The wait is finally over. After many delays, the highly anticipated mixed-use complex by Frank Gehry is finally to be constructed. Directly overlooking his iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, the construction work of “The Grand” is expected to start by late 2018 and will be finished by 2021.
Courtesy of Gehry Partners
Set in a strategic location, overlooking the Disney Concert Hall and LA’s Broad museum, Gehry cleverly uses one building to promote and highlight the other. This is predicted since both buildings are designed by renowned architects. Accordingly, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is expected to be used as a screen for light projections beaming from the new development right across the street.
Courtesy of Gehry Partners
The scheme will include a mix of retail, hotel, dining, entertainment, and residential components anchored by a central public plaza above five levels of parking. The residential section is a 39-story tower, containing a total of 436 units. As for the entertainment part, a movie theater complex and a 20-story equinox hotel, comprising 314 rooms, also form part of the plans.
According to the LA Times, subsidized rents are going to be offered to low-income residents for 20% of the apartments.
Currently, the site exhibits an outdoor parking zone named “the Tinker Toy garage” which everyone in LA just hates to look at. Luckily, the Tinker Toy days are about to end.
Related: Construction of Long-Delayed Grand Avenue Development by Gehry Partners Begins in 2018
Courtesy of Gehry Partners
The famed architect believes “The Grand” will stand out from other LA mixed-use developments which he finds uninspiring. He also talks about the idea of experiencing bulky vs light buildings in architecture. “You’ll see a lightness in the building,” Gehry tells the LA Times. “That’s in the way we are relating to Disney Hall. We are not building heavy stuff.”
“You close that piece of Grand Avenue, put some chairs out there and you’ve got something special. We’re not just building buildings, we’re building places,” Gehry claims.
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