LA Kills 26-Story Hotel-Apartment Tower in Chinatown

Los Angeles has killed a plan by Redcar Properties to build a 26-story apartment and hotel tower in Chinatown.

The city Planning Department issued a termination letter to the Santa Monica-based developer for its proposed 282-foot building at 643 North Spring Street, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

Plans by Redcar called for a 26-story tower with 294 apartments, 149 hotel rooms and 15,900 square feet of shops and restaurants.

The project, designed by Studio Gang, looked like a wavy glass-and-steel vase, with a large plaza on the ground floor. It would have been the first in L.A. by the Chicago-based firm.

Before L.A. planners struck a match to its plans, Redcar had submitted several revisions behind the scenes, according to the termination letter.

In 2023, the developer notified the Planning Department that it intended to cut the amount of housing and hotel rooms to enable a taller building with more commercial space.

A year ago, it submitted a conceptual design for review — then went silent. The noncommunication led to the termination of the project, according to Urbanize.

The bold development was among three towers proposed for Chinatown — none of which have come to fruition.

Plans for a 25-story apartment tower near the Chinatown Metro stop have been in limbo for years, while a multi-building complex that would overlook L.A. State Historic Park was proposed in 2016, but never completed an environmental review.

Redcar, founded in 2011 by Jim Jacobsen, invests in under-performing properties in high-growth urban neighborhoods, with mostly commercial projects concentrated in Santa Monica, the Eastside of Los Angeles and Culver City, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew