Slowly but surely, the Grand Avenue Project is inching towards reality.

Next week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is poised to certify updated plans for the Frank Gehry-designed tower complex across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Its most recent iteration, budgeted at $1 billion, calls for the construction of two high-rise buildings at 100 S. Grand Avenue, replacing a parking structure with a mixture of hotel rooms, condominiums, apartments and retail space.

At 2nd and Olive Streets, plans call for a 39-story tower that would feature 128 units of for-sale housing, 214 market rate apartments and 86 units of subsidized affordable housing.

At 1st Street and Grand Avenue, the project's second tower - a 20-story Equinox Hotel - would contain 305 guest rooms with ancillary uses.

Approximately 200,000 square feet of retail space would sit beneath the towers, which would be set back from the street behind a large public plaza.

One significant modification has occurred, as the project moves towards its expected groundbreaking date in 2018.  Developer Related Cos. has trimmed a proposed subterranean parking garage from approximately 1,350 vehicle spaces to 800, instead opting for overflow parking at locations adjacent to the property.  The remaining parking has been "unbundled," from residential units within the project, meaning that spaces will be sold or rented separately from the condos and apartments.

The towers are expected to open in 2022, which would make them the third component of the Grand Avenue Project to reach completion.  The 19-story Emerson apartment building and the Broad Museum are already in use on Grand Avenue.  A final phase of the project - Parcel W - would include additional parking lots to the east between Olive and Hill Streets.