A report from the City's Chief Legislative Analyst recommends that Los Angeles officials select a joint venture between MacFarlane Partners, the Peebles Corporation, and Claridge Properties to develop Angels Landing, a coveted property adjacent to the Angels Flight railway.

Their project, which is competing against proposals by Onni Group and Lowe Enterprises, envisions a pair of mixed-use towers soaring above the intersection of 4th and Hill Streets. Plans call for buildings or 88 and 24 stories, featuring:

400 rental apartments - including 20 units for households earning 80 to 20 percent of the area median income

250 condominiums

500 hotel rooms operated by SLS and Mondrian

50,000 square feet of retail

A K-5 public charter school operated by Los Academy of Arts and Enterprises

57,000 square feet of open space including plazas at grad with Hill Street and Grand Avenue

Some of these public benefits components - such as the amount of open space and affordable housing - are still subject to negotiations with the City.

Handel Architects is designing the project, with landscapes by Olin. A project representative described the development in August as a bookend to the Downtown skyline, with the larger of the two towers standing approximately 1,000 feet in height.

Construction of the MacFarlane/Peebles/Claridge proposal is expected to generate over $1.6 billion in total economic activity, including $54.3 million in one-time revenue for the city. After the project stabilizes - which a financial analysis expects to happen by the year 2027 - the property would generate an estimated $12 million in annual tax revenue. The development team has proposed a purchase price of $50 million for the Angels Landing site, which exceeds its assessed value of $45.7 million.

Project costs are estimated at $1.2 billion, broken into $355 in equity financing and $827 million in debt financing. Letters of interest in financing the project from Bank of the Ozarks and Ares Management were attached to the project's application. The development team is also considering requesting a hotel development incentive agreement to provide gap financing for the project, similar to the package under consideration for the Fig + Pico development in South Park.

Project representatives have previously stated that their proposal would likely be the largest minority-owned development in the history of Los Angeles - and the entire country.

Should the City Council move forward with the CLA's recommendation, the City and the development team would enter into an exclusive negotiation agreement over a period of approximately three months. State and city approvals could be obtained within 17 months afterward, followed by a 24-month period for design and development. Construction is expected to occur over 41 months, with a projected completion date of December 31, 2024.