Ventus seeks tax breaks for mixed-use Fig Project near Expo Park

Ventus Group is looking for tax breaks from Los Angeles to build its 4.4-acre mixed-use Fig Project near Exposition Park. And the city appears open to it.

The City Council’s economic development committee gave the green light to hire consultants in order to determine what incentives would best suit the sprawling project, to be located at 3900 Figueroa Street street, according to Curbed.

The most recent version includes a nearly 300-key hotel, 222 units of student housing — it will be near the University of Southern California — and 186 residential units.

With affordable housing at a premium in the city, Ventus has set aside 82 apartments for households making less than 80 percent of area median income. But in order to construct the development, it plans to raze 32 rent-controlled housing units, Curbed reported.

The Fig Project would also include around 55,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space spread throughout. There would also be 7,000 square feet of creative office space in its rental component.

All of the buildings would be seven stories, stretching from West 39th Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, directly across from the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the recently completed Banc of California stadium.

Ventus eliminated a planned high-rise hotel tower that received drew resistance from locals in October.

Ventus wouldn’t be the first developer to get a helping hand from City Hall. Hanjin International secured nearly $61 million in tax breaks last year for Wilshire Grand. The city agreed to give Lightstone Group a $103 million tax incentive package to fund its nearby Fig + Pico project, which is awaiting final City Council approval.

Harridge Development Group is looking for financial help from the city for its planned hotel and 555-unit apartment project in Koreatown.  [Curbed] – Dennis Lynch