Lincoln Property Prepares Chinatown Mixed-Use Development

Lincoln Property Company is moving forward with its mixed-use project in Chinatown.

The Dallas-based firm, in partnership with the Riboli family, has submitted a draft environmental impact report for its Buena Vista development, bringing it one step closer to approval, L.A. Business First reported. Lincoln first floated the Buena Vista project, which would rise at 1251 North Spring Street and 1030-1380 North Broadway, in 2021.

If approved by the city, Lincoln’s project would include 986 apartments, including 200 affordable units, spread across several buildings. It isn’t clear what level of affordability those units would be earmarked for; in Los Angeles County, lower income is generally defined as individuals making $77,700 or less annually.

The south parcel on Broadway would include a six-story podium connecting a 26-story and a 22-story building; the north parcel on Spring Street would boast a two-story podium connecting a 15-story and a six-story building, as well as a separate three-story retail building. The 8-acre site would include 15,000 square feet of retail, 23,800 square feet of restaurants and 116,610 square feet of outdoor space.

Both parcels will have three partial subterranean parking levels as well as about 1 acre of publicly accessible open space.

Once completed, the Cesar Chavez Foundation would own and operate all of the affordable units at Buena Vista.

Lincoln first proposed such a project, then named the Elysian Park Lofts, in 2017, though it underwent changes following community feedback, according to the Buena Vista website.

In 2021, when the project reemerged as Buena Vista, public comment submitted to the city’s Planning Department included dozens of letters of concern from community groups as well as the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety. At the time, LAUSD said it could cause environmental impacts at the nearby Castelar Elementary School including traffic jams to street closures.

The L.A. Chinatown Community Land Trust submitted a public comment to the developers arguing that 200 affordable units is “insufficient” for the project as roughly 20 percent of its planned housing units. The group also noted that the project could limit access to Los Angeles State Historic Park, located across from the project.

With Lincoln’s draft environmental impact report submitted, the next step in the process is another round of public feedback before the city considers a path forward.

— Chris Malone Méndez