Gehry’s $1B The Grand project finally underway Downtown

A massive $1-billion development designed by Frank Gehry is finally coming to Downtown Los Angeles.

Construction of  The Grand, a mixed-use project with 39 stories and more than 400 condos and apartments, is underway after 15 years of planning and more than a decade of anticipation. Developers Related Companies and CORE USA expect the two towers to be complete by the fall of 2021, the Commercial Observer reported.

The development adds a 20-story Equinox hotel with 309 rooms, and a 39-story residential tower with about 100 condos and 300 apartments – 80 of which will be designated as affordable housing – to Downtown. Plans also call for 176,000 square feet of retail space, 12,000 square feet of restaurant space, a movie theatre complex, and a public plaza.

The site at 100 S. Grand Avenue was home to the “tinker-toy” parking structure, which was recently demolished. The new towers will face Gehry’s famous Disney Concert Hall across the street.

The project is funded by a $200 million bond from the city, a $290-million investment from CORE USA, and a $630-million construction loan from Deutsche Bank.

The developers said the project is part of the biggest development boom in Los Angeles in nearly a century, with $28.5 billion invested in downtown alone between 1995 and 2017.

AECOM was hired last year as the construction manager.

Related also completed the 12-acre Grand Park nearby at 200 N. Grand Avenue in 2012, and opened the 271-unit Emerson tower at 225 S. Grand Avenue in 2014. [CO] – Gregory Cornfield