After three years of quiet, plans to turn a narrow strip of land overlooking Los Angeles State Historic Park in Chinatown into a high-rise complex are back in motion, with the release of a draft environmental impact report for the Buena Vista project.

The project, a joint venture between S&R Partners and Lincoln Property Co. subsidiary LPC West, would rise from an approximately eight-acre property spanning the east side of the park. Although the property fronts North Broadway, primary street frontage is on Broadway, it is given the address 1251 S. Spring Street.

View of Buena Vista project looking north toward Lincoln HeightsRIOS

The narrow site is divided into two halves - a North Parcel and a South Parcel - which are slated for the construction of a combined 986 residential units, 15,000 square feet of retail space, 23,800 square feet of restaurant space, and approximately 116,000 square feet of outdoor spaces built into the hillside overlooking the park. Up to 1,477 parking space are planned across the site, which sits to north of Metro's Chinatown Station.

The housing is to come in a  mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom dwellings, including 200 units of affordable housing for low- and very low-income households, which are to be dispersed evenly throughout the project and will be of equal size and quality to market-rate units, per a representative of the project. The Cesar Chavez Foundation is to own and operate the affordable units, and will also provide services to tenants and residents of the surrounding neighborhood.

View of Buena Vista project and Chinatown StationRIOS

Rios remains the architect for the Buena Vista project, which includes multiple high-rise and mid-rise structures. Notable are a proposed 26-story, 344-foot-tall tower and a 22-story, 301-foot-tall tower planned for the south site, as well as a 15-story, 209-foot-tall building slated for the north site. A large central green space would sit between the two parcels, featuring landscaping and pedestrian circulation elements. That area has also been identified as a place to accommodate a pedestrian bridge linking Broadway to the park below.

As was the case in 2021, construction is expected to occur in two phases, the first of which would commence in 2028 and conclude in February 2031, and the second which would follow in 2031 and conclude in 2034. However, under terms of a development agreement, the developers would have a period of up to 20 years to build the project.

Street-level retail at the Buena Vista projectRIOS

Construction will require the approval of entitlements including a general plan amendment and a zone change by the City Council, among other requests. The project's backers recently announced an agreement regarding the Buena Vista project with the building trades at a ceremony attended by both Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and 1st District City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.

The project would create Chinatown's tallest buildings, but follows on the heels of several other multifamily residential buildings which have replaced industrial facilities on the opposite side of the park. Those include the Llewelyn Apartments by Trammell Crow Company, NBP Capital's Park East development, and a project from Thrive Living now taking shape on North Main Street.

This article has been updated to add clarity on the project's affordable housing component.

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