Koreatown hotel site breaks ground as housing after decade-long pivot

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Leo Lee started pursuing the vacant lot at 3800 W. 6th St. in Koreatown a decade ago, with plans for a 21-story hotel tower. That plan died in 2020. On October 27, 2026, he broke ground instead on an eight-story apartment building with 219 homes.

The new building is entirely market-rate, yet it satisfies Los Angeles's affordable-housing rules. Lee built an 80-unit senior affordable complex on the adjacent Hobart Boulevard lot to earn the density-bonus incentives that let the market-rate project rise taller than zoning allows. Together, the two sites deliver 299 homes on one block.

Why it matters

A decade-vacant Koreatown corner becomes 299 homes, showing how LA's density-bonus rules turn stalled hotel sites into housing.

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Key Indicators

219

Apartments in new building

Studio, one-, and two-bedroom units in the eight-story mixed-use project.

Senior affordable units

Seven-story complex completed on adjacent Hobart Boulevard that satisfies the project's affordable requirement.

299

Total homes across both sites

219 market-rate apartments plus 80 senior affordable units on one block.

Years since redevelopment began

Lee first set out to redevelop the lot around 2016; a hotel plan failed before housing replaced it.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Leo Lee

Developer and property owner

Broke ground on 219-unit project; completed adjacent 80-unit senior complex

Organizations Involved

EWAI

Architecture firm

Designing the 219-unit project

Architecture firm behind the current design for 3800 W. 6th St.

Gateway Regional Center

Development company

Sought entitlements for earlier 301-unit version

EB-5 funded company that applied in 2021 to build 301 units at the site.

AXIS Architecture

Architecture firm

Designed abandoned hotel tower concept

Firm behind the earlier 21-story hotel and condominium tower design for the site.

Timeline

2016 October 2026

5 events Latest: Today

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October 2026
Groundbreaking for 219-unit project
Today Construction

Owner breaks ground on an eight-story, 219-unit market-rate building with ground-floor commercial space.
Today
2026
Senior affordable complex completed
Milestone

Lee finishes an 80-unit senior affordable housing building on adjacent Hobart Boulevard.
2026
November 2021
301-unit housing proposal filed
Planning

Owner proposes a 301-unit apartment building with 31 affordable units and ground-floor retail.
November 14th, 2021
2020
Hotel tower plan falls through
Setback

Plans for a 21-story tower with a Hyatt Centric hotel collapse after failing to secure tax incentives.
2020
2016
Lee begins redevelopment effort
Planning

Developer Leo Lee starts pursuing redevelopment of the vacant Koreatown lot at 3800 W. 6th Street.
2016

Scenarios

219 apartments open by 2029

Likely Resolves by End of 2029

Discussed by: Urbanize LA construction coverage and the developer's stated 27-month schedule

Construction runs the announced 27-month timeline. Grading and shoring permits are already approved, and the full building permit follows. The building delivers 219 market-rate apartments plus ground-floor retail in 2029, completing the decade-long redevelopment.

Building permit delay pushes opening past 2030

Possible Resolves by Jan 1, 2028

Discussed by: The developer's own disclosure that a full building permit is not yet issued

The full building permit takes longer than expected, pushing the start of vertical construction. The opening slips past the 27-month window and into 2030 or later, extending the site's long vacancy further.

Project changes scope for a third time

Unlikely Resolves by Q2 2028

Discussed by: The site's history of two prior redesigns, from hotel tower to 301 units to 219 units

Market conditions shift during construction, and Lee revises the project again with a different unit count or mix, as he has twice before. New city approvals delay the build and change what ultimately opens on the site.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

April 2020

Pandemic hotel crash (2020)

U.S. hotel occupancy fell to roughly 21% in April 2020 as COVID-19 halted travel. Lenders stopped funding hotel construction, and dozens of planned towers nationwide were shelved or redesigned as housing.

Then

Hotel construction starts fell sharply as financing dried up.

Now

Many canceled hotel projects returned as apartments, accelerating a shift from hospitality to residential development in city cores.

Why this matters now

Explains why the 21-story Hyatt Centric plan at 3800 W. 6th St. collapsed in 2020 and why housing replaced it.

2020-2024

Hotel-to-housing conversions in US cities (2020s)

Developers in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles converted or redesigned hotels into apartments as travel demand stayed weak and housing demand climbed. Some repurposed existing buildings; others swapped unbuilt hotel plans for ground-up housing.

Then

The shift added residential units in dense urban areas while helping developers salvage sites tied to dead hotel deals.

Now

City housing stock grew in transit-rich neighborhoods that had been slated for hospitality.

Why this matters now

The Koreatown project follows the same playbook: the hotel plan was abandoned, and the same owner filed housing in its place.