The first new skyscraper to come to Downtown LA’s Historic Core in more than 100 years broke ground today at Fourth and Broadway, on a site formerly occupied by a one-story building of retail storefronts.
The new tower, called Perla, will will rise 35 stories, including a 10-story podium, and will hold 450 condos and 7,000 square feet of groundfloor retail space.
Developer SCG America, the U.S. subsidiary of Shanghai Construction Group, is looking to attract first-time buyers. The units will have smaller footprints—400 to 1,300 square feet—and will be priced in the low $400,000s. That’s not bad, considering that the MLS puts the median Downtown condo sales price at around $556,000.
Designed by CallisonRTKL, the Art Deco-tinged Perla will also contain a four-story atrium, meant to evoke the nearby Bradbury Building. Its decorative motif of metal screens were “inspired by the ornate wrought iron grilles and vintage railings of adjacent historic buildings.”
The building will offer residents on-site office space operated by coworking company WeWork, a gym, a media room, and an indoor gold simulator.
Construction isn’t expected to be complete until 2020, but condo sales are expected to begin in the spring, according to the Los Angeles Times.
SCG American bought the property in 2015 from Downtown developer Izek Shomoff’s Grand Pacific LLC.