Los Angeles City Council Approves Arts District Development

A proposal for a mixed-use development in Los Angeles’ Arts District is moving forward eight years after it was originally floated.

The Los Angeles City Council has approved Maxxam Enterprises’ plans to replace a single-story commercial building at 1100 East 5th Street with a new eight-story mixed-use apartment building, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

Maxxam’s plans call for building 220 live-work apartments above 46,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and a three-level subterranean parking garage. The building would feature studio, one- and two-bedroom units. The Beverly Hills-based developer would also have the option to replace up to 20 live-work units with an additional 17,765 square feet of commercial space.

HansonLA is designing the property, which is expected to rise 116 feet and boast amenities like an open-air courtyard, a fitness center, a recreation room, a rooftop pool deck and an art gallery.

With the approval of the plan and a zone change, the project would be required to set aside up to 25 of the proposed units as affordable housing for very low-income residents. In Los Angeles County, very low-income is described as making a maximum of 50 percent of the area median income, equating to $53,000 for one person and $75,750 for a household of four.

Prior to approval, the East 5th Street project was tied up with an appeal from the Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, an affiliate of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. The group asked the Los Angeles City Planning Commission last year to pause the project, claiming there were supposed flaws in the environmental study on the site. As a result, the city considered and adopted a supplemental study as part of the approval.

Elsewhere in the Arts District, another mixed-use development from Maxxam and designed by HansonLA is in the works. Maxxam got approval in 2022 to replace a half-century-old warehouse at 676 South Mateo Street with a 185-unit residential and commercial building.

— Chris Malone Méndez