Proposed apartment complex at 8th & Fig heads to Planning Commission with appeals in tow

Mitsui Fudosan America’s project set for Eighth and Figueroa Streets in Downtown Los Angeles will be considered by the Planning Commission this month, along with appeals to its approval.

The appeals submitted by the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters and CREED LA allege inadequacies in the environmental impact report, Urbanize reported. The 425,000-square-foot development calls for a 41-story, 530-foot tower to take the place of a parking lot at 732 S. Figueroa Street.

A city staff report for the project dismisses the claims of the construction labor unions, and recommends that the project – designed by Johnson – be approved. It is expected to be completed in 2022.

Labor unions have become increasingly aggressive in challenging projects in L.A. Developer Icon Co. filed a lawsuit accusing the same union and the Laborers International Union of North America of racketeering and extortion. Icon alleges the unions of pressuring companies to only hire union labor.

Mitsui Fudosan America has owned the project site at Figueroa for more than 30 years. In October, the firm scaled down the project by 12 percent to 438 residential units and about 7,500 square feet of commercial space.

The firm also owns a garage one block away, where another high-rise project is underway. And Brookfield Properties is building a 64-story tower about a block away, at 945 W. Eighth Street, with 781 condos. [Urbanize] – Gregory Cornfield