ARCH TOUR FEST: LA PLAZA VILLAGE

Photo Credit: Tara Wujcik

Arch Tour Fest: LA Plaza Village – 4:00pm

Additional information regarding the tour and check-in process will be emailed directly to registrants 24 hours before the event.

Tour Organizer: James (JED) Donaldson AIA/Board member – Principal, Johnson Fain

LA Plaza Village is an urban village connecting the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes Museum, The Pueblo, Olvera Street, and Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles to the foot of Fort Moore in downtown Los Angeles. It is an excellent representation of architectural design that authentically reflects the surrounding community and creates a dynamic sense of place. Combining retail, food-and-beverage vending, cultural programming, and residences in a wide array of formats, the new development fortifies the historic center of Los Angeles. This mixed-use village has 355 multi-family units, of which 20 percent are affordable housing. The unit mix includes live/work lofts, studios, and one-, two-, and three-bedroom family-focused apartments. In addition to the ground-floor public space, more than a dozen roof decks provide settings for social interaction and recreation. State-of-the-art amenities include a fitness center, pool, dog park, and community lounge. At the heart of the project, a Historic Paseo passes through the site, providing a pedestrian connection from Union Station to Fort Moore Memorial. A vibrant public gathering place with cafés, restaurants, cultural facilities, and other food services features a large, stately California sycamore in reference to the local El Aliso sycamore that served as a gathering place for many cultures during its 400-year life. Interpretive signage, paving inlays, cultural iconography, and traditional building materials honor the cultures that have come together to form this diverse area of Los Angeles.

Building Credits:

Architect: Johnson Fain

General Contractor: Morely Builders/Benchmark Contractors

Structural Engineer: John Labib + Associates

Civil Engineer: Fuscoe Engineering, Inc.

Landscape Architect: SWA

Tour Led by:

James (JED) Donaldson AIA/Board member – Principal, Johnson Fain

Bio:

James (JED) Donaldson is a Principal at Johnson Fain with more than two decades of professional experience in designing large-scale, complex projects. His experience includes diverse building typologies including multifamily residential, office, education, biotech, civic, cultural, high-rise structures, and large-scale mixed-use developments. He participates in the development of technology within the firm and the execution of project delivery. In a leadership role at Johnson Fain, JED has found success at many levels. As a design architect his position within the project team is a balance between client delivery, consultant management and building design. JED also leads the firm’s Sustainability and Resilience Lab. His knowledge of the building industry is complemented with his interest in sustainable design and advanced computer modeling. JED is active in the academic environment where he has both taught and been an invited speaker at University of California, Berkeley, USC, UCLA, University of Puerto Rico, and Art Center. JED is a Board Member of AIA LA, past Chair of AIA LA COTE, Board President of PHCA, and a member of Urban Land Institute and CTBUH.

Alex Valente, Principal, Trammell Crow

Bio:

Alex Valente serves as a Principal for the Los Angeles Business Unit of Trammell Crow Company. Alex focuses on all multifamily opportunities within Greater Los Angeles for High Street Residential, TCC’s residential subsidiary. In his role, Alex is responsible for identifying new development and investment opportunities, debt and equity partnerships, entitlements and community outreach, design, construction and leasing. Alex is President of the UCLA Anderson Real Estate Alumni Group and a guest lecturer at UCLA Anderson, UCLA Extension and USC Price. He is also Chief Lecturer at the Riordan Scholars Program and a member of ULI.

Learning Objectives:

Connecting Architecture to Community

Creating a Sense of Place in Residential Developments

Creative solutions that address extreme & complex site conditions

Parking Info:

LA Plaza Village Parking Lot, 555 North Broadway