Bjarke Ingels-designed 670 Mesquit development could cut offices for more housing

Long-running plans to build a Bjarke Ingels-designed high-rise complex in the Arts District are undergoing changes, according to a new report published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.

The project at 670 Mesquit Street, planned by the Gallo family and Vella Group for a site just west of the Los Angeles River, was last envisioned in 2021 as a series of four interconnected high-rise buildings featuring up to 1 million square feet of offices, a 236-room hotel, 420 homes, and new publicly accessible open space to be built above an adjoining rail yard.

A revised alternative for the project, now under review, would respond to plummeting demand for offices by shifting the focus of the project from commercial space to residential. The revised alternative calls for cutting more than 300,000 square feet of offices, building roughly 676,000 square feet in total, while increasing the number of new homes proposed to 894 dwelling units - including 45 for extremely low-income households and 99 for very low-income households. Likewise, the proposed hotel would be expanded in size to include 271 guest rooms. The report also points to changes in planned floor area for other uses, including retail, restaurant, and gallery space, as well as the footprint of a proposed charter school and a gym.

The design team for the project also includes architect of record Gruen Associates. Plans show a total of four contemporary high-rise structures, standing up to 34 stories or 388 feet in height. New landscaping, connecting to the deck above the river, is interspersed throughout the site, which stretches from 7th Street to just south of 6th Street.

The updated alternative, in addition to trading office for residential uses, would also cut four months from the construction timeline. Previous reports have pointed to a single five-year construction phase or in construction in multiple stages over the course of nine years. However, a precise groundbreaking date has not been announced.

The development site sits just south of the recently-finished Sixth Street Viaduct, and would use the planned deck above the Los Angeles River to complement new park space now taking shape below the bridge. The property also abuts what could become the future site of an Arts District Metro station.

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• 670 Mesquit (Urbanize LA)