Third & Fairfax project targeted to open in 2025

By Suzan Filipek

Construction continues at the Town & Country shopping center, tentatively renamed “Third & Fairfax.” half-city block property has been cleared and now is available for lease (visit: tinyurl. com/mpyrbfju), and advertising apparently may be sold on the construction fences.

The project was approved under the city’s Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) housing incentive program that permits a larger development than zoning allows because of its proximity to the subway and because the developer agreed to set aside 14 residential units as subsidized affordable housing.

The design for the now on-hold project, designed by Morris Adjmi Architects and AC Martin, has 121 multifamily residences on one side and 125 hotel rooms on the other. Both are located above 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and a below-ground, 200-space parking garage.

The longtime shopping destination on the south side of Third Street across from the Original Farmers Market is undergoing a major change. The property soon will include a new eight-story mixed-use complex of 331 housing units over 84,000 square feet of retail space. A pedestrian paseo will run east to west on the ground floor of the project.

The western part of the property, home to a Whole Foods Market and CVS, will remain, and Citibank has just reopened its branch on the Third and Fairfax corner following nine months of renovations. A flagship location for the bank, the branch now includes a Citibank Lounge for some of the bank’s best customers.

George Elum, managing director for the Los Angeles Region of real estate developer Holland Partner Group, told us in an email, “The construction of the project has continued to progress.”

The removal of the above- grade portion of a former Kmart building is complete. Next up, “The team will be moving toward mass excavation and removal of the basement of the former Kmart.”

While the project’s entitlements were approved in 2022, the applicant will need to get full building permits before proceeding with construction of the building itself, city planning officials said.

Elum said he anticipates receiving the building permits this month.

The final design is a long way from the original proposal for a 26-story tower that was significantly reduced after community outcry including from Hancock Park Elementary School, which is directly south of the project.

In 2020, the owners of the Third and Fairfax property erected a 10-foot-high masonry block wall between the school and the service areas of Whole Foods Market and CVS Pharmacy to address noise concerns.

Demolition of the buildings that were east of the Whole Foods Market occurred during

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