A half-year after we last checked in, the steel skeleton of the Produce LA office complex is now complete in the Arts District, and a series of metal panels are now being applied to the low-rise building's exterior.

The $100-million project, a joint venture between Continuum Partners and Platinum Equity, is located at the former site of a cold storage facility at 640 S. Santa Fe Avenue.  The four-story building will contain approximately 100,000 square feet of offices on the building's upper floors above 15,000 square feet of street-fronting commercial space and basement parking for 217 vehicles.

Designed by EYRC Architects, the building will be clad in an array of corrugated steel panels - some of which have already been attached - as well as glass. Renderings show that the project will include a rooftop deck and a rear paseo.

Completion of Produce LA, originally anticipated in late 2020, is now on pace to occur in 2021.

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The development site, which sits just south of the new Sixth Street Viaduct, could soon be joined by an even larger office complex from the same project team.  In November 2020, an entity affiliated with Denver-based Continuum and Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity filed plans with the City of Los Angeles to construct a 14-story, 185,000-square-building on the Produce LA parking lot at 655 S. Mesquit Street.  The proposed tower would share parking with its sister development, and also include street-fronting retail space.

Continuum Partners and Platinum Equity join several other investors attempting to bring new offices to the Arts District, which has seen its cachet grow following the arrival of companies such as Honey, Spotify, and Warner Music Group.

A quarter-mile southeast, developer Lowe and Related Fund Management recently broke ground in July 2020 on a nine-story, 113,000-square-foot office building on Violet Street.  Larger mixed-use projects containing office space are also planned nearby by Onni Group, Jade Enterprises, and Tishman Speyer.

Several large multifamily housing developments are also in development in the surrounding blocks, following the completion of Greystar's AMP Lofts at 7th and Imperial Streets. 

In late 2020, AvalonBay Communities broke ground on the AVA Arts District apartments at Alameda and Industrial Streets.  The 475-unit complex the largest ground-up development in the history of the Arts District, based on the total number of apartments.

Beverly Hills-based developer Maxxam Enterprises is also planning an eight-story housing and commercial project at 676 Mateo Street - one block west of Produce LA.