Signaling progress on the long-delayed Blossom Plaza project adjacent to the Chinatown Gold Line Metro station, a tell-tale yellow “Notice of Public Hearing” sign has been hastily taped to the chain-link fence surrounding the site. The details of the notice, which describe an application for several zoning variances, construction and alcohol permits, are available online for Downtown LA/Chinatown-area constituents.

This project is one I’ve personally been anxious to see advance for a while. It will replace the now-vacant Little Joe’s Restaurant on College and Broadway (one of the few remnants of Los Angeles’s “Little Italy,” which at one time stretched from Olvera Street to the LA River) as well as an adjacent rundown surface parking lot.

Rendering of the Blossom Plaza project in Chinatown. From bondcompanies.com. Click image for larger view.

Designed by Nakada + Associates, the goal of the project is to connect the Gold Line station to the rest of Chinatown by providing pedestrian links to Broadway. Project highlights include 169 residential apartment units, 10% of which will be affordable residences; 43,231 square feet of retail space and a”Cultural Plaza.” A total of 344 parking spaces are planned for residents, retail visitors, and the general public to be built in two separate buildings.

The full project description is below:

Demolition of an existing vacant restaurant building, removal of surface parking and construction of a 247,605 square foot mixed use project to be constructed in two buildings (approximately 104 feet 2 inches high) with 169 residential dwelling units including a 10% set aside for moderate income families and 10% for working families, 43,231 square feet of commercial use, and a 17,642 square foot Cultural Plaza.

The project will provide 169 residential parking spaces, 175 commercial and public parking spaces for a total of 344 parking spaces in a public and private, subterranean and above ground, parking structure on an 84,156 square foot site located adjacent to the Chinatown Gold Line Metro Rail Station …

The hearing is to take place on Friday, July 20, 2007, at 10:00 AM in Los Angeles City Hall’s 10th-floor hearing room. The applicant is identified as Lawrence S. Bond.

Blossom Plaza station-level rendering. From bondcompanies.com. Click image for larger view.

Aerial view of the proposed Blossom Plaza site. From bondcompanies.com. Click image for larger view.

• -City Council press release stated Blossom Plaza fast-tracked through approval and grants (PDF file)
• -Downtown News Editorial: Bring Chinatown Into the Downtown Renaissance