In the Arts District, work is proceeding for an adaptive reuse project that will transform the vintage Ford Factory at 7th Street and Santa Fe Avenue into creative offices.

The Shorenstein Company, a San Francisco-based real estate developer which purchased the four-acre complex last year for $37 million, is in the process of converting the erstwhile manufacturing center into approximately 254,000 square feet of office space and 60,000 square feet of ground-level retail and restaurant space.  Designs call for expansive windows and contiguous floor plates of up to 88,000 square feet in size.

Renderings from El Segundo-based Rockefeller Partners Architects indicate that the redevelopment project will undo years of alterations and restore the building's red brick exterior.  Canopies are slowly enveloping the two-to-five-story structure to begin this process.

In addition to the restoration of the site's existing building, Shorenstein is adding new features to currently underutilized areas of the Ford Factory.

A 600-car parking structure will stand flush with the eastern property line, while a 15,000-square foot paseo will provide outdoor seating for commercial tenants and greenery between the new garage and the existing factory buildings.  As of early December, site preparation for this aspect of the project has begun.

The factory complex, which was built in phases between 1912 and 1996, is scheduled to reopen as offices in 2016.

Much to the chagrin of many Arts District and DTLA boosters, it appears that BuzzFeed will not be calling the Ford Factory home.  According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, the New York-based media company backed out of discussions to lease the vast majority of the building in September.