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Los Angeles is often thought of as a car-centric metropolis, with sprawling suburbs over the city's surrounding hills and lengthy commutes along extensive highways. But things are changing in America's second largest urban area, as the population is expected to grow by 38.4 percent to reach 15.7 million by 2025. L.A. is also getting denser and is expected to reach 6,450 people per square mile over the next decade which is higher than the San Francisco-San Jose metropolitan area's current density of 6,213 people per square mile.
With its current urban policy, the City of Angels is encouraging the construction of new right-of-way LRTs and subway lines in an effort to connect rapid-transit-less neighbourhoods to key areas of the city, such as the central business district and other business parks, while reinforcing the attractiveness of already connected areas scattered around the city. As a result of a better connectivity and a trend in North American cities to consolidate their central districts as a place to live, work and play, Downtown Los Angeles is experiencing a strong growth in residential units, office space and new cultural institutions.
With roughly 40,000 residents and a daytime population of approximately 500,000 people that represents only six percent of the region’s jobs, Downtown L.A. has a lot of spare room for new residents and office workers. And large-scale projects are indeed reshaping the business district and significantly impacting the iconic skyline. After a first wave of art-nouveau edifices being repurposed as loft-style dwellings, large-scale mixed-use developments are becoming increasingly common in this growing part of town in order to meet the high demand. Once completed in 2020 Metropolis, currently under construction on a six-acre lot along Francisco Street, will add over 800 condominium units and a hotel to the area, spread across four highrises.
Similarly Fig Central, located on a 4.6-acre lot across the street from the Staples Center, will feature one 49-storey tower and two 40-storey towers, 504 condominiums, 183 hotel rooms, 50,000 square metres of retail space and an open-air galleria. With a single phase of construction, the project is set for completion in 2018.
Two blocks northeast from Metropolis, The Bloc is transforming a whole city block of car-friendly DTLA into a pedestrian haven with the redevelopment of the former Macy's into an open-air mall with direct subway access, 24,000 square feet of office space, an 800-seat movie theatre, a hotel and a wide array of cafes, restaurants and patios.
Steps away, the Wilshire Grand Tower is set to become the tallest structure west of the Mississippi in 2017, rising 335 metres above street level. Not only will the future hotel dramatically alter L.A.'s skyline, it will also greatly contribute to the neighbourhood's vitality with 6,225 square metres of retail including a sky lounge on the top floor, 62,895 square metres of office space and 900 hotel rooms.
Those massive developments are surrounded by a series of smaller-scale projects that are also contributing to the rebirth of DTLA as a whole, including the 271-unit Concerto at the corner of South Flower Street and West Olympic Boulevard, 801 and 888 Olive Street, respectively 27 and 32 storeys high, and the 30-storey 1233 South Grand. A sign the Downtown is becoming the epicentre of the metropolis is the construction of the new Los Angeles Federal Courthouse, designed by the world-famous architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM). Currently under construction, it will rise 10 storeys above the corner of 1st Street and Broadway once completed.
More renderings and information for each project are available in our dataBase, and you can also get involved in the discussion on the Forums, linked below.
| Related Companies: | Gensler |
