At a time when other major Chinese developers are retreating from Los Angeles because of a change in Chinese government policy, Shenzhen New World Group is bucking the trend and planning an ambitious hotel conversion in Downtown Los Angeles.
The firm filed an application Tuesday to transform the L.A. Grand Hotel into a 77-story skyscraper featuring a mix of residential and commercial uses, Urbanize reported.
If approved, the existing hotel at 333 S. Figueroa Street would become 224 apartments, a 559-room hotel, and 242 condos, according to documents submitted to the City of Los Angeles. There would also be over 28,700 square feet of commercial space, as well as 37,000 square feet of hotel amenities.
Shenzhen New World, a Chinese development company based in Shenzhen, paid GE Capital $63 million for the 469-room hotel in 2010 while it was under foreclosure, records show. Previously, it operated as a Marriott and Sheraton Grand.
The firm also owns the Sheraton Universal Hotel, located next to Universal Studios.
Shenzhen’s latest proposal comes at a time when other Chinese firms such as Wanda Group and Greenland USA are trying to unload billion-dollar projects in Southern California. Last year, foreign investment by Chinese-based firms in LA County dropped 25 percent year-over-year to $491 million, as the Chinese government buckled down on its capital outflow. [Urbanize] — Natalie Hoberman