L.A. City Council approves Arts District project at 1100 E. 5th Street

Plans call for live/work apartments over commercial space
June 25, 2024 · 6:15 Steven Sharp · Urbanize Los Angeles

After eight years, developer Maxxam Enterprises has crossed the finish line at 5th and Seaton Streets in Downtown Los Angeles, receiving approvals to replace a single-story commercial building with a mixed-use apartment complex.

The project, which would rise at 1100 E. 5th Street in the Arts District, calls for the construction of a new eight-story edifice featuring up to 220 live/work apartments above approximately 46,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a three-level subterranean parking garage. Maxxam would also have the ability to replace up to 20 live/work units with an additional 17,765 square feet of commercial uses.

View looking south from 5th Street – HansonLA

In exchange for the granting of a general plan amendment and a zone change, the project would be required to set aside up to 25 of the proposed studio, one-, and three-bedroom dwellings as affordable housing at the very low-income level.

HansonLA is designing 1100 E. 5th Street, which would stand approximately 116 feet in height., and include amenities such as an open-air courtyard, a fitness center, a recreation room, a rooftop pool deck, and an art gallery.

Rear Courtyard – HansonLA

The project was once again the subject an appeal from the Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, an affiliate of LIUNA, which unsuccessfully asked the City Planning Commission last year to put the project on hold on the basis of supposed flaws in its environmental study. A supplemental study was conducted prior to the hearing, and adopted as part of the approval.

The project is one of two mixed-use developments from Maxxam and HansonLA in the Arts District. The other, approved in 2022 for a nearby site at 676 S. Mateo Street, would feature up to 185 homes and commercial uses.