Black Swan Equity Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in Singapore, has filed updated plans to construct a high-rise apartment tower in Downtown San Pedro.

The mixed-use development, slated for an approximately 15,000-square-foot property at the northwest corner of 6th and Nelson Streets, would consist of a 22-story building featuring 94 residential units - including a 12 percent affordable component - with ground-floor retail space and six levels of parking.  Building permit filings indicate that the project would not include subterranean construction and would use an automated parking system.

The proposed tower, which has been called "Nelson One," or the "Johnson Tower," has gone through several design changes over the past few years.  Past presentations to the land use committees of the San Pedro Neighborhood Councils have shown a 48-unit development ranging between 14 and 16 stories in height, with design work by Domus International and The Code Solution.

Although a Transit Oriented Communities tier verification form was previously submitted to the Planning Department, the development filed yesterday does not make use of incentives through the affordable housing incentive program.  The project site is located within the Pacific Corridor Redevelopment Project Area, one of six areas where the decades-old redevelopment plans have come into conflict with the TOC guidelines, which allow for more larger developments than previously anticipated.

The tower, if built, would stand on a property recently cleared of a late 19th century home that was believed to be the oldest buildings near the L.A. Waterfront.  The 600-square-foot Victorian house was demolished last year.

The project would also replace a pair of single-story commercial buildings along 6th and Nelson Streets.

Though Black Swan's project would likely become the tallest building in San Pedro, it is not the first residential tower the neighborhood has seen.  Two blocks east at 5th and Palos Verdes Streets, a 16-story, 318-unit building known as The Vue was completed in 2008.

Other major projects on the horizon in San Pedro include a proposed boutique hotel next to the Warner Grand Theatre and the redevelopment of the 1940s Rancho San Pedro public housing complex.