Earlier this year, developer Mitsui Fudosan America (MFA) opened the doors of its Figueroa Eight apartment tower in Downtown Los Angeles, completing the redevelopment of a property it has owned since the 1980s. Its next project may not take quite as long to come to fruition.

On June 25, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve MFA's 8th Grand & Hope project, which would replace a parking garage and surface parking lot at 754 S. Hope Street. The proposed development, submitted to the city for entitlements back in 2017, calls for the construction of a 50-story tower featuring 580 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes above 7,499 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 640-car garage.

Aerial view looking northwestGensler

Gensler is designing the tower, which is intended to incorporate elements evoking L.A.'s famed Mid-Century modern homes. Plans call for a stepped building envelop which would shift away from Hope Street as it rises, creating terrace decks for residents. Plans call for an exterior of glass, concrete, aluminum, and stone.

The tower may also incorporate up to 189 additional homes at a future date through the conversion of its parking garage to apartments. The parking levels are being designed without a slope.

As was the case when the project was hear by the City Planning Commission in 2023, the project was faced with opposition. Creed LA and the Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, both affiliated with construction trade unions, have argued that the project's environmental impact report contained numerous deficiencies. The Council voted to approve the project simultaneously rejected that argument.

A third appellant, the developer of a proposed 13-story data center, withdrew its opposition in May 2024.

754 S Hope StreetLADCP

The tower requires a transfer of development rights to provide additional floor area, for which MFA will pay more than $9.8 million, half of which would be set aside for the Council District 14 affordable housing trust fund.

The project, if built, would be among the first in a new batch of Downtown towers to sprout south of 7th Street. Directly west of the site across Hope Street, National Real Estate Advisors is also pursuing entitlements for a project which would build a high-rise tower featuring 466 apartments above The Bloc's massive parking garage.

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