Site preparation begins for 8th and Figueroa Tower – LA Downtown News Online

After 18 months on the market, the U.S. Bank Tower at 633 W. Fifth Street, Downtown, has been sold.

Five months after announcing the project, developer Mitsui Fudosan America, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui Fudosan, has initiated the construction of a high-rise apartment tower at 8th & Figueroa in the heart of Downtowns resurgent Financial District. Mitsui Fudosan America has owned the property at 8th and Figueroa since the 1980s.

Earthmovers and heavy equipment recently began clearing the asphalt site, where the city of Los Angeles has approved the construction of the tower, a 530-foot and 42-story building containing 438 studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, above a parking podium, lined with 7,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space. This tower will be Mitsui Fudosan Americas second residential building in the Greater Los Angeles Area and fifth in California, as it continues to expand its West Coast presence.

The tower is designed by the award-winning Scott Johnson, AIA of Johnson Fain Architects.

It fills in a parking lot, with a modern design that will provide a pedestrian promenade down Figueroa Street, lined with sidewalk cafes and shade trees, reinforcing the goals of the citys recently completed MyFigueroa improvements.

The towers design references some of Downtowns architecture by relating to the larger scale with prominent banding up the facade, and culminating in a dramatic, illuminated cornice at the top of the building.

Furthermore, the design includes a glass facade inlaid with LED lights, leading to an illuminated crown. The glass encloses the towers parking podium.

The construction is expected to be completed in 2023.

We are pleased to commence the next phase of this project and make our contribution to the renewed vitality and dynamism of Figueroa Street and the Financial District. The beginning of construction marks Mitsui Fudosan Americas continued commitment to the revitalization of Downtown and the next phase of our investment that began more than 30 years ago, said Stuart Morkun, The Mitsui Fudosan Americas vice president.

Lendlease Construction has been retained to build the project.

Lendlease is honored to have been selected as the general contractor for the Eighth and Figueroa project for Mitsui Fudosan America, said Caleigh Raymer, operations director and vice president of construction, Lendlease.

The Eighth and Figueroa residential tower will be a notable architectural gem added to the Los Angeles skyline, right in the heart of bustling Figueroa Street. Lendlease has been working with Mitsui Fudosan and their consultant team over the past three years and we are very excited to see this project break ground. We are committed to delivering a successful project, safely and sustainably.

Lendlease has operations in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Its vision is to create the best places that inspire and enrich the lives of people around the world. As listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, Lendlease has approximately 13,000 employees internationally.

Its core capabilities are reflected in its operating segments of development, construction and investments. The combination of these three segments provides Lendlease with a sustainable competitive advantage, which allows it to provide innovative integrated solutions for customers.

In the United States, Lendlease has more than 100 years of experience in the construction industry. In the past decade, Lendlease has provided construction services on over 2,500 projects for 1,100 clients nationwide. Lendlease provides a full range of construction services including construction management, general contracting, program management, project management, design/build and consulting services.

Along with the tower, Mitsui Fudosan America intends to install a new midblock crosswalk, which will connect the tower site to the Figat7th Shopping Mall across the street. The Figat7th Shopping Mall landlord Brookfield is constructing its own residential high-rise on a property located immediately west of the sunken shopping center.

Mitsui Fudosan America also owns a separate property two blocks east at 8th and Hope streets, which is slated for the construction of a similar residential high rise.

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Site preparation begins for 8th and Figueroa Tower - LA Downtown News Online