This Friday, the Los Angeles City Council will consider a revised ground lease for the Korean American National Museum, which is proposed for a City-owned parking lot at the corner of 6th Street and Vermont Avenue.
The project, a longtime objective of Koreatown stakeholders, is imagined as a seven-story mixed-use building, featuring a two-story, 30,000-square-foot museum below 103 units of rental housing. Plans also call for 12 apartments to be set aside as very low-income housing, and a 144-car underground garage.
Renderings of the project, which is being designed by Gruen Associates, portray a glassy mid-rise edifice wrapping around an elevated garden and event deck.
Per the revised terms, KANM would provide 57 parking spaces within its underground garage for use by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
The full cost of the museum is estimated at $35-million.
Next-door, a high-rise tower featuring apartments and a hotel is planned for a property currently occupied by a Denny's restaurant. Across the street, Los Angeles County has unveiled plans to redevelop several properties along Vermont Avenue as part of a public-private partnership with Trammell Crow Company.
- Korean American National Museum Archive (Urbanize LA)