Skyline-Shifting Development Approved in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles City Council recently approved a cluster of tall buildings—towers of 49 and 30 stories as well as a 17-story building and a sprinkling of two- to four-story buildings in a Downtown-adjacent neighborhood.  

David Zahniser reports on the planned development for the Los Angeles Times, the 1111 Sunset Project, planned by L.A.-based Palisades Capital Partners, which could include a hotel, commercial space along Sunset Boulevard, and 737 residential units. 

According to the project website, the designs for 1111 Sunset also includes more than two acres of open space designed by James Corner Field Operations, “which include terraces, gardens, courtyards, water features, and an overlook with views of downtown.”

The project has encountered opposition from groups who fear that the development will spur rising rent in the already gentrifying surrounding neighborhood of Echo Park.

“Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, a neighborhood group devoted to fighting gentrification, criticized the developer for only setting aside 76 units within the complex — about 10% of the total — for low-income residents,” reports Zahniser.

1111 Sunset is the first development approved to allow skyscraper height for developments in the neighborhood of Echo Park where it abuts Downtown Los Angeles to the northwest. Los Angeles’ downtown skyline has for years has been most visibly creeping the south, near the Los Angeles Convention Center and the Crypto.com Arena, though some downtown-scale development is also expanding to the east.