubled in size if you didn’t notice – and that is no mistake. This next project is slated to be a 1,600,000 square foot development with a BILLION dollar budget comprised of commercial space, residential units, and hotel rooms. This project is being designed by the esteemed M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates and is brainchild of real estate aficionado Ara Tavitian.
4. Boyle Heights Sears
Size: 1,800,000 Square Feet
Address: 2650 E. Olympic Blvd.
The Scoop: Developer Izek Shomof picked up the Boyle Heights Sears building in 2013, and finally received a preliminary approval from the city planning department last year. The plan? 1,000 residential and office units. Of the 1.8 Million square feet of space roughly 350,000 would be held for retail and the rest would be residential and commercial.
3. Ferrante Aparments
Size: 1,814,680 Square Feet
Address: 100 W. Temple St.
The Scoop: The Ferrante Apartments will sit on top of 9.6 acres of land bordered by Temple St., Beaudry Ave., and Mignonette Street. The space is currently occupied by a 10-story office building and a parking structure but both will be demolished to make way for the 7 story 1,814,680 square foot complex. The complex will house 1,500 apartment units and 30,000 square feet of retail space!
2. Cumulus Transit Oriented Project
Size: 1,900,000 Square Feet
Address: 3321-3351 S. La Cienega Blvd.
The Scoop: What do you get when you combine 300,000 square feet of commercial, retail, and office space, with 1,218 residential units in one complex? A 1,900,000 square foot megaproject! This place will have it all, including it’s own grocery store!
1. New Wyvernwood in Boyle Heights
Size: 3,500,000 Square Feet
Address: E. 8th St. & Grande Vista Ave.
The Scoop: Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! No folks, that is not a typo in the size section. This bad boy is going to be 3,500,000 square feet in size – that’s almost double our second largest proposed project!!! 4,400 residential units, 300,000 square feet of retail and office space, along with gardens… GARDENS! The whole thing would rest on over 70 ares of land which was purchased by the Miami based development firm almost 20 years ago… Wow!
Which of these will actually come to fruition and which will go down in history as an overly ambitious shot in the dark is something that only time will tell – but check back frequently and we’ll update you on how progress is… well… progressing!
John is the Vice President here at JohnHart, and as such is responsible for managing and directing the firm towards obtaining its ultimate goals.
He is also one of our main contributors on the Blog. (please see his profile page on the main site for more information.)
