Archinect - News

LA moves up Convention Center expansion plan to clear 2028 Olympics hurdle

2024-07-08T11:14:00-04:00

The Los Angeles City Council moved to finalize plans for the long-awaited expansion of the Los Angeles County Convention Center in downtown. Populous will be leading the design work for the project, which includes a landscaped component from OLIN as was previously reported in March of 2022.

The pre-design work could cost up to $100 million before the estimated $1.4 billion project kicks off in 2025. According to the city’s press release: “190,000 square feet of space to create one contiguous hall, and will add 55,000 square feet of new meeting room space and 95,000 square feet of multipurpose space. The plan also includes a redesign of Gilbert Lindsay Plaza, which will add public open space and become an exciting outdoor venue for event programming.”

Plans for a new 37-story Marriott Hotel tower from Gensler at the site are being delayed for right now, says Urbanize LA. The fate of the nearby unfinished Oceanwide Plaza development also remains unclear.

...

LA's Crypto.com Arena is getting a 'nine-figure' overhaul courtesy of Gensler and MEIS

2022-08-24T15:07:00-04:00

AEG has announced a new “nine-figure” overhaul of Los Angeles’ iconic renamed Crypto.com Arena (formerly The Staples Center) and adjacent L.A. LIVE pedestrian mall in a two-year project that promises to “provide fans with entirely new ways to experience their favorite sports and music event” once it is completed in 2024.

Urbanize LA has more on the planned renovations, which include a new entrance at the concourse level, added restaurant offerings, LED displays, reimagined City View Terrace, upgraded locker rooms, and the creation of new private suites and a multi-level Tunnel Cub said to be reserved for the arena’s many nightly VIP guests.

Image courtesy AEG

Ron Turner (Gensler) and Dan Meis (MEIS), the two architects who worked on the original Staples Center project 25 years ago, will return to oversee the construction, which they say is meant to provide fans with an enhanced entertainment experience for the next three decades.

Image courtesy AEG

“As one of the ...

Los Angeles City Planning Commission clears Convention Center and J.W. Marriot hotel expansion

2022-03-01T17:29:00-05:00

In a series of votes last week, the City Planning Commission has given the go-ahead to a more than $1 billion project which will simultaneously expand the Los Angeles Convention Center and adjoining J.W. Marriott hotel complex.

The long-awaited expansion led by a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles, AEG, and Plenary Group would see the construction of a Gensler-designed, 37-story hotel tower and conference center atop an existing parking garage. Combined with the neighboring J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotel, this project would be the second-largest hotel in California if built.

Previously on Archinect: An expansion of Downtown LA's Convention Center is once again underway

In addition to the hotel complex, plans call for spending more than $500 million on a Populous-led 700,000-square-foot expansion of the Convention Center. The project also includes public realm improvements to the surrounding area, overseen by Olin as the landscape architect. According to Urbanize, the developers aim to break ground on the project within the year, with construction of the hotel expected to occur over three years.

An expansion of Downtown LA's Convention Center is once again underway

2021-12-28T18:45:00-05:00

What once was an ambitious but abandoned expansion of Downtown Los Angeles’ Convention Center and Marriott Hotel has found a second life courtesy of a new proposal backed by a slate of big-name firms, according to a report from Urbanize LA.

Project renderings are emerging of a plan that would greatly enhance the existing site where a failed plan called Farmer’s Field had previously imagined a renewed site anchored by a professional football arena which later became the basis for SoFi Stadium.

An aerial view of the site. Image courtesy of Gensler.

Populous is in charge of the new site plan that calls for a total expansion of around 700,000 square feet (a 45% increase in the Convention Center’s total size) in the form of new multipurpose meeting spaces, an exhibition hall, parking garage, and pedestrian-friendly interventions along Pico Boulevard and Chick Hearn Court.

The expansion also includes significant improvements to the adjacent Gilbert Lindsey Plaza to be overseen by Olin.

A...

This could be the Los Angeles Convention Center of the (near) future

2015-06-25T13:42:00-04:00

On Tuesday, the City of Los Angeles announced that the team of Populous and HMC Architects had been selected to design the $350 million expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center, beating out other proposals from teams lead by Gensler and AC Martin.

LA Mayor Eric Garceitti's office recently also released a set of renderings of the recommended new design by Populous & HMC Architects.

All images via Mayor Eric Garcetti's Facebook.