A proposed 28-story hotel tower in Downtown's Historic Core will move forward with an on-site garage, dropping plans to provide guest parking in nearby structures.

The proposed hotel, previously called Lizard in Los Angeles, would rise from a current surface parking lot at 633 S. Spring Street.  At completion, the 338-foot building would contain 170 guest rooms above ground-floor restaurant space.  Other components of the hotel would include offices, a lounge, conference rooms, a fitness center and a rooftop bar.

According to the project's draft environmental impact report, the new automated parking garage would be capable of accommodating up to 63 vehicles within three underground levels.

Lizard Capital, the New York-based real estate firm behind the development, has tapped asap/adam sokol architecture practice pllc to design the tower, which is portrayed as an amorphous concrete and metal structure rising above a mid-rise base.  Cut outs on the north and south property lines would ensure ongoing visibility of popular murals which adorn the walls of two adjacent buildings.

An expected groundbreaking date for the hotel has been pushed back to the second quarter of 2017, with a 24-month constructed schedule expected to conclude by the second quarter of 2019.