Chinatown’s huge College Station development slowly moving forward

A long-planned Chinatown development took a step forward this week when the planning department released a draft environmental report on the project—a major step in the approval process.

In the works for more than three years, the College Station project would bring 770 new apartments to a nearly five-acre parcel of land at the northeast intersection of College and Spring streets. The complex would also include 51,390 square feet of commercial space, including a grocery store, restaurants, a coffee shop, and an ice cream shop.

An early version of the project included a pair of 20-story towers, but plans changed when developer Atlas Capital took over the project. Designed by architecture firm Johnson Fain, the new concept calls for six five-story structures connected by a two-story podium with parking and retail space.

Jerry Neuman, a representative for the developer, tells Curbed the shorter design scheme will allow the project to integrate better with its surroundings, including the neighboring Downtown Los Angeles State Historic Park, which reopened last year after an extensive overhaul.

The environmental report indicates that the project—once expected to wrap up this year—will take about 43 months to construct, after it gains city approval. Neuman says the review process will probably last into next year, putting the opening date somewhere around 2023.