National Moves Ahead With 53-Story Apartment Tower in DTLA

National Real Estate Advisors has moved forward with a plan to erect a 41-story apartment tower above a parking garage in Downtown Los Angeles.

The Washington, D.C.-based developer was approved by the Los Angeles City Planning Commission to redevelop the 12-story garage at The Bloc, an open-air mall at 700 South Flower Street, 700 West 7th Street and 711 South Hope Street, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

When complete, the 53-story residential tower will soar 710 feet, among the tallest buildings in Los Angeles.

Plans for the tower include planting the 41-story tower atop the 12-story parking garage, creating 466 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. Residents would use the garage below for parking.

The rounded highrise, designed by New York-based Handel Architects, would include white layered balconies topped by a landscaped garden wrapped by walls of glass, according to renderings.

The roof of the garage below would be redeveloped into a landscaped terraced patio deck, designed by locally based Relm, with a swimming pool, fitness center and lawns.

Pending approvals, construction of the tower would take 35 months, starting in 2027 and finishing in 2030. The cost of the project was not disclosed.

In addition to project entitlements, the commission considered a proposed sign district for the project, which would enable the installation of digital ads and signs on the outside of the tower.

It also hashed out a development agreement between National Real Estate Advisors and the City of Los Angeles that would require $1.6 million to complete a city makeover of 7th Street, with bike lanes, furniture and trees.

Approval of the tower comes months after The Bloc’s shopping mall lost its main tenant in Macy’s, which shut its doors this spring. The closure marks the first time downtown lacks a full department store in almost 150 years.

The downtown Macy’s reopened in 2015 as part of the The Bloc shopping center, once known as Broadway Plaza. The plaza, built in 1973 around a now-defunct Broadway department store, became Macy’s Plaza in 1996, anchored by the New York-based retailer.

An affiliate of National Real Estate Advisors bought the Plaza in 2013 for $50 million. The company, founded in 2000, has $8.6 billion in assets under management, including 113 properties with 16 million square feet, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew