LOS ANGELES-A development partnership headed by the Anschutz Co.'s AEG subsidiary has kicked off construction of a previously announced $900-million, 1,001-room Marriott Hotel and Ritz-Carlton condominiums. Simultaneously, MacFarlane Partners comes aboard as a development partner and Wachovia Corp. joins as a founding partner, adding financial heft to the project. The 54-story Marriott Hotel, which will be topped by 224 condominiums, will be the centerpiece of a new development near the Staples Center, which is owned and operated by AEG.
The hotel and condominiums will create two million sf of commercial and residential space on the 2.5-acre site, which is part of an overall 27-acre sports, entertainment, hotel and commercial site called L.A. Live that is adjacent to the Staples Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center. MacFarlane Partners has agreed to become a substantial investor in the $900-million hotel/condominium tower, with the San Francisco-based firm also to provide investment oversight for the project.
Wachovia will be the initial founding partner for the overall $2.5-billion, four-million-sf L.A. Live development. The deal makes Wachovia the exclusive financial services partner of L.A. Live and Staples Center, meaning that Wachovia will handle all financial transactions for each of the AEG-managed assets operated within L.A. Live, including the Staples Center.
The developers say that the new construction will work hand-in-glove with the L.A. Live complex. The complex will eventually include a 7,100-seat Nokia Theater Los Angeles for live performances; a 15-screen, 3,800-seat Regal Cineplex featuring an 800-seat premiere presentation theater; the Grammy Museum; numerous restaurants, nightclubs and cafes; 260,480 sf of conference center and ballroom facilities; a 100,000-sf special events deck; a Lucky Strike Lanes bowling center and a 40,000-sf outdoor event space.
According to Timothy Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, nearly half of the condominiums in the new development have already been reserved, even though the developers have not yet begun marketing them. The sales and preview center for the condominiums, which will be called the Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live, is scheduled to open this fall along with the first phase of L.A. Live, which will include the Nokia Theatre.
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