Thanks to a cash infusion of $290 million from Chinese Communications Construction Group (CCCG), the Frank Gehry-designed Grand Avenue Project may finally have a start date in sight.
The project, which has been more than a decade in the making, will be built on a parking lot just east of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Curbed Los Angeles reports. Included in the Grand Avenue Project will be a 305-room four-star Equinox hotel, 215,000 sf of retail space, and a 39-story residential tower with 429 units. Underneath the development will be six levels of parking with room for 1,500 cars.
The retail space will comprise restaurants, shopping, and a movie theater complex spread across a series of landscaped open terraces. The 429 residential units will consist of 128 condominiums and 301 apartments. 86 of these apartments will be deemed affordable for qualified low-income residents. According to Curbed LA, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors says people earning between $24,320 and $43,400 per year will qualify for the affordable units.
The Grand Avenue Project, after the $290 million from CCCG, has now raised $400 million of the estimated $1 billion price tag for the development. Considering real estate developers typically borrow 70% or more of the funds they need to start building, the $400 million already raised bodes well for the project, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The project, which is being developed by Related Companies, is set to finally begin construction in 2018. When completed, it is estimated the development will employ about 3,300 people.
Related Stories
| Nov 3, 2011
Hardin Construction tops out Orlando Embassy Suites
The project began in April 2011 and is expected to open in fall 2012.
| Sep 30, 2011
Kilbourn joins Perkins Eastman
Kilbourn joins with more than 28 years of design and planning experience for communities, buildings, and interiors in hospitality, retail/mixed-use, corporate office, and healthcare.
| May 20, 2011
Hotels taking bath out of the bathroom
Bathtubs are disappearing from many hotels across the country as chains use the freed-up space to install ever more luxurious showers, according to a recent USAToday report. Of course, we reported on this move--and 6 other hospitality trends--back in 2006 in our special report "The Inn Things: Seven Radical New Trends in Hotel Design."
| May 18, 2011
Design diversity celebrated at Orange County club
The Orange County, Calif., firm NKDDI designed the 22,000-sf Luna Lounge & Nightclub in Pomona, Calif., to be a high-end multipurpose event space that can transition from restaurant to lounge to nightclub to music venue.
| Apr 12, 2011
Retail complex enjoys prime Abu Dhabi location
The Galleria at Sowwah Square in Abu Dhabi will be built in a prime location within Sowwah Island that also includes a five-star Four Seasons Hotel, the healthcare facility Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and nearly two million sf of Class A office space.
| Mar 11, 2011
Holiday Inn reworked for Downtown Disney Resort
The Orlando, Fla., office of VOA Associates completed a comprehensive interior and exterior renovation of the 14-story Holiday Inn in the Downtown Disney Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The $25 million project involved rehabbing the hotel’s 332 guest rooms, atrium, swimming pool, restaurant, fitness center, and administrative spaces.
| Mar 11, 2011
Guests can check out hotel’s urban loft design, music selection
MODO, Advaya Hospitality’s affordable new lifestyle hotel brand, will have an urban Bauhaus loft design and target design-, music-, and tech-savvy guest who will have access to thousands of tracks in vinyl, CD, and MP3 formats through a partnership with Downtown Music. Guest can create their own playlists, and each guest room will feature iPod docks and large flat-screen TVs.
| Mar 11, 2011
Texas A&M mixed-use community will focus on green living
HOK, Realty Appreciation, and Texas A&M University are working on the Urban Living Laboratory, a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project owned by the university. The five-phase, live-work-play project will include offices, retail, multifamily apartments, and two hotels.
| Mar 9, 2011
Igor Krnajski, SVP with Denihan Hospitality Group, on hotel construction and understanding the industry
Igor Krnajski, SVP for Design and Construction with Denihan Hospitality Group, New York, N.Y., on the state of hotel construction, understanding the hotel operators’ mindset, and where the work is.