The arrival of two tower cranes signals the start of vertical construction at the West Edge, a mixed-use complex now rising just north of Metro's Expo/Bundy light rail station.
The project, located on the former site of Martin Cadillac at Olympic Boulevard and Bundy Drive, is being developed in a joint venture between Hines, USAA Real Estate, and Philena Properties, an entity controlled by the family which owns the card dealership.
At the intersection of Olympic and Bundy, plans call for the construction of an eight-story office building containing approximately 200,000 square feet of occupiable space. A series of setbacks will be used to create landscaped terrace decks on five of the upper floors. Hines hopes to market the property to media and technology companies, according to information released by the developer in January.
The northern and eastern sides of the 4.8-acre site will be developed with an L-shaped seven-story structure containing 600 rental apartments - including 120 to which will be restricted to workforce and very low-income households.
The development - which is being designed by Gensler, Togawa Smith Martin, and landscape architecture firm Rios - will be bisected at ground-level by a pedestrian paseo cutting diagonally between Olympic and Bundy. In addition to providing roughly one acre of open space at the hart of the property, the paseo and the street frontages will be lined with 90,000 square feet of commercial uses, with space for a grocery store, restaurants, bars, and gyms.
Completeion of the West Edge is expected in 2022.
The project follows several similar large mixed-use developments which have risen from large properties near Expo/Sepulveda, Culver City, and La Cienega/Jefferson Stations.
- West Edge (Urbanize LA)
