Another Downtown San Pedro parking lot has made way for multifamily housing and commercial space.

Site prep in progress at 444 W 5th Street in San PedroUrbanize LA

In July, local real estate firm South Bay Developers secured construction permits for a mixed-use apartment complex at 444 W. 5th Street.  The project, which would stretch north to touch 4th Street, will consist of an eight-story edifice featuring 99 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments above approximately 2,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and parking for more than 120 vehicles.

Project entitlements include Transit Oriented Communities incentives, which permits relief from certain zoning regulations in exchange for the provision of on-site affordable housing.  Approvals will require that eight of the new apartments be set aside as affordable housing at the extremely low-income level.

DE Architects is designing apartment complex, which would consist of five levels of wood-frame construction above a three-level concrete podium. Architectural plans show the finished structure as a contemporary mid-rise building featuring a fitness room, a recreation room, and a rooftop deck.

The project is slated to be built over a roughly 18-month period, according to a 2019 presentation to the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council.

View from 4th StreetDE Architects

The new apartment complex is the second from South Bay Developers to break ground in San Pedro, following a smaller 32-unit mixed-use building now under construction on 7th Street.

The project site also sits one block north of the Warner Grand Theatre, where a boutique hotel planned for an adjacent vacant lot.