While the the Los Angeles Convention Center flip-flops between two potential paths to transformation (the colorful renovation plan chosen after a high-profile redesign competition OR the big mixed-use redevelopment vision that would be handled by private developer), development surrounding the site in South Park carries on. As a separate piece of the LA Convention Center plan, the city wants to work with a private developer to create an adjacent hotel.
Earlier this week, we heard about the beginnings of the plan, a dual-tower hotel that would rise on a parking lot at the corner of Figueroa and Pico; the developer was left anonymous for some reason in the city docs. Now, via a release from that developer—New York-based real estate investor and developer Lightstone—we have a lot more info.
The Fig + Pico hotel, as the project's referred to in the release, would be made up of two towers—one 40 stories tall and one 28 stories. Between the two, there would be approximately 1,100 hotel rooms, plus meeting spaces and amenities (sky lobbies have been mentioned); at streel level, the new development would have 20,000 square feet of retail space. Fig + Pico will be designed by Gensler with designers Yabu Pushelberg. This hotel would be Lightstone's first LA project.