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The new Union Station Village in downtown Los Angeles will not only be close to commuter trains, it will be part of the iconic depot.
The $35 million apartment project is being built in a parking lot previously used for terminal buses and taxis, and its residents will be steps from where regional public transportation entities such as Amtrak (train), MTA (bus), DASH (bus) and Metrolink (light rail) all converge.
"Union Station Village is being built because there is a need for housing that is transit oriented, and it makes sense that we could have a high-quality product located at a transit location," said Reg Del Ponte, senior vice president and partner with Lincoln Property, the Dallas-based company that is developing the project. "[We] hope to attract people who want to be in an urban environment and who don't want to be on the road [in traffic] all day."
With about 45,000 commuters passing through Union Station daily, Del Ponte said he expects many of them to take a look at his new property when it opens in January. He said the units should fetch about $2.25 per sq. ft. for apartments averaging 900 sq. ft. and ranging in size from 630 sq. ft. to 1300 sq. ft.
The 300,000-sq.-ft. project, which broke ground in June 2004, is being built by Irvine-based R.D. Olson Construction Co. It consists of two five-story residential, wood-framed buildings with a total of 278 apartments. Below each building are a 70,000-sq.-ft. podium deck and a subterranean parking structure with spaces for 200 cars.
The two apartment buildings will be connected at the third floor by a 70-ft.-long, clear-span, steel-truss pedestrian bridge, which will be elevated 20 ft. to allow buses to pass underneath. Other features include a roof-top pool, recreation center, screening room and a trellis along an entry walk that resembles a railroad track, with exposed metal tubes and wooden accents.
Designed by Santa Monica-based GMP Architects, the project consumes about 2.75 acres at Alameda Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue. Steps to the east is Olvera Street, the tiny Mexican village where the city of Los Angeles was founded in 1781 and which is now a cluster of shops and restaurants. Across the street to the north is the 60-year-old U.S. Postal Service Terminal Annex building.
Highlighting construction is the project's closeness to the Metrolink Red Line Subway train. A portion of the eastern parking structure penetrates 17 ft. below ground and comes within 5 ft. of the subway tunnel barrier.
"MTA designed the Red Line tunnels to support buildings," said project architect Donald Getman, a partner with GMP. "We just had to go in and show them that the weight of the buildings wasn't more than the weight that the tunnels were designed for."
Bill Welhelm, executive vice president of R.D. Olson Construction, said the parking structure's foundation had to be dug so close to the tunnel because of a slope in the site. He added that safety was never compromised.
"We had to expose the underground subway tunnel, but MTA was always there, monitoring construction activities from day one to make sure we didn't damage the sub's [tunnel slab] or the waterproofing," Welhelm said. "They were there during excavation and through the structural elements."
He said the only surprises during excavation came when crews unearthed structures that had been below grade for close to 100 years.
"We found an old concrete structure that appeared to be some sort of out structure to Union Station," he added. "We found tunnels and brought in archeologists to investigate and monitor the excavation process to make sure we didn't discover any archeological finds. And we didn't. "
The work is currently about 70 -percent complete on one building, with the exterior skin well under way and interior drywall finishes nearly complete. It's about 30-percent complete on the other building. Both parking structures were completed in April.
Now, a key challenge is to make the new apartments fit into their historic surroundings.
"The buildings were designed to enhance Union Station, but not take away or detract from the historic structure," Getman said. "It remains the icon on the site."
Designed by John and Donald Parkinson (who also designed Los Angeles City Hall), Union Station was completed in 1939. The structure combines the architectural styles of Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco. The building's interior resembles a cathedral, with wooden bench seats and vaulted ceilings. The walls are lined with cork. Spacious outdoor courtyards feature tiled fountains and seats.
Getman said he drew heavily upon this theme in his design approach.
"The site didn't require setbacks, so we were allowed to create our own setbacks and planning areas," he added. "So one of the things we did was to give each building its their own large interior courtyard with major fountains that are reminiscent of the fountains and courtyards you see in the station itself."
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