Recent years have seen Downtown's once ample stock of large surface parking lots give way for a series of high-rise developments. Now, one of the neighborhood's older mixed-use buildings will implement a series of modifications in order to keep up with the evolving neighborhood.
Last week, all tenants of the 22-story tower at 801 S. Grand Avenue were notified that an expansion of the 1980s high-rise is expected to commence before the end of April. Property owner CIM Group plans to build 3,000 square feet of new ground-floor retail space along the eastern side of the building, replacing a portion of its lobby. An additional 5,500 square feet of new office space will be constructed above the lobby on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. Other improvements will include new paint and carpeting in corridors throughout the building.
Construction of 801 S. Grand's expansion is expected to last approximately six months.
The tower, located catacorner to Downtown's ballyhooed Whole Foods Market, is billed as the first Downtown building to merge Class-A office space and luxury housing. The lower half of the tower currently comprises more than 200,000 square feet of office space, with tenants that include a satellite campus for California State University, Los Angeles. The upper floors of the building were converted into condominiums in 2006.
