City Century, the American affiliate of the Chinese developer Shenglong Group, continues to move forward with plans to construct a mixed-use high-rise development just north of the L.A. Live complex in Downtown Los Angeles, with the release of the project's draft environmental impact report.

“The City of Los Angeles has released the draft environmental impact report (EIR) for Olympia," said Arthur Chang, Director of Development & Operations at City Century. "This is an important project milestone. The comment period for the draft EIR is 45 days. A final EIR will be prepared after that, and we expect the City to conduct public hearings later this year. We look forward to continued progress through these major milestones toward the project’s groundbreaking.”

Their project, called Olympia, would consist of three towers above a podium structure at 1001 W. Olympic Boulevard.  City Century is considering two alternatives for the project.  The first would be an almost entirely residential development, featuring 1,367 dwelling units above 40,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial uses and parking for up to 2,131 vehicles.  The second alternative, first reported last year, would build 1,000 hotel rooms and reduce the project's residential component to 879 units.

SOM and P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S are designing the towers, which would rise to heights of 65, 53, and 43 stories.  Renderings portray a series of outdoor amenities, including podium level decks and terraces carved into the side of the three towers.  Digital signage is also proposed along the project's podium structure.

Construction of Olympia is anticipated to occur over 48 months.  Completion could occur as early as 2023.

City Century is also behind plans for two other residential towers in Downtown, including a 40-story, 312-unit building at 1201 S. Grand Avenue and a 24-story, 161-unit project at 1233 S. Grand Avenue.

Olympia is one of a handful of large multi-tower developments planned by Chinese firms, joining Metropolis and Oceanwide Plaza.