Pershing Square's most recent makeover has been percolating since 2016, but last week it finally got underway.

Shovels dug in Thursday at the Downtown park, kicking off the first phase of a long-awaited renovation, Urbanize LA reported.

The design guiding the park's revamp was chosen in 2016, and while those grand plans have been scaled back since, the redo will bring greenery to the hardscape-heavy park and make it more friendly to parkgoers.

Phase 1 will cost $21M and remove the existing café and add a new plaza and two elevators with access to the underground parking garage. The action in this phase will be focused on the part of the park closest to Olive Street. Future stages of the project include closing some garage entrances along Hill Street and taking down the walls throughout the park. Changes to the center of the park will be the third and final stage of the upgrades, Urbanize reported. In all, the makeover is expected to cost upward of $110M.

For property owners with nearby buildings, any forward movement on the renovation is welcome and significant news. This stage of work was previously expected to begin in late 2020, Urbanize reported at the time.

“MacFarlane Partners has committed both time and money towards the renovation of Pershing Square that is so critical to this neighborhood,” MacFarlane founder and Executive Chairman Victor MacFarlane said in an email to Bisnow.

MacFarlane Partners owns the Park Fifth and Trademark apartment buildings across the street from the park and contributed at least $1M toward the makeover.

Downtown has experienced significant change since 2016, perhaps the most noticeable being the effects of remote and hybrid work on foot traffic in the area. The neighborhood's daytime population once reached an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 and drove considerable business to neighborhood retailers, including restaurants, bars and nightlife spots. That Downtown, for the most part, hasn't yet returned.

“We hope this first phase will be quickly followed by the others to achieve that benefit for all,” MacFarlane said. “We believe it can become, upon completion, a park that truly benefits the community and the city.”

The project's design is by Agence Ter and Gruen Associates with Salt Landscape Architects.

John Anderson, project manager for Gruen Associates, told the Los Angeles Times the park's present state was “a concrete jungle” and that the remodel includes plans to “remove walls to make it more accessible visually and remove some hardscapes, put in some softscapes so we have more grass, more greenery.”

“That will help make it much more amenable for the public to be in,” Anderson said.