Remember the pink houses in Mid-City? They’re now slated for groundbreaking

A 45-unit luxury apartment complex named Hello Saturn will rise in their place

Pink House Project, with renderings of Hello Saturn (Credit: M:Rad)
Pink House Project, with renderings of Hello Saturn (Credit: M:Rad)

It’s been a year since four homes in Mid-City were painted bubblegum pink, driving Instagram-crazed millennials to the scene and locals, well, crazy.

The site of the “Pink House Project,” a temporary art installation where four vacant homes were painted bright pink prior to demolition, is now slated for a groundbreaking within the next two months, the project’s architects said Thursday.

Li Investments is developing the 45-unit apartment complex on the site, located at 1500 Hi Point Street on the corner of Hi Point and Saturn streets. The 82,000-square-foot building, which will be called “Hello Saturn,” will also include parking and a fitness center. Residents will be able to choose from a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units.

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Culver City-based M-Rad Architecture is designing the multifamily project, which the firm expects to complete by 2019. M-Rad was also behind the art installation, brought in part through a collaboration with curator Fred Lidskog of Impermanent Art and artist Manny Mo, who goes by “The Most Famous Artist.”

The splashy art project — which earned over 1 million social media hits — irked some locals in the neighborhood. A member of the Faircrest Heights Neighborhood Association reached out to M-Rad to discuss a more “subdued” color, while another member of the Pico Neighborhood Council argued he was never given any advance warning of the endeavor.

Li Investments, a real estate development firm based in Pico-Robertson, has also developed single-family homes in the Pacific Palisades and Beverly Hills, as well as mixed-use buildings in the Valley Village.