LA Hosts Lantern Paw Festival

Blossom Plaza is a LEED Gold certified mixed-use, transit-oriented development designed by Johnson Fain. The project seamlessly connects to the Chinatown Metro Gold Line Station, promoting pedestrian activity and public transit use. Its design aims to link Broadway, a major thoroughfare, with the local transit hub, enhancing the area's walkability. The development includes 237 apartments, with 20% dedicated to affordable housing, situated above 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. A significant 19,000-square-foot public plaza is designed to host community events, featuring paving patterns inspired by historic Chinese geometries. The architectural firm Togawa Smith Martin Residential, Inc. also contributed to the design. Completed in 2016, the $100 million project was developed by Forest City Enterprises. The design incorporates contemporary forms with bright colors and bold graphics that reflect the cultural identity of the Chinatown neighborhood. Materials include a burnished concrete masonry unit façade and thoughtfully integrated planters. The project represents a significant step in the urban development of Chinatown, a neighborhood that has historically experienced disinvestment. It is part of a broader trend of mixed-use developments rising near transit hubs in Los Angeles, aiming to increase housing density and reduce car dependency. However, such projects have also sparked conversations about gentrification and the displacement of long-term, working-class residents in the area.