Fig Central and Metropolis aren't the only huge projects planned around LA Live in South Park. LA Live/Staples owner AEG is planning to cross over Olympic so it can add 755 rooms in a 38-story tower to its JW Marriott/Ritz Carlton hotel, which opened in 2010 with 878 rooms in the former and 123 in the latter (plus condos!). The plan is to have the new tower rise at the northeast corner of Olympic and Georgia (now a parking lot), then connect it to the existing building by way of a bridge over Olympic, says a release for the project. (There will also be an employees-only tunnel under Olympic, which seems fun and efficient.) The sleek addition will be designed by Gensler, which also designed the club-like Marriott/Ritz complex.
In the interest of keeping the street lively despite that skybridge, the new hotel expansion will have groundfloor retail and restaurants (independently operated). With the new addition, the complex will have a whopping 1,756 rooms, making it the second-largest hotel in the state, after the Hilton San Francisco Union Square (1,908 rooms), notes the LA Times. But wait, wasn't a 450-room Renaissance hotel going to be built on this site? Yes, it was. But AEG owned the property and decided not to sell in favor of building onto its own existing hotel.
AEG's not stopping at more hotel rooms, they're looking to build up their available event space, too. On top of the West Parking Garage, AEG plans to build more meeting, ballroom, and conference space. The brand new 75,000-square-foot space will be connected to the main hotel's existing event space via two more bridges.
The project still needs city approval, but if AEG gets it, they're hoping to have everything finished by 2018.
· AEG to add 755 rooms to Marriott complex at L.A. Live [LA Times]
· Marriott Tower Planned Next to Double Marriott in South Park [Curbed LA]
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