The much-publicized and highly anticipated Ivy Station complex, at $300 million one of the L.A. area’s biggest transit-related projects, is starting soon, with work expected to be finished late 2019.
A story in the L.A. Times on Tuesday says that work is getting started on the complex, which will include apartments, a hotel, an office building, restaurants, and underground parking.
The developers believe that Culver City is ideally placed on the Metro Expo line, almost exactly halfway between Santa Monica and Downtown L.A., to pick up commuters who find the former too expensive and the latter too urban.
“We’re a lower price point for people who don’t want to live in urban downtown,” developer Tom Wulf, senior vice president of Lowe Enterprises, told the Times, “or folks who work in Santa Monica.”
It was L.A. real estate company Lowe Enterprises that won the competition hosted by Culver City to build the 500,000-square-foot station, which will be the centerpiece of a 20-acre, $1 billion cluster. The project is expected to take several years to complete.
There will be 200 apartments for rent, and the hotel will have 148 rooms. An office building will be 200 square feet, and the parking lot will have 1,500 spaces — 300 for Metro passengers.
The Expo Line has seen usage increase dramatically since it was extended to Santa Monica last year, and Lowe expects the Ivy Station to pick up a lot of that custom.
“People can arrive at Ivy Station by car, bike, skateboard or train,” architect Jonathan Watts said.
A statement at ivystationculvercity.com reads, “Ivy Station’s proximity to the burgeoning shopping, dining and creative businesses of Culver City offers easy access to everyone. Whether it be a family having brunch followed by a day in the park, a business professional taking a break with a cup of coffee or a group of friends grabbing a drink after a day at work, Ivy Station will have something to offer for anyone looking to step away from the rush of the city.
Through its welcoming open space, unique both in size and location, Ivy Station will be a dynamic, vibrant, active area that provides connections to transit, the community, tenants and visitors alike. Concerts, movie nights, wine and cheese festivals, fitness classes, holiday craft fairs and seasonal activities are just some of the activities planned for the park.”
For more information, go to ivystationculvercity.com