Prolific Vancouver-based developer Onni Group continues to move forward with plans for a large office complex near the intersection of Santa Monica and La Brea Avenues in Hollywood.
One year ago, Onni filed an application with the City of Los Angeles seeking entitlements for a new project at 7000 W. Romaine Street and 948 N. Sycamore Avenue. The proposed project would be highlighted by the construction of a new 14-story building featuring 195,000 square feet of offices, accompanied by 6,393 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and an 809-car garage. Additionally, Onni would retain a historic building on the site - the a nearly 67,000-square-foot Howard Hughes Headquarters Building.
View looking southeast from Romaine and SycamoreSCB
According to an initial study just published by the City of Los Angeles, indicated the start of the project's environmental review period, Onni's proposal has been named the Romaine & Sycamore development for its cross streets. The project would result in approximately 268,000 square feet of total offices and commercial space, complementing nearby developments along Sycamore built by CIM Group.
Solomon Cordwell Buenz is designing the new construction within the Romaine & Sycamore project, which would rise approximately 216 feet in height. Plans depict call for a contemporary design, with an exterior of white stone, metal panels, and concrete wrapping the podium levels, and a glass facade on the office levels above. Amenity decks would be located at the podium and roof levels.
Though modern in style, the new construction is also intended to take cues from the adjacent Hughes building.
View looking southwest from Romaine and OrangeSCB
"The parapet line of the historic building is mimicked by the ground floor retail and lobby space heights on the new façade, providing continuity at street level, and the simple, light-colored volumes of the historic building are re-interpreted by the architect as stone-clad masses of similar scale within the base of the Project, which are used to transition the scale and architecture between the two, while still providing continuity," reads a narrative included with the initial study. "The hand-set tiles at the front doors of the historic building serve as inspiration for the use of ceramics on a larger scale, but in a simplified way as color accents at the new building’s street entrances."
Construction of Romaine & Sycamore is contingent on the approval of discretionary entitlements by Los Angeles city officials, including a zone change and a conditional use permit for alcohol sales in the ground-floor commercial space. Pending approvals, work on the project is expected to begin in 2025 and conclude by 2028.
Although the project emerges at a challenging time for the office market in Los Angeles and other major cities, surrounding properties have had solid luck. CIM-built developments are anchored by tenants such as SirusXM and Kaiser Permanente.
7000 W Romaine Street and 948 N Sycamore AvenueGoogle Maps
The new project, which is one of numerous large-scale developments for Onni Group in Los Angeles, is the company's second in the Hollywood Media District. A block north on Santa Monica Boulevard, the Vancouver-based firm is wrapping up work on a 231-unit apartment complex with ground-floor retail space.
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