Long-delayed Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles kicks off

Architect Frank Gehry, billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and civic leaders held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Monday for the Grand, a long-delayed massive development on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

Broad told attendees that the project stems from a vision of Grand Avenue becoming the arts, cultural and civic district for the region.

The mixed-use development will rise near the Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Music Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Broad museum and the Colburn School of Music. The $1-billion project will feature an open-air complex of apartments, condominiums, movie theaters, restaurants and shops that promises to enliven a city block that has been mostly dead for half a century.

Advocates say it will generate 10,000 jobs.

The project is being developed by New York City-based Related Companies and CORE USA, a joint venture of China Harbour Engineering Co. and CCCG Overseas Real Estate.

Times staff writer Roger Vincent contributed to this report.