LOS ANGELES—Just five years since the grand opening of the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live, AEG said it will develop a 755-room expansion of the hotel. Combined, the new project together with the existing JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live and The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles will contain 1,756 rooms and more than 200,000 sq. ft. of function space, making it the second largest hotel in California.
“AEG’s continued investment in our downtown will further the momentum created by the development of Staples Center and L.A. Live,” said Herb Wesson, president of the Los Angeles City Council. “The continuation of this enormously successful public-private partnership will signal the launch of the much-anticipated renovation of the convention center, while furthering Los Angeles’ international reputation and prominence.”
The new Gensler-designed, 38-story tower occupying a 60,000 sq. ft. site at the northeast corner of Olympic Blvd. and Georgia St. will further expand group, business and leisure visitation to downtown Los Angeles, according to AEG.
Taking advantage of the proposed connecting links to the Los Angeles Convention Center, Staples Center and Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, convention and hotel guests will have convenient access to the full range of amenities offered at L.A. Live, including 19 restaurants, Regal Cinemas, Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge, the Grammy Museum and its live sports and music venues.
This latest project represents more than $500 million in additional investment by AEG in downtown Los Angeles and is projected to create more than 3,500 construction-related jobs and more than 500 full- and part-time jobs when the new tower opens.
“AEG’s investment in Staples Center and L.A. Live has generated substantial economic activity in the area benefiting both the public and private sector,” said Ted Fikre, vice chairman, AEG. “Our on-going commitment to downtown as evidenced by this expansion of our convention headquarters hotel represents another major milestone in the continued build-out of the campus, making this a favored destination for both the people of Los Angeles and tens of millions of annual visitors.”
The new hotel tower will be directly connected to the existing 878-room JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live and 123-room Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles hotels by means of a bridge across Olympic Blvd. In addition to two levels of below-grade parking and ground-level retail space, a second-floor amenity deck will include a restaurant, bar/lounge, fitness center, executive lounge and pool area with cabanas. The gross building area of the hotel including parking is approximately 650,000 sq. ft.
The development extends to the existing West Parking Garage Event Deck, where AEG will build additional meeting, conference, banquet and ballroom space to support the new JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live hotel rooms. The added function space totaling more than 75,000 sq. ft. would be directly linked via two short bridges to the existing approximately 100,000 sq. ft. of function space immediately to the north of the Event Deck. Combined with the project’s additional outdoor entertainment deck, the development will deliver more than 200,000 sq. ft. of total convention and meeting space.
“When combined with all of the current offerings of L.A. Live, this new development will truly elevate the campus to become one of the preeminent meeting and convention destinations in the world,” said Ernest Wooden Jr., president & CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. “Additional hotel inventory, especially around the convention center, is critically important to our ability to attract larger conventions, and this 755-room expansion is a positive step forward to help ensure our inventory remains competitive.”
AEG intends to proceed with this project as soon as it completes the necessary arrangements with the city and Marriott. Construction is currently contemplated to begin in late 2015 or early 2016, with the new hotel rooms and facilities scheduled to open in 2018.
“Since our hotels opened their doors five years ago, we’ve attracted significant business to the city, and seen tremendous growth in conventions not only within our hotels but across downtown Los Angeles,” said Javier Cano, VP and market general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles and JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live. “We expect that the expansion of the JW Marriott will continue to build L.A. Live as a premier meetings and conference destination on the West Coast, bringing a wealth of new opportunity to the city.”