Oh, happy day! A long-time Chinatown blight will get the heave-ho this summer--developer Forest City has announced that it will start construction in August on its $95-million Blossom Plaza project, Downtown News reports. Blossom Plaza will rise on a parking lot and the site of the long-defunct Little Joe's restaurant on Broadway, across from the Gold Line's elevated Chinatown stop. The project includes a public plaza connecting its 240 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail to the Pasadena-to-East LA train line. The units include 53 affordable apartments, with a parking garage for 175 cars thrown in (the number of provided spots is very progressive for LA developments; there will also be bike amenities and an enhanced bus shelter). Johnson Fain is the project's architect, according to the LA firm's website. There'll be a ceremonial groundbreaking next month, with an opening expected in late 2015. Proposed nearly a decade ago, the project was approved back in 2007, but lost its original developer--in light of the death of community redevelopment agencies, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund recently provided more than $5 million to Forest City to finally get the ball rolling.
· Blossom Plaza to Break Ground in May [DN]
· Blossom Plaza Archives [Curbed LA]
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