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Developer Not Deterred By The Burned-Out Husk That Is The Da Vinci Apartments
This building has seen better days (Photo by Eugene Lee/LAist)
Geoffrey Palmer, the developer behind the now burned-out husk of the Da Vinci apartments, has issued a statement regarding this morning's massive fire.Palmer has been the force behind a number of fortress-like apartments in Los Angeles, including the Orsini and Medici buildings. The Da Vinci was his latest project, but this morning's fire is a huge setback. The fire has completely destroyed one of the complex's buildings on Fremont Avenue, which is just east of the 110 Freeway. The 1.3 million square-foot building was in the framing stage, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph Terrazas told City News Service, and damages were expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
Not to be deterred, Palmer issued the following statement, City News Service reports:
"We would like to thank the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department for their bravery, swift actions and effective response in putting out the fire. …Though we have temporarily lost Building B, we will be opening Building A across the street at the end of January to those families looking forward to occupying their new homes."
Palmer's apartments complexes have been met with criticism for their compound-like natures and largely empty ground floor retail spaces. Recently, the Da Vinci drew criticism after Palmer advocated for a pedestrian bridge that would allow tenants to avoid using public streets.
LAFD Capt. Jaime Moore told the Los Angeles Times that "it's very rare for the entire building to be engulfed at once." They're treating it as a criminal investigation: "There may have been some foul play."
Related:
Photos: The Ruins Of The Epic Inferno That Took Out Downtown's Least Favorite Development
Developer Responsible For Massive, Italian-Style DTLA Apartments Says Italians Settled L.A.
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