Last week, representatives of the City Market development in the Fashion District granted Urbanize a tour of the first component of the transformative mixed-use development.

City Market South - the first phase of the potentially $1-billion project - began work approximately three years ago on a 2.5-acre site at the corner of 11th and San Pedro Streets.  Thus far, eight historic produce warehouses have been repurposed as 75,000 square feet of creative offices and retail space, as evidenced by the images below.

Mark Levy, a representative of City Market South, described described the project a "placemaking exercise."

With this goal in mind, Lena Group has sought to preserve the original architectural elements of the existing structures, including bow-truss ceilings and open floor plans.  The buildings wrap around a central landscaped courtyard, which is permeable to the street through openings on both 11th and San Pedro.  City Market is currently pursuing an alley vacation for the alley running north-to-south through the property, which would allow for this space to expand.

According to Napoli, 95 percent of the property is now leased, with approximately half of the space being used as commercial offices.  Current tenants include the architecture firm MASA Studio, developer LENA Group, clothing brand LoveStitch and visual effects company Drive Studios.  Ground-level food and beverage venues include Cognoscenti Coffee, and the the Bologna-inspired restaurant Rossoblu.

According to Levy leasing for City Market South has been handled in an unorthodox fashion.  Rather than hiring a brokerage firm, the development team has instead drawn in tenants by word-of-mouth, asking current tenants to recommend complementary businesses.