A proposal to build a tower residential skyscraper atop The Bloc's hulking parking garage in Downtown Los Angeles has cleared a key hurdle: approval by the City Planning Commission.

On April 10, the Commission voted to support requested entitlements for the project at 700 S. Flower Street, 700 W. 7th Street, and 711 S. Hope Street, which is being developed by property owner National Real Estate Advisors. Plans call for adding a new 41-story tower atop the existing 12-story parking garage, creating up to 466 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments with parking to be provided within the existing structure.

View of the proposed residential tower at The BLOC from 7th StreetShimahara

Handel Architects is designing the tower, which combined with the existing parking garage, would create a 53-story, 710-foot-tall tower that would rank among the 10 tallest buildings in Los Angeles if completed today. Renderings show a building with  a sculpted glass rooftop containing an open-air amenity deck.

Closer to the ground, the rooftop of The Bloc's garage is slated to be converted into a landscaped amenity deck, providing a swimming pool, a fitness center, and a lawn for residents. Relm is serving as the project's landscape architect.

Under an environmental study circulated by the Planning Department, work on the tower would take approximately 35 months, commencing in 2027 and concluding in 2030.

In addition to project entitlements, the Commission also considered a proposed sign district for the project, which would enable the installation of advertisements and signage along the exterior of the property, as well as a development agreement between National Real Estate Advisors and the City of Los Angeles. That agreement would require a $1.6 million contribution to completed a complete streets makeover of 7th Street.

Aerial view of rooftop at the proposed residential tower at The BLOCShimahara

Approval of the tower comes months after The Bloc's shopping mall lost its anchor tenant in Macy's, which shut its doors as part of the department store chain's latest wave of closures.

The tower would build on a growing collection of high-rise residential buildings along the 8th Street corridor in Downtown Los Angeles, including a 50-story building planned across Hope Street by Mitsui Fudosan America and Brookfield's new Beaudry development next door to the Figat7th mall.

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