Bjarke Ingles’ Arts District Project to Move Forward

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels is set to leave his mark on Los Angeles’ Arts District.

The Los Angeles City Council has given the green light for a mixed-use high-rise development at 670 Mesquit Street, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. The project has been in the works for nearly a decade and will rise next to the Los Angeles River between the Sixth and Seventh Street Viaducts.

The development would consist of four interconnected high-rise buildings, the tallest of which would be 34 stories. Among the amenities would be a deck above the nearby railroad to the east — possibly the site of a future Arts District Metro station — to get residents closer to the river.

Developer Vella Group, with designs from architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, plans to build 676,000 square feet of offices; 894 residential units, including 144 for very low- and extremely low-income households; a 271-room hotel; a charter elementary school; and commercial spaces for retail, restaurant and art galleries. In Los Angeles County, very low-income is defined as a maximum annual salary of $51,000 for one person, while extremely low-income caps out at $31,850.

The 670 Mesquit project would replace the Rancho Cold Storage facility owned for years by the Gallo family. Construction is expected to take place either over a single five-year period or in separate phases over the course of nine years. A groundbreaking date has not yet been announced. Total cost of the project is estimated at $1.4 billion, according to The Los Angeles Times.

While the project was initially proposed as an office-heavy development, the plans have since shifted to focus more on housing. When completed, it will be one of the largest residential projects to be built in Downtown Los Angeles, per the L.A. Times. The shift comes as the office vacancy rate in Los Angeles ticked up last quarter and demand for office space continues to recover post-pandemic, per Cushman & Wakefield’s second-quarter report.

— Chris Malone Méndez