Los Angeles has been undergoing many development projects to make the city greener and friendlier for the local community. Here are five important projects that have the potential to seriously alter the function and layout of the city of angels.

Arts District Green Initiative

The Arts District is among the most famous blocks in downtown Los Angeles because of its rich history, popular restaurants, unique coffee shops and flourishing art enterprises. Also, the Arts District is one of the most filmed locations in the world and appears in popular television shows, movies and music videos. Videographers and tourists alike are attracted to the district's artsy urban demeanor. The district, however, has opted to make some changes that may alter the district’s image in the future.

The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering is working with the Department of Recreation and Parks to build a half-acre park on the corner of 5th and Hewitt streets. The park will contain walls with mural art, outdoor eating areas, plaza space, a playground for children and trees around the perimeter. The project is estimated to cost about 1.6 million dollars. Construction will begin in the fall of 2014, and should be completed in the summer of 2015.

Above are two options for the design of the park that contractors are considering.

 

The New City Market 

The Fashion District may experience a new facelift with a 1 billion dollar plan to transform 10 acres of mostly unused produce warehouses into functional housing units, office space and even a new college campus.

From 1909 until 2009, City Market served as a produce wholesale district, but when new food safety standards were introduced the market was forced to shut its doors. Instead of attempting to remodel the withering buildings, City Market officials believed it was time to look for new uses of the land.

If everything goes smoothly, the project could break ground as early as mid-2014, Fleming said. Although the project could take up to 20 years to complete if approved; it could help give the Fashion District a new and modern image.

Check out the New City Market website for more information about the renovations.

The US Bank Tower

 One of the most recognizable structures in Los Angeles is the 72-story US Bank Tower. The structure was completed in 1989 and remains the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Despite its size and aesthetic appeal, only 60 percent of the building is leased, an issue that plagued the already sinking MPG Office Trust, Inc. As a result, the company sold the building to Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) for 367.5 million dollars. 

OUE is a company based in Singapore that “has achieved consistent growth over the past 40 years by developing and managing landmark properties at prime locations,” said Lucy Rumantir, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at OUE.

She said that there are a couple of potential projects on the table for the US Bank tower, but nothing will be publicized until firmer plans are produced.

Since the US Bank Tower is a symbol of Los Angles she notes that “OUE is focused on helping support the local community not only indirectly through [their] economic impact on the area, but also directly. For instance, [OUE] provides the US Bank Tower for use in the annual YMCA Stair Climb event, and recently donated the use of one of [the US Bank Tower’s] floors to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for a fundraising event.”

Rumantir said that OUE’s overall goal for the US Bank Tower is for it “to be the most preferred Class A office building in LA.”

Purple Line Extension Los Angeles Metro

The Los Angeles metro system connects remote parts of the southland together and allows people to use convenient public transportation to avoid LA traffic. West Los Angeles—including Westwood, Century City and Beverly Hills—were not previously connected to the rest of Los Angeles via metro, but construction finally broke ground to connect the Westside to the metro purple line.

Currently, the metro purple line culminates at Wilshire and Western; the new plans will extend it another nine miles with seven new stops. Construction has already begun on section 1 of the project to extend the current purple line to Wilshire and La Cienega. This section of the construction is projected to be completed and functioning by 2023.

Section 2 of the construction extending the purple line to Century city is projected to be functioning in 2026 and the final construction to Westwood is forecasted to reach completion in 2035.

The entire project is expected to cost around 6.3 billion dollars and more than 49,300 people are expected to ride the purple line daily. Contractors estimate that it would take about 25 minutes to travel from downtown Los Angeles to Westwood, which is significantly faster than the time it takes to drive there with the notorious LA traffic.

 Blossom Plaza in Chinatown

Chinatown will become a little brighter and more colorful with the construction of the Blossom Plaza. This 100 million dollar project by Forest City Enterprises will be five stories tall with 237 apartments and contain 20,000 square feet of retail space. It will also serve as a direct connection to the Gold Line’s Chinatown station while including a 449 stall parking garage.

This project was originally intended to break ground about a decade ago. Many financial issues, however, caused the project to be delayed for years. Construction finally began in May 2013 and is projected to be completed in 2016. First District City Councilman Ed Reyes made it his goal to break ground on the project before he left office in July 2013 because this project had been delayed so many times during his term.

The completion of this plaza will not only be a colorful new addition to Chinatown, it will also stand as a symbol of accomplishment for all the individuals that fought for the project for so many years.

Reach Staff Reporter Niki Hashemi here and follow her on Twitter.