Frank Gehry's multi-towered complex is set to begin construction at site this month, reports Urbanize.LA. Located in downtown Los Angeles, Gehry's project will consist of condominiums, restaurants, shops, a movie theatre and an open-air complex of apartments, and will be built across the street from Downtown’s Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Named The Grand, the project has already guaranteed a $630-million construction loan and is being developed by Related Companies. Gehry's plans have seen many changes since they were first announced 2006. 

When they first announced, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina and the Grand Avenue Authority rejected plans by ”severely criticizing and temporarily rejecting the plans for a retail complex crowned by hotel, apartment and condo towers.” They criticized the scheme "as uninspired and overly commercial." 

The architect recently unveiled the revised version of plans in February this year. The mixed-use development sits on 3-acre (1,2 hectare) plot, a site recently occupied now by a parking structure.

Expected to reach $1-billion budged in total, the design scheme highlights two high-rise towers surrounding a central public plaza, activated by 215,000 square feet of retail uses that will include, shops, restaurants, and a movie theater.  

Reaching 39-story, it features 349 market rate apartments and 87 units of "deed-restricted affordable housing", and will rise at the corner of 2nd and Olive Streets, while a 20-story, 309-room Equinox Hotel will stand at Olive and 1st Street.

After completed, the development will be blended with live projections of the Walt Disney Concert Hall through its materials, colours and shapes and it is conceived that this will make the new project more liveable. 

Construction work of The Grand is scheduled to be completed in late 2021. According to Related Companies, the project will create more than 10,000 jobs and $2.2 million in annual county tax revenue.

All images © Gehry Partners, LLP / Related Cos.

> via Urbanize.LA