FIDM Eyes Student Housing Project
Students at the Los Angeles–based Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) may soon have their first-ever student-housing complex.
Additional space for the private fashion college is being considered as part of a feasibility study for L.A. Live, a $1 billion, 28-acre retail/commercial village proposed by the Denver-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, FIDM officials said.
Anschutz plans to build the project on a series of parking lots near the Staples Center. The development will be just west of the FIDM campus, located at Ninth Street and Grand Avenue. The project will include a 7,000-square-foot theater, a 1,200-room hotel and 500 housing units. Construction is slated to begin by the end of the year.
A FIDM spokesperson said the college has not officially signed an agreement with Anschutz but acknowledged that student housing is being considered as part of the feasibility study. The spokesperson also said the school has not determined an exact number of housing units but plans to include additional space for classrooms and the campus’s fashion museum.
Anschutz has been active in the area, having recently purchased a 40 percent stake in the Staples Center, home to the Los Angeles Lakers and a number of major entertainment events. Anschutz President Tim Lieweke sits on the FIDM advisory board.
FIDM has about 5,000 students, many of whom rent housing— at rates starting at $2,100 per quarter for shared space—at private facilities contracted by the school’s housing department. A FIDMowned complex could bring lease rates down, but no rates have been finalized yet. An Anschutz spokesperson said the company will release an official announcement regarding the project in the coming weeks. —Robert McAllister
