Archinect - News

Projects entangled in L.A. corruption scandals face uncertain futures

2020-07-27T15:36:00-04:00

“I would be disgusted if we had to drive through downtown Los Angeles for generations and see buildings marking the city skyline that were achieved through bribery and corruption,” said Councilman Paul Krekorian, who has also proposed barring developers implicated in criminal conduct from getting any future approvals.

Emily Alpert Reyes of The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the handful of projects that have been tied to an ongoing federal corruption investigation targeting Los Angeles City Council member Jose Huizar and investigates how planning approvals for some those projects may be impacted by their connections to the probe.

The projects include a proposed 77-story tower initiated by Chinese developer Shenzhen New World and designed by Dimarzio | Kato architecture that was once projected to become the tallest building in the city. At least three other projects have been connected to the probe. A proposed two-towered development created by Gensler for developers Shenzhen Hazens Real Estate Group recently lost its project approvals due to its ties to the investigation.

Could-be tallest Los Angeles tower inches closer to city council's planning approval process

2019-01-21T15:05:00-05:00

Developers of what’s posed to be the tallest building in Los Angeles and west of the Mississippi River are moving forward with their plans to transform the site of a Downtown hotel into a glittering 77-story hotel and condo tower. [...] The neighborhood council’s approval, if given, would be taken into account by Los Angeles City Council committees as the project moves through the planning approval process.

First proposed last summer as a supertall Bunker Hill skyscraper that could take the crown of tallest building in Los Angeles and the western United States, the building was recently presented by a spokesperson of the Chinese development firm, Shenzhen New World Group, during a meeting of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council.

Image: DiMarzio | Kato Architecture

The ambitious redevelopment of the existing 13-story Los Angeles Grand Hotel Downtown at 333 South Figueroa Street includes a 77-story tower and was designed by LA-based DiMarzio | Kato Architecture.

Plans proposed for supertall Downtown LA tower that could be the city's tallest

2018-06-25T14:36:00-04:00

Move over Wilshire Grand: A planned 77-story skyscraper wants to be the tallest building in Los Angeles and west of the Mississippi. That’s no accident. Unlike the Wilshire Grand—which was, purportedly, not intentionally planned to be the tallest tower in the city or beyond—this skyscraper was definitely intended to a record-holder, says Jeff DiMarzio, whose firm DiMarzio Kato Architects is designing the project at Figueroa and Third in Bunker Hill.

Downtown Los Angeles is reaching for new heights: last week, the $1-billion, 88-story Angels Landing Development submitted plans to the city, and now another (potentially) supertall tower vis-à-vis the iconic Bonaventure Hotel has been proposed by Chinese developer Shenzhen New World Group.

Image: LADCP, via urbanize.la.

Designed by LA-based DiMarzio | Kato Architecture, the redevelopment of an existing 13-story hotel at 333 South Figueroa Street plans to become the tallest structure in the city, and west of the Mississippi River, by surpassing the current record holder, the 1,100-foot-tall Wilshire Grand Tower, by a mere seven feet.