Nearly two years into this pandemic, it's clear that proposals of new landscape-altering projects are nowhere near the fever pitch of 2018 and 2019. But as the old saying goes, "hope springs eternal." The past year brought countless plans for new housing and commercial projects across Los Angeles County - below is a sampling of some of the biggest (or most interesting) new developments announced in 2022. 

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A nearly 120-year-old throwback in Pasadena

Illustrated view of the proposed development looking northeast from Fair Oaks AvenueArchitectural Resources Group

In March, local real estate development firm Goldrich Kest announced plans to redevelop a parking lot adjacent to Pasadena's historic Green Hotel Apartments and Castle Green with a new six-story building featuring 84 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments - including 16 affordable units - with amenities, ground-floor commercial space, and subterranean parking. While big apartment buildings are not uncommon in Pasadena, this one has the rare distinction of using a design (with some updates) that dates back to 1903, Colonel G.G. Green had envisioned an expansion of the neighboring Hotel Green.

Television City primed for a revamp

Rendered view of TVC 2050 master plan looking southRios

Two years after paying $750 million to purchase the landmark Television City campus in the Fairfax neighborhood, Hackman Capital Partners announced in March plans to modernize and expand on the 25-acre studio complex. The proposed master plan, branded TVC 2050, calls for investing approximately $1.25 billion to redevelop parking lots on the perimeter of the complex with more than 1.1 million square feet of new offices and production facilities, more than doubling the existing 750,000 square feet of space at Television City.  In addition to at least 15 new sound stages, the master plan also calls for the construction of a new mobility hub, above- and below-ground parking, the implementation of a transportation demand management program, and public realm improvements along the exterior of the campus.

Modular apartment towers slated for two sites in DTLA

Rendered view looking northeast from Spring StreetGensler

This one is a two-for-one deal. In the past year, developer Relevant Group has entitlement applications for new apartment buildings comprised of prefabricated modular units at two different sites in Downtown Los Angeles. They are:

  • 3rd & Spring - replacing a surface parking lot with a 15-story building containing 331 residential units above 6,350 square feet of ground-floor retail and a 37-car basement garage; and
  • 845 Olive - a parking lot next to the Stillwell Hotel would make way for a 19-story building featuring 329 apartments, 5,300 square feet of retail, and a 14-car garage.

Ground-level view looking northwest from 9th and Olive StreetsGensler

J.W. Marriott and Convention Center expansion plans

View of the J.W. Marriott hotel expansion at L.A. LiveGensler

Okay - we admit that this one is cheating. This project has been talked about for years, but it is only more recently that glossy renderings became widely available to the public. The combined project, a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles and Staples C...Crypto.com Arena (sigh) owner AEG, was estimated to carry a $1.2 billion price tag in 2018.

Plans call for adding nearly 200,000 square feet of exhibition space, 60,000 square feet of meeting rooms, and a 100,000-square-foot multipurpose hall to the Convention Center, resulting in a facility with more than 1 million square feet of space. Additionally, Gilbert Lindsay Plaza - currently a vehicle drop-off zone - would be transformed into a park with new green space and amenities.

The adjacent J.W. Marriott Expansion calls for the construction of a new 38-story, 861-room tower, which when combined with the existing J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton complex, would create a hotel with more than 1,800 guest rooms.

Metro-adjacent storage to make way for offices and apartments

Aerial view of 3401 La Cienega looking northwestSHoP Architects

Over the past five years, it sure seems like everything has been built within walking distance of Metro's La Cienega/Jefferson Station, with offices, apartments, and two high-rise towers suddenly sprouting from what was long a sleepy industrial area. The latest big project slated to join the likes of Wrapper and Cumulus is 3401 La Cienega, Lendlease's proposed mixed-use development which would replace a storage facility with a SHoP Architects-designed complex featuring a 12-story, 260-unit residential buildings and a six-story, 250,000 square-foot office building.

Construction is slated to begin as early as 2023.

L.A State Historic Park is slated for some tall neighbors

View of Buena Vista project looking south toward Chinatown and DowntownRIOS

Another one that we're fudging (a bit), plans from LPC West and the Riboli family for a high-rise complex overlooking L.A. State Historic Park have undergone some major changes since 2017. The development team rolled out an updated plan for a narrow, eight-acre property on North Broadway, with architecture firm Rios being tapped to design a trio of towers - ranging from 15 to 26 stories in height - featuring 986 apartments (including 200 affordable units) with nearly 40,000 square feet of commercial space and new green space which could one day connect to the park below. Construction of the initial phase of the project could begin as early as 2023.

Sportsmen’s Lodge hotel could make way for apartments

Rendering of the Residences at Sportsmen’s Lodge apartmentsKilograph

Even as Los Angeles area hotels have recovered to pre-pandemic occupancy levels, the owner of one landmark institution in the San Fernando Valley is looking to get out of the business. Earlier this year, Midwood Investment & Development announced plans to redevelop Studio City's Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel - a 190-room inn next to the L.A. River - with a mixed-use apartment complex featuring 520 apartments above ground-floor shops and restaurants and subterranean parking. The project would accompany the recent addition of a shopping center to the property, built on the former site of the Sportsmen's Lodge hotel's banquet hall.

Don't look for shovels anytime soon though - entitlements alone are expected to take two years to process.

Apple plans a big office campus on the L.A./Culver City border

Rendering of Apple's proposed campus from intersection of Venice and National BoulevardsApple

While Hollywood may be the region's signature industry, tech firms have made their impact felt as well. Tech giants Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have long had presences in Los Angeles, and Apple has also joined their ranks, with plans to redevelop a site on the L.A. - Culver City border with a 550,000-square-foot office campus. Combined with an adjacent building that Apple leases as the home of its content division, as well as other leased space across the area, the Cupertino-based company will have a Los Angeles area footprint in excess of 1 million square feet when all is said and done.

Construction of the new campus, which would sit across the street from the Culver City Metro station, like other projects on this list, is slated to begin in 2023.

DTLA's Bank of America Plaza is losing some plaza to add a residential high-rise

Aerial view of the Residences at 333 South Hope Street looking southwestLARGE Architecture

Brookfield has been Downtown's largest office landlord for more than eight years now, and more recently has emerged as one of its more prolific developers, with renovations to multiple properties already completed, and a new tower now reshaping the skyline at 7th and Figueroa Streets. The New York-based firm's next project is calls for the construction of a new 34-story apartment tower next door to Bank of America Plaza at 333 S. Hope Street on Bunker Hill. The proposed project, which would include 366 apartments and a small cafe, could begin work as early as 2023.

The BLOC's parking garage could become a very big parking podium

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

Los Angeles is no stranger to developers adding housing on top of existing parking structures, but this project takes it to an extreme. Three years after taking over management of The BLOC in Downtown Los Angeles, developer National Real Estate Advisors is following through on plans to add a residential high-rise to the property. Plans call for adding 41 stories atop the existing 12-level garage, creating a total of 466 apartments in a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts, with 441 parking stalls provided within the existing garage. If built today, the 710-foot-tall tower would rank as the 10th tallest building in Los Angeles.

16 houses next to Expo/Bundy Station could become a lot of apartments

View of the proposed development on the 2200 and 2300 blocks of Bundy Drive, looking southwestCarrier Johnson + Culture

The effort to rezone land near Westside Metro stops is finally yielding new housing. San Francisco-based developer Carmel Partners is closing out the year with plans to redevelop 16 single-family homes just south of Expo/Bundy Station with two large apartment buildings. The project, if fully realized, would include 455 residential units - more than 50 of which would be earmarked for rent by lower-income households. Is it a sign of things to come?