Month: August 2014

Now it’s back on track and moving forward.

A group of of developers and financiers announced that construction has begun on a two-building, 320-unit project at 905 E. Second St. Demolition of two vacant warehouses on the 2.9-acre site has been completed.

The project arrives as a joint venture between toy manufacturer and wholesaler MegaToys, owned by longtime Downtown leader and landowner Charlie Woo, real estate company Lowe Enterprises and private investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

A similar condominium project on the property received city approvals in 2009, but was delayed because of a sagging economy and a shift of focus to apartments instead of condos.

Woo renewed talks for the project with Lowe Enterprises a couple years ago, according to the company’s Senior Vice President Tom Wulf. That coincided with MegaToys’ move out of the warehouses — which Woo has owned for more than 20 years — as the company relocated its distribution operations to the City of Commerce.

Although Woo had envisioned a larger, denser condo development for the property, he says that a smaller mixed-use plan made more financial sense to the investors who are backing the project.

“If I did it all myself, it might’ve been a condo. That was my gut instinct about what I wanted to do. But we had to be realistic about the market conditions and what financing was available,” Woo told the Downtown News. “There was a lot of internal debate, but we’re proud of the current plan.”

The project will be composed of two five-story apartment buildings flanking Gary Street. That street will be developed into a 15,000 sq ft pedestrian plaza with space for retail outlets and restaurants. Altogether, the project is slated to cost between $90 and $100 million dollars, according to Wulf. The new project moves forward as a surge of construction has occurred in the Arts District.

The project, being designed by Togawa Smith Martin Architects, features a primarily brick facade with balconies and other articulations to give it an industrial look. The buildings will be constructed to LEED certification standards.

Units will range from studios to two-bedroom apartments with an average size of 728 square feet. Construction is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2015.