UPDATED, May 30, 2:56 p.m.: Downtown Los Angeles’ development boom can be seen in the flood of projects built over the last few years, but some of the most ambitious have yet to break ground.
All of the 10 tallest projects proposed in L.A. are set for some part of its urban core. Among them is 333 South Figuera, a 1,108-foot skyscraper that could be the city’s tallest building. There are several massive mixed-use projects to add hundreds of new residential units, and tens of thousands of square feet of retail and office space.
These projects would join the Wilshire Grand Center, U.S. Bank Tower, and Aon Center among the tallest in the city. Here’s a look at the tallest towers proposed in L.A., with all but one over 700 feet.
333 S. Figueroa
333 S. Figueroa — 1,108 feet
Shenzhen New World Group’s 333 S. Figueroa is slated to rise a little higher than the Wilshire Grand to capture the title of tallest building in the city. As now planned, it would be just eight feet taller than the Korean Air-owned office tower that opened in 2017.
The planned 77-story tower would have 224 apartments, 242 condos and a 559-room hotel, with about 29,000 square feet of commercial space. The existing L.A. Grand Hotel on site would be converted into apartments.
Figueroa Centre
Figueroa Centre — 975 feet
British developer Regalian’s mixed-use tower is set to rise 66 stories, on what is now a parking lot in Downtown’s South Park neighborhood. The area around the Staples Center is already full of new development projects, including two others on this list.
Figueroa Centre would span 1 million square feet across 66 stories. The top floors will have 220 condos, while the lower floors are reserved for a 220-room hotel. There will be retail and event space, and a school.
Angels Landing (Credit: Handel Architects)
Angels Landing Tower I — 854 feet
The tallest point of the massive Angels Landing project on South Hill Street was planned in 2017 as 1,020 feet. But its development team of MacFarlane Partners, Claridge Properties, and the Peebles Corporation reconfigured the project in April, shaving 150 feet or so off the top. Still, the tower would become the fifth-tallest in the city. There are now 180 condominium units planned and 509 hotel rooms.
1045 S. Olive Street — 810 feet
Where the Angels Landing team gave their tower a haircut, Miami-based developer Crescent Heights has added around 100 feet to its South Park podium-style project since proposing it in 2016.
Now there are 794 apartments planned over 12,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The ODA Architecture design calls for landscaped open spaces throughout the 70-story tower and a landscaped roof deck.
Renderings of JMF’s dramatic 52-story tower
Fifth & Hill — 789 feet
One of the most architecturally daring high-rises proposed in L.A. is this mixed-use tower. JMF Development Company wants to incorporate 12 dramatic cantilevered pools and balconies jutting out of the upper floors of the 51-story tower.
JMF was between two proposals for the project — one as a 160-unit condo tower and another as a 190-room hotel tower. JMF has recently decided on the hotel tower. Some skeptics don’t think the city will ever approve the cantilevered pools, given the risks to swimmers and public below should there be an earthquake. JMF’s structural engineer, Magnusson Klemencic Associates says the project is designed to withstand a major earthquake and the pools’ 42-inch glass walls prevent water from spilling over in the event of an earthquake.
Olympic Tower
Olympic Tower — 740
The 58-story Olympic Tower project is the brainchild of developer Morad “Ben” Neman, who in late 2017 pleaded guilty to federal money laundering and tax fraud charges related to his textiles company. He passed the project on to a relative in Beverly Hills sometime after that and the project is moving forward.
Plans call for 373 hotel rooms and 374 condominium units, along with 65,000 square feet of retail space. Monrovia-based Nardi Associates is designing the building.
Olympic & Hill
Olympic & Hill — 760 feet
Canadian developer Onni Group is busy with projects all around Downtown L.A. and its planning its tallest for a parking lot at 1000 S. Hill Street. Onni wants to go 60 stories with its glassy, podium-style development for Olympic & Hill.
Current plans call for 700 apartments and 15,000 square feet of retail space. Onni wants to fast-track the project through environmental review via a new city program and aims to complete it by 2022.
6AM Building 6
6AM Building 6 — 732 feet
SunCal revealed plans for its massive $2 billion 6AM project in late 2016. The project’s scale — 1,736 residential units, two hotels, office space, parks, and more — garnered it attention. That was partly because it’s planned for the still somewhat nascent Arts District. No other project in the rapidly-gentrifying industrial neighborhood is anywhere near as large as 6AM, named for its location at the corner of 6th and South Alameda streets.
The North Tower will have hotel space on it lower floors and condominiums above.
6AM Building 7 — 710 feet
Both of 6AM’s towers have 58 floors and sit on a larger concrete podium structure at the western end of the 14.5-acre site. Building 7 is shorter, but has around 50,000 square feet of additional space. Unlike Building 6, nearly all of it will hold apartments.
Times Mirror Square Residential Tower
Times Mirror Square Residential Tower — 655 feet
Onni Group’s other large project downtown is a mixed-use complex built around one of L.A.’s most recognizable buildings: the former headquarters of the L.A. Times newspaper. Plans call for two towers, one of which will reach 53 stories. The complex would have 1,127 residential units, restaurants, retail and office space.
Onni beat an appeal to stop the project on historic grounds in December. The project will demolish part of the former L.A. Times complex and incorporate the older parts, including the iconic Art Deco L.A. Times building.