The Albany, a proposed mixed-use hotel development near the Los Angeles Convention Center, is on pace to break ground in 2022, according to an initial study published last week by the Planning Department.

Sandstone Properties, the Los Angeles-based real estate development firm behind the project, purchased an approximately 2.59-acre industrial site at Pico Boulevard and Albany Street for $42 million in 2017.  A years later, the company initiated an entitlement application for a 37-story hotel tower on the property featuring 730 guest rooms in addition to roughly 63,000 square feet of conference space, and parking for 443 vehicles.

HOK is designing the Albany, which would stand approximately 480 feet in height.  Renderings depict a contemporary glass-and-steel structure featuring slim vertical elements dropping toward a fifth-floor podium, capped by a large amenity deck.  The podium structure would largely consist of conference rooms and ancillary functions, with parking located entirely in four below-grade levels.

Construction of the Albany is anticipated to occur over approximately three years, with completion scheduled to occur in 2025.

Sandstone Properties, which is also developing multifamily housing projects in Westchester and Warner Center, is seeking a financial incentive package for the Albany similar those granted to other nearby hotel developments - including the Fig + Pico complex, which is now under construction.

A motion initiating the study of an economic incentive package indicates that the project is expected to create 2,000 construction jobs, 700 permanent jobs, and $11 million in annual tax revenue for the City of Los Angeles.

The project comes at a time when the Los Angeles Convention Center is poised for a $500-million expansion which will increase the facility's size to 1.2-million square feet, making it the largest convention facility in Southern California.  AEG, the operator of the Convention Center, is also slated to add a 40-story, 850-foot hotel tower to the nearby J.W. Marriott hotel complex.