At its meeting on August 18, the Los Angeles City Council vted 14-0 to certify a final environmental impact report and approve entitlements for a proposed mixed-use high-rise building near the Civic Center.

Tribune Real Estate Holdings, a Chicago-based developer which was spun off from the former owner of the Los Angeles Times, can now move forward with plans to build a 56-story apartment tower above the under-construction Historic Broadway subway station.  The project would include 680 residential units - including 45 which would be set aside as deed-restricted workforce housing - and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Due to the underground transit infrastructure, no on-site parking is planned within the development.  Instead, parking accommodations are to be located in an adjoining garage which is also owned by Tribune.

The glass-and-steel building, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, would rise to an angular rooftop 616 feet above ground level.  Setbacks rising up the mass of the building would provide a series of terrace decks for residents.

Commercial uses would wrap all sides of the building, including its southern property line, where a new landscaped paseo would provide separation from the parking garage, as well as a pedestrian connection between Broadway and Spring Street.

Construction of the tower can begin following completion of the new subway station, which is part of Metro's Regional Connector project.  Service on the 1.9-mile tunnel between Little Tokyo and the Financial District is scheduled to begin in 2022.

While Tribune retained ownership of the project site and the adjacent parking structure, the core component of the former Los Angeles Times headquarters - the Times Mirror Square campus - was sold in 2016 to Vancouver-based developer Onni Group, which is planning a separate high-rise residential complex on the property.