Nine months after we last dropped by at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Hill Street, concrete and rebar are nearly 20 floors above ground at the site of Onni Group's latest Downtown Los Angeles.

View looking north on Hill StreetHunter Kerhart Architectural Photography

The project, which has the addresses of 230 W. Olympic Boulevard and 1000 S. Hill Street, replaces a surface parking lot with what will eventually be a 54-story building featuring 685 apartments above a podium structure containing a 1,000-car garage and ground-floor commercial space.

IBI Group is serving as the architect of record for the glass-and-steel high-rise, taking the reins from Chris Dikeakos Architects, which handled the entitlement design. The current iteration of the project, at 590 feet in height, represents a downward revision of what was initially approved by Los Angeles Planning officials. Previously, the tower was imagined as a 60-story, approximately 760-foot-tall building that would have ranked as the fourth tallest in the city. The amount of housing planned has also been cut from the original plan of 700 dwellings.

View looking west on Olympic BoulevardHunter Kerhart Architectural Photography

Despite the height reduction, the design retains the similar contemporary look of Onni's other Downtown towers. But unlike those earlier projects, approved plans call for masking above-grade parking with habitable spaces and residential units along both Olympic and Hill.

An environmental study conducted for the project estimated that construction of the tower would be completed over period of approximately 30 months.

View looking south on Hill StreetHunter Kerhart Architectural Photography

While the Olympic and Hill tower may stand head and shoulders above its low-rise neighbors along Olympic Boulevard, the project will eventually have similar-scaled neighbors one block to the south on 11th Street, where Mack Real Estate Development, Crown Group, and Crescent Heights have plans for four high-rise residential buildings on the blocks between Grand Avenue and Hill Street.

Onni Group, in addition to the tower at Olympic and Hill, is planning additional Downtown projects at the former home of the Los Angeles Times and in the Arts District. Outside of Los Angeles, the Vancouver-based firm is planning office, residential, and hotel projects in Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, Long Beach, and Glendale.

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