Spectrum Group ditches high-rise tower in Exposition Park development

An initial study proposed a 21-story hotel tower on 39th Street

Old (top) and new (bottom) renderings of The Fig (Credit: Visionscape Imagery, WATG)
Old (top) and new (bottom) renderings of The Fig (Credit: Visionscape Imagery, WATG)

Sometimes bigger is not always better, especially in a town where “bigger” tends to mean “more neighborhood opposition.”

Irvine-based developer Spectrum Group may be taking a cue from the city’s many developer v. neighborhood battles. It officially discarded its proposed high-rise tower from its massive mixed-use development proposal, called “The Fig.” The project in Exposition Park would sit across the street from Banc of California Stadium and near the University of Southern California’s campus, Urbanize reported.

Renderings, designed by WATG and Architects Orange, hint that the high-rise would be replaced with several seven-story structures stretching across the property at 3900 Figueroa Street.

The proposed development would now consist of three separate buildings featuring a 298-key hotel, 222 units of student housing and 186 apartments, according to a recent environmental impact report.
Approximately 82 of the 186 apartments would be set aside for residents earning 80 percent of the area median income, or less.

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Other features of the Fig would include ground-level retail, creative office space, a seven-story parking structure with a rooftop amenity, restaurants and public meeting spaces.

Construction is expected to occur over 18 months, subject to approval from the city.

The Fig is just one of the housing projects aimed at serving USC students. Most recently, the University opened USC Village at the corner of Hoover and Jefferson streets, a $700-million, 1.2 million-square-foot complex with housing for up to 2,500 students. [Urbanize]Natalie Hoberman