Karen Bass Highlights Four LA Developments to Know

As real estate holds a collective breath to see whether a plan to expedite permitting in the Pacific Palisades will take hold citywide, some massive projects continue wending their way through Los Angeles’ development pipeline.

The prospects of cutting permitting red tap across the city were raised Monday afternoon during a State of the City address given by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. It was part of a comprehensive presentation crisscrossing fire rebuilding efforts, homelessness, housing, layoffs and other challenges in the lead up to Bass introducing a nearly $14 billion proposed budget.

Monday’s theme was all about efficiencies and cutting costs as Bass aims to lead a turnaround of Los Angeles.

Real estate investment is one key to that turnaround, particularly with the city set to play host to two global sporting events in the FIFA World Cup next year and Olympics 2028.

“We want people not just to see our stadiums,” Bass said during her State of the City. “We want them to see the real L.A.”

Here are the projects highlighted in Monday’s State of the City.

Rams Village at Warner Center

An over 50-acre project is expected to be a boon for the San Fernando Valley.

Rams Village at Warner Center will one day be the home of the Los Angeles Rams’ headquarters and training facilities. The development, which was revealed earlier in April, will be the anchor to the nearly 100-acre Warner Center, which was purchased by the Kroenke Organization in 2022.

Plans for the neighborhood currently call for 3 million square feet of residential that will total in excess of 3,000 units. There’s also nearly 2 million square feet set aside for a hotel, retail and offices, along with two entertainment venues, one with 5,000 seats and another with 2,500 seats.

Destination Crenshaw

Bass called out Destination Crenshaw as an “open-air people’s museum” that will help breathe new life onto a segment of Crenshaw Boulevard running alongside the Metro Rail line.

“This will dramatically repair, revitalize and sustain the Crenshaw Corridor and center it as a must-see exhibition for art consumers around the world,” Bass said in her address to the city.

The public-art installation encompasses 1.3 miles of Crenshaw Boulevard and is expected to feature more than 100 art pieces from South Los Angeles artists, in addition to open space and landscaping.

Los Angeles World Airport

A major infrastructure overhaul is underway at Los Angeles International Airport, which Bass referred to as a “national economic powerhouse.” She added it’s imperative capital pumped into the airport also be a boon to the “rest of LA, too.”

That’s clear as the city and region prepares for the hundreds of thousands of visitors — including 15,000 athletes alone — expected for the 2028 Olympics.

In February the Los Angeles City Council approved $5 billion in contracts for improvements to Terminal 5 and Tom Bradley International Terminal among other parts of the airport.

At the center of the construction is the 2.25-mile Automated People Mover, which is aimed at quickly shuttling travelers to terminals, parking lots, rental car facilities and Metro rail stations.

Work began on the electric train in 2019 and is expected to be completed in early 2026.

Los Angeles Convention Center

Bass signaled that an expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center is “well on the way,” after the City Council agreed earlier this month to pay $27.7 million for design and engineering work.

That decision paves the way for a council vote on final approval of the $2.2 billion project, which will be delivered in phases by a joint venture between AEG and Plenary Group.

The overhaul includes 190,000 square feet of exhibit space, 55,000 square feet of meeting rooms and another 95,000 square feet in multipurpose space.

“If we are going to bring downtown back, if we are going to bring tourism back, we can’t sit back and hope for something to happen,” Bass said. “We must compete to win. Right now, conventions are going elsewhere.”

The hope, the mayor said, is that a revitalized facility for meetings, conferences and other events will woo travelers looking to spend on hotel rooms, shopping and attractions in the surrounding areas.