A stalled plan that would have added over 3 million square feet of office space to Downtown LA has gotten a second life thanks to a post-pandemic reimagining that seeks to address a statewide shortage of affordable housing. 

The updated Civic Center Master Development Plan (CCMDP) proposed by mayoral hopeful Kevin de Leon would reverse the numbers in the previously approved plan from 2017, adding more than three times the amount of housing called for in the original while reducing the amount of planned office space by about two thirds.

California is under the gun to add over 1.8 million new units of housing by 2025 to keep up with demands, which so far have outpaced supply to the point where the state has now moved to ban single-family zoning in an effort to boost higher density development. LA itself has said it wants to add 25,000 units to the city in the same time period, and de Leon’s motion would go a long way in helping to meet those demands while at the same time consolidating some of the diffuse governmental offices as called for in the original plan. 

If the motion passes, a new RFI will be issued with the amended numbers included. A timeline proposed by the new plan calls for it to be completed in time for the city’s bid as host of the 2028 Olympic games. The full text of de Leon’s motion can be found here.