At its meeting on February 13, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission is scheduled to review a proposal to build a high-rise apartment tower adjacent to a new subway station at 2nd Street and Broadway.

The project, which is being developed by Tribune Real Estate Holdings, calls for the construction of 56-story building featuring 680 apartments - including 45 which would be reserved as "workforce" housing - with 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and a new plaza flanking the Metro station.

Parking for the project would be provided in an adjacent garage which is also owned by Tribune.

Solomon Cordwell Buenz is designing the slim glass-and-steel building, which would rise to a sculpted rooftop standing nearly 616 feet in height. A series of setbacks and insets would create terraces and amenities for residents, highlighted by a large pool deck.

At ground level, the building would be separated by a new landscaped paseo, cutting east-to-west between Broadway and Spring Street. Retail space would flank all sides of the tower.

Tribune Real Estate Holdings, a subsidiary of the media company which once owned the Los Angeles Times, originally planned the project as a shorter, squatter mixed-use structure featuring a combination of apartments and office space. However, a presentation given last year to the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council indicated that the developer had done away with plans for office space to instead focus exclusively on housing.

A staff to the Planning Commission recommends that a zone change and other entitlements required for the project should be approved. Pending further approvals by the City of Los Angeles, construction of the project could occur over approximately three years. A past environmental study indicated that work could begin as soon as 2022, roughly concurrent with the completion of Historic Broadway subway station - part of the 1.9-mile Regional Connector project.

The tower site sits south across 2nd Street from Times Mirror Square, which served as the headquarters of the Los Angeles Times until the newspaper relocated to El Segundo in 2018. Onni Group, which now owns the property, has announced plans to restore the historic Times and Mirror Buildings as offices for rent while redeveloping a 1970s expansion with two apartment towers.