It's been less than two weeks since we first heard that Chinese developer Shenzhen Hazens Real Estate Group has plans to put tons of condos and a hotel on an L-shaped parcel in South Park stretching from Olympic and Figueroa down to Eleventh and Flower, and already there are sleek renderings of what's going to be a multi-tower project with high rises up to 42 stories tall, reports the Downtown News. This will be the third massive megaproject in the construction booming neighborhood.
The first phase of the Gensler-designed project will be a 30-story, 250-room hotel at the northwest corner of Eleventh and Flower, plus another 30-story high-rise with condos; construction could start as soon as 2017. (Shenzhen Hazens is currently in the entitlement process, which they anticipate could take anywhere from 12 to 14 months.) Once the first half of construction is complete—ideally in early 2020—the second wave of building would start "immediately" afterward. The second and final building phase would raze the Luxe City Center and put up a 42-story condo tower. Together, the two residential towers would have 650 units between them and be linked by an eight-story podium, which will also feature some resident perks like green space and swimming pools. More amenities will be built on the rooftops of the towers.
There'll be a little something here for the shopping and strolling public too. A large "public plaza" along Figueroa and across from the LA Live entertainment complex would lead to a huge shopping complex of ritzy, exclusive shops and restaurants; in total, the project will have 80,000 square feet of retail spread out over two floors, mostly along Fig.
The timing of the second half of construction just about lines up with the expiration of a five-year contract that Shenzhen Hazens signed with Luxe when they bought the hotel site and the two other parcels in this development last year. Shenzhen Hazens hasn't said if Luxe will stay on to operate the new hotel, only that the finished hotel will be a "five-star" affair.
In all, the project—Shenzhen Hazens's first from scratch in the US—is expected to run $700 million.
This is the third megaproject on the way in South Park. Shenzhen Hazens's still-unnamed monster joins a huge roster of projects in various stages of construction, including developer Greenland's massive mixed-use Metropolis a block north-ish of LA Live (also designed by Gensler and well under construction), Oceanwide's enormous Fig Central, and planned construction at about two dozen other sites. Fast forward five years into the future and South Park is going to look and probably feel like a radically different place—rather than an occasional entertainment zone with a few high-end condos, it'll be very tall, very expensive, 24-hour urban neighborhood.
· Chinese Developer Reveals Plans for South Park Mega-Project [DN]
· Yet Another Condo/Hotel High-Rise on the Way in South Park [Curbed LA]
· Mapping 28 Projects on the Way in DTLA's Booming South Park [Curbed LA]
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