Dive Brief:
- The Los Angeles City Council selected the joint venture of Angels Landing Partners to develop downtown's Angels Landing, a $1.2 billion mixed-use project, according to Commercial Property Executive.
- The two towers, one 88-story and one 24-story high-rise, will sit on a little more than 2 acres and will include a mix of 425 affordable and market-rate apartments, 250 condominiums, and two hotels for a total of 481 rooms. The development will also house an elementary charter school, a food hall showcasing local establishments, 45,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, and 50,000 square feet of public space, which will feature a 25,000-square-foot terrace. The joint venture consists of Peebles Corp., MacFarlane Partners and Claridge Properties.
- Construction of Angels Landing is expected to take 41 months, with completion scheduled for late 2024. When finished, the towers are expected to be two of the tallest in the western U.S.
Dive Insight:
The successful launch of such a high-density project like Angels Landing might have been threatened just a year ago when pushback against developments of such scale was high and critics seemed to have political momentum at their backs. At the heart of opponents' arguments was the critique that these mega-developments changed the character of historic or arts-based districts, added to the traffic of already-congested roadways and put a great deal of stress on city infrastructure and services.
Critics gathered enough support to get Measure S, the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, on last year's March ballot. The regulation would have put a two-year moratorium on the zoning changes required for many of the biggest construction projects, and the possibility of such limitations led to a flurry of development and zoning applications in the run-up to the vote.
One of those projects was the 14.5-acre, 6AM project in the Los Angeles' Arts District. Developer SunCal has proposed a 58-story high-rise that will house 1,700 for-sale and for-rent units, retail and office space, two hotels, a school, 23,000 square feet of art space and two parks. Despite the defeat of Measure S, that project is still in the planning stages and under review by city planners, according to Los Angeles Downtown News.
Proponents of Measure S weren't left totally empty-handed, though. Via separate measures, developers must use one of the city's pre-approved vendors to help them complete environmental reviews, and the Los Angeles City Council will update community plans every six years.
