Tower crane arrives for new apartments rising at 2225 Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park

This post was written by Steven Sharp and published on Feb 5, 2024 on Urbanize LA

176 apartments near Sunset and Alvarado

Just a few months after we last checked in, a red tower crane has sprouted at 2225 Sunset Boulevard, as construction ramps up for a new Cypress Equity Investments (CEI) residential development in Echo Park.

Located just west of the intersection of Sunset and Alvarado Street, the project will consist of a seven-story building featuring 176  studio, one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-bedroom apartments above parking for 203 vehicles.

Project approves include Transit Oriented Communities incentives to permit aa taller, denser development than would normally be allowed by zoning rules. In exchange, 18 of the apartments must be set aside as deed-restricted affordable housing at the extremely low-income level.

Ottinger Architects is designing 2225 Sunset, which also has frontages on Mohawk and Elsinore Streets. Renderings portray a contemporary look, with an exterior of metal panels and wood siding, scaling down in height to a four-story profile on Elsinore Street to the north. While ground-floor retail space is planned, street-fronting live/work units are slated for Sunset Boulevard.

The design of 2225 Sunset, according to the Ottinger Architects website, was inspired by the site’s hillside location.

According to the website of Integrare Group, the project’s general contractor, plans also call for amenities such as courtyard and a rooftop deck.

Completion of 2225 Sunset was anticipated to occur over a roughly 28-month period, according to an environmental study adopted by the City of Los Angeles.

The proposed development joins a handful of similar multifamily residential buildings proposed near Sunset and Alvarado, including a mixed-use structure slated to rise at the site of Taix Restaurant.

While CEI may be based in Los Angeles, the bulk of the company’s activity is concentrated in the City of Santa Monica, where it has more than a half-dozen projects planned or under construction.