Prologis Mixed-Use Play Could Add New Life to Arts District

Talk around downtown Los Angeles’ Art District isn’t as buzzy as it once was.

A redevelopment project from Prologis that’s expected to break ground in 2027 could help breathe new life into the conversation around the most directional of downtown’s neighborhoods, which is sandwiched between Skid Row and Boyle Heights.

A new planning study by Prologis calls for a 9-acre entertainment campus at a former Greyhound bus station. The campus at 1716 East 7th Street includes 364,000 square feet of studio space, offices, production support facilities and parking.

If all goes as planned, the project will break ground in 2027 and be completed two years later.

Once done, it could help to create a critical mass of residential, office and retail uses at the intersection of Alameda and 7th streets. Prologis’ project is less than a half-mile walk to the Row DTLA retail and office complex or the recently opened Ava Arts District apartments, both located on Alameda Street.

Poll finds support for building restrictions in fire-torn areas

Results from a poll conducted by the Berkley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, showed L.A. County residents were open to restricting home building in fire-prone areas — to the tune of 70 percent of the nearly 5,200 registered voters surveyed between Feb. 17 and Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, those same poll participants were a little more than halfway split down the middle on building higher-density projects, with 55 percent in support of said developments in urban areas.

The poll results call into question whether other cities in the county would be open to offsetting any housing shortage created should there be restrictions on building in fire-ravaged areas. In such a case, more time would no doubt be tacked onto efforts to quickly rehouse those who wish to return to homes damaged or destroyed by the fires.

Builder’s remedy claims another win, this time in foothills

Sticking with the subject of building, this week brought more news for housing proponents by way of builder’s remedy.

A legal battle between a proposed mixed-use development and the city of La Cañada Flintridge is over. City officials gave up fighting the project, which would have consisted of apartments, hotel rooms and over 7,300 square feet of office space at 600 Foothill Boulevard.

Developer Cedar Street used the builder’s remedy loophole in state housing law to bypass city zoning requirements in exchange for including low-income homes. The city pushed back. However, a judge’s order to either pay a $14 million bond or back off resulted in the latter by the city.

La Cañada Flintridge is the latest example in a rising tension playing out publicly between state and local governments.

Resi’s whopping land listing

Intrigue abounds around who might buy a $175 million, multi-parcel land listing.

The 33 acres, spread across 15 parcels in Benedict Canyon comes with a controversial past. Developer Gary Safady once aimed to build on site a Bulgari-branded hotel with 59 rooms, plus eight single-family residences ranging in size from 12,000 to 48,000 square feet.

The proposed project was axed in 2023 after then-planning director Vincent Bertoni caved to pressure from project critics and wrote a letter to Safady that called out project impacts well beyond what the city originally expected.

Safady pulled a $30 million loan on the property from Motcomb Estates, the real estate investment arm for the Reuben Brothers. Records show Safady defaulted on the loan in November with Motcomb alleging a nearly $50 million unpaid balance at the time, pushing the parcels to the sales block.

It’s unclear whether another developer might have a go at the property and buy it for purposes of another project. Any proposal is likely to face much of the same scrutiny Safady had in moving the Bulgari Resort Los Angeles forward.

Keeping up with the OC

Compared to a $175 million listing, the $16.3 million trade of a Laguna Niguel mansion may seem small. However, the closing marked an all-time record for the city.

The sale of the Spanish-style mansion in the gated community of Bear Brand Ranch also set a price-per-square-foot record in Laguna Niguel. The home at 7 Searidge penciled out to $1,993 per square foot. That’s well beyond the $625-per-square-foot held by the city’s former residential record: a two-lot deal that closed in 2014 for $15 million.

As Orange County sees more unique developments come online, such as Almquist’s River Street Marketplace in San Juan Capistrano, it’s helping lend an air of cool and renewed desirability in the residential communities south of Los Angeles County.