City approves downtown L.A. mega development

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Set us as preferred A massive real estate development that would include more than 1,500 residences, dramatically transform three city blocks and alter the downtown Los Angeles skyline was approved Tuesday by the City Council.The planned Fourth & Central complex would cost $2 billion to build and include a mix of residential, office, restaurant and shop spaces in multiple distinct buildings over 7.6 acres.The location is now a collection of cold storage facilities, parking lots and warehouses in Skid Row near its boundary with the Arts District.

The project was first unveiled in 2021 and has undergone a lengthy review process that included environmental impact studies and objections from people and organizations in nearby Little Tokyo concerned about its scale and potential to gentrify the historic neighborhood.The owner of the site, Los Angeles Cold Storage, agreed to reduce the height of its tallest planned tower from 44 stories to 30.Fourth & Central’s approved plan calls for 10 buildings, including a 30-story residential skyscraper .

In total, the proposal calls for 572 condominiums and 949 apartments, with at least 262 units set aside as affordable housing.Earlier plans included a hotel, which has been scrapped.If feasible, the developers agreed to reuse a six-story brick masonry building on 4th Street, dating to the early 1900s, that is no longer used to chill goods.

L.A.’s early cold storage facilities were located on Central and Santa Fe avenues near the Santa Fe rail line, food brokers, distributors and food processing plants, the Los Angeles Conservancy said.Los Angeles Cold Storage expanded several times throughout the twentieth century, becoming the city’s most prominent cold storage company, according to the Conservancy.“We have literally spent years working on our plan to transform this industr...