37-Story Condo Tower Planned For Twelfth and Grand in Booming South Park

Back in February, a Shanghai-based developer dropped $26 million on a lot at the southwest corner of Twelfth and Grand in Downtown's booming South Park. Though condos were expected to rise on the site, the land wasn't zoned for that (yet), and at $585 a square foot, the transaction was the most money anyone in Downtown had paid for a site that wasn't even prepped for "dense development." Now the prepping process has begun and the City Planning Commission got a sneak peek yesterday of what's planned for the lot, says the LA Times.

Developer City Century envisions a 37-story, 126-unit condo tower, designed by Richard Keating, who designed the Gas Company Tower on Bunker Hill (there's no mention of retail for the groundfloor, which is unusual these days). "This is going to be an architectural building, not just a big slab," Keating assures. The 44,412-square-foot lot is not very roomy, so he's planning a "thin, delicate-looking" high-rise. There was once talk of putting two towers on the site; this skinny skyscraper does leave room for "perhaps another" on the site, but there don't seem to be plans for a second tower right now.

When the $100-million project is completed, units are expected to list for between $600,000 and $4 million—about $1,000 per square foot, similar to the pricey prices at the nearby Metropolis megaproject, which is still under construction. The high-rise will have windows that residents can open (pretty rare in Downtown towers) and balconies. City Century managing partner Joseph Lin says that he's gunning for the future residents to be locals who were just waiting for the right skyscraper: "We are purposefully not trying to sell in China." (Chinese buyers have snapped up many units in nearby luxury towers.)

That zoning change still needs to come through, though, in addition to the usual approvals for a project like this. Lin says if city officials sign off, work can start in early 2016, with construction taking just under two years.
· Chinese developer unveils plans for luxury condo tower in downtown L.A. [LAT]
· Two More Condo Towers Probably on the Way in South Park [Curbed LA]
· Megaproject Metropolis's Condo Pricing, Renderings Revealed [Curbed LA]
· Mapping 28 Projects on the Way in DTLA's Booming South Park [Curbed LA]