It might be a little behind schedule, but development is finally coming to K.O. the underutilized space atop the Westlake/MacArthur Park subway station. According to a document from the Los Angeles City Council, Metro and developer McCormack Baron Salazar are gearing up to start work on the second phase of their $45 million MacArthur Park transit oriented development. Set to rise five stories in-between Alvarado Street and Westlake Avenue, the Torti Gallas/Roschen Van Cleve-designed structure will contain 81 low-income apartments above approximately 17,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. The highly successful phase one, which opened across the street in May 2012, received over 1,000 applications for its 92 affordable units. Given that level of demand, it's probably safe to assume that phase two will have little trouble finding tenants. Especially at a location which provides a front row view of MacArthur Park. The city memo indicates that work on phase two must commence by March 24, 2014 in order to comply with affordable housing financing requirements. In other words, Red and Purple line passengers should be on the lookout for construction fencing and heavy equipment.
