Los Angeles approves $2 billion Downtown mixed-use project with restaurants
City Council cleared Fourth & Central, bringing 145,748 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 1,589 homes and up to 10,000 union construction jobs to the edge of Little Tokyo.
Los Angeles City Council approved Fourth & Central, a 10-building, $2 billion mixed-use project that will replace a former cold storage site at 400 S. Central Avenue with 145,748 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 1,589 homes and roughly 400,000 square feet of offices.
The approved plan covers about 7.6 acres near the 4th Street and Central Avenue intersection and includes 262 affordable units, two acres of publicly accessible open space and parking for 2,426 vehicles. The tallest building was cut from 44 stories in earlier plans to 30 stories, with the highest point now set at 364 feet. City planning files put the full project at as much as 2,318,534 square feet, with residential, office, restaurant-retail and hotel uses across 10 buildings.
The approved version will bring a steady flow of office workers, new residents and visitors into the same blocks, creating more openings for line cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, hosts, bartenders and shift managers. In Los Angeles, minimum wage rules, tip pooling practices and pay equity between front and back of house already shape staffing costs.
The project has been in entitlement for five years and was certified by Governor Gavin Newsom in March 2024 for CEQA judicial streamlining, which requires legal challenges to be heard within 270 days to the extent feasible. Supporters argued that the project would help revitalize downtown and create up to 10,000 union construction jobs. The Downtown Women’s Center was tapped to provide supportive services for affordable-housing residents.
The Little Tokyo Community Council warned the project was too large for the neighborhood and could accelerate displacement. Two appeals argued that the plan conflicted with the Downtown Community Plan and would add too much alcohol-serving retail near Skid Row; both were rejected. At a November 2024 hearing, 40 community members testified in support as the city moved ahead with a redevelopment that would remove surface parking and most of the old Los Angeles Cold Storage warehouse, which had stood on the site for more than 50 years.
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