Last month, the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission held a scoping meeting for the Vermont Corridor Project, which would bring new apartments, affordable housing, retail space and offices to Koreatown.

The project, a public private partnership with Trammell Crow Company, calls for redeveloping three three County-owned properties on Vermont Avenue, just north of Metro's Wilshire/Vermont Station.

At 510-532 S. Vermont Avenue, plans call for razing a vacant office building and building a high-rise office tower in its place.  The proposed 21-story, 296-foot tall building would feature 471,000 square feet of office space for the Department of Mental Health atop 10,000 square feet of retail and a 965-car parking structure.

A standalone 11-story, 768-car garage would also be built along the eastern side of the property along Shatto Place.

Gensler is designing the the contemporary tower, which would be clad head-to-toe in glass.

Next-door at the corner of 6th Street and Vermont Avenue, an existing 12-story office boulding is slated for a conversion to 172 apartments above 4,100 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.  Plans call for a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom, in addition to amenities such as a rooftop deck.

This component of the project, which is being designed by Steinberg Architects, also calls for the construction of a five-story parking structure adjacent to the building.  An additional five floors could be constructed above the garage at a later point, creating an additional 74 apartments.

The third component of the Vermont Corridor, slated for a mid-block property across the street, calls for the construction of a a six-story building featuring 72 units of affordable housing for seniors and persons with special needs in addition to a ground-floor community center.

Meta Housing Corporation would develop the senior housing, while the YMCA of Metro L.A. will operate the community center.

The project sequencing for the Vermont Corridor would occur as follows:

  1. Demolition of the existing County office building.
  2. Construction of new DMH parking podium and demolition at future affordable housing site.
  3. Complete office tower and affordable housing, demolish existing parking garage on Shatto Place.
  4. Construct replacement parking garage on Shatto Place.
  5. Convert 12-story office building into apartments.