The plan to redevelop the Fashion District's historic City Market as a 10-acre mixed-use complex continues to move forward, with a hearing scheduled next week at the Los Angeles City Planning Commission.

The project, which is being led by Lena Group, imagines reinventing the former produce market with multiple buildings between three and 38 stories, featuring up to 948 residential units - including 48 priced for the workforce and low income affordability levels - a 210-key hotel, 225,000 square feet of commercial space and a 300,000-square-foot campus for that could house an educational institution.  According to the Planning Department's staff report, various commercial uses within City Market could include shops, restaurants, even space, and a 744-seat multiplex theater.

Architecture firm HansonLA is designing the project, which could feature towers up to 454 feet in height.  The master plan for the sprawling development site would be broken up through a series of internal walkways, both elevated and at street level.  The property's central pedestrian spine is oriented along the produce market's historic courtyard, giving a not to the project's origins.

Renderings show a series of jagged towers and mid-rise structures, providing a significant departure from the more boxy forms that typify modern commercial developments.  Building facades are articulated for maximum sun exposure and limiting the appearance of an imposing street wall.

The development team is also a signage program which would allow buildings to display digital advertisements.

Lena Group has already repurposed a substantial portion of the property - branded City Market South - as a mixture of office and retail space.  The existing space was 98 percent leased as of Summer 2017.

A definitive timeline for the larger ground-up project has not been revealed.  Past reports have pointed to a potential phased build out over the course of 20 years.

The Planning Department's staff report recommends the approval of the development scheme, as well as an agreement to provide over $11 million towards the creation and preservation of affordable housing in the area.