Developer AvalonBay Communities has unveiled renderings for 668 S. Alameda Street, a proposed residential-retail complex in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles.

Slated for an L-shaped property at the corner of Alameda and Industrial Street, the project calls for the demolition of the Showa Marine & Cold Storage facility to construct a seven-story podium-type building consisting of 475 live/work units, residential amenities, and just under 50,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.  Proposed commercial uses within the development include a grocery store, restaurants and artist production space.

Architecture firm BNIM has designed the project with "utilitarian" materials - including board formed concrete, fiber cement paneling and metal panels - that seek to blend with the existing warehouses and industrial buildings that surrounding the property.  The development incorporates open space throughout the site, utilizing tiered building heights to create a series of roof terraces.  An pandhandle-like alley to the rear of the building would be repurposed as "the Mews," an approximately 11,000-squarefoot space with landscaped walkways, outdoor seating and art installation.

According to the project's initial study, AvalonBay expects to construct 668 Alameda in a single phases beginning in 2018 and finishing in 2022.  This timeline is contingent on a series of discretionary entitlements which require approval from the City of Los Angeles.

Located near the southern edge of the Arts District's longtime boundaries, the AvalalonBay development finds itself in the midst of a neighborhood on the cusp of a sea change.

Directly across Industrial Street, Camden Property Trust announced plans for a similar development in 2014.

North on Alameda Street, Irvine-based SunCal has proposed a $2-billion complex which calls for hotel rooms, condominiums, commercial space and twin 58-story towers.