Columbia Square Project Update: Cranes Coming!

Friday, April 11, 2008, by Dakota



A reader points out errors in today's Slatin Report story about Hollywood development, (Katyusha instead of Katsuya, and there is no such thing as Madrone Street), but here's a nugget--the reporter mentions a Spring 2009 ground-breaking for the $850 million Columbia Square project, a mixed-use development at the corner of Sunset and Gower, the site of the CBS Studios. Add in the nearby Hollywood and Vine project, and the Hollywood and Vine/the W hotel, and yes, Hollywood is hopping.

Via the Slatin Report:

---400 dwelling units
---125 hotel rooms
---380,000 sf of office space
---12,000 sf of ground floor retail
---22,500 sf of restaurant space,
---The project will also incorporate about 105,000 sf of the original CBS Studios.

http://la.curbed.com/uploads/2008.04.square.jpg
[Architect: Johnson Fain]

Hollywood Reveal: Columbia Square Mixed-Use Project

By Dakota
April 14, 2008

A fresh rendering of Columbia Square, the $850 million mixed-use condo/hotel/office development slated for the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Per a rep for developer Molasky Pacific, what you're looking at: This is the view from Sunset, looking north. The hotel will be housed in the building on the left--the hotel will take up seven stories, the rest will be condos. The office building is the new building on the right. The historic buildings are in the front along Sunset.

As previously discussed, the project will have, among other things, 400 dwelling units, 125 hotel rooms, and 380,000 square feet of office space. We're told the project is nearing release of the draft environmental impact report, with hearings expected to begin later this year.

• Columbia Square Update: Cranes Coming [Curbed LA]

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Source: Curbed LA

whats the status of that project anyway, isn't it still in environmental review?

rendering is not bad. i like the jagged facade at the roof, its a nice change of pace from the usual san diego style crap going up in that area, but in the end those adornments just feel unnecessary and tacked on. i dont mind it.

I love it!

Wow!!!

It's waay better than the original concept.:slob:

Beverly Hills Greenlights Hotel

Tuesday, April 22, 2008, by Dakota

Is the most contentious development around Los Angeles going on in Beverly Hills? After giving the thumbs up to architect Richard Meier's 9900 Wilshire green building, the Beverly Hills City Council has approved a 170-room Waldorf and a two-story conference center. Worried about traffic, "the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association has pledged to gather voter signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to overturn the council's expected approval of the project and to recall council members supporting it."

God I hate NIMBYs...When will they accept that they live amongst the second largest city in America, and not some farm town in Kansas. Of course it will not be stagnant, of course it will grow. Traffic will always grow. People wanting to be in beverly hills is not the problem. Thats a great thing. If they want to avoid it, support the wilshire line!

Capitol Records Fighting Proposed Tower
 

From Curbed LA

http://la.curbed.com/index.php?page=3

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2069/...181ded39d2.jpg
Photo Credit: ColDayMan

A 16-story tower planned to go up next to the iconic Capitol Records building is not getting a neighborly welcome, reports the Los Angeles Times. Capitol is appealing the building's approval, saying the structure's underground parking garage will damage the record company's subterranean echo chambers used for high-end recordings. Unbeknownst to many, Capitol houses eight chambers 30 feet underground (oh, if those walls could talk). Some also oppose the new high-rise—which would include condos and commercial and office space—because it may block freeway views of Capitol, and possibly collapse during an earthquake.
· Capitol says recording quality at risk [LA Times]


Here is the proposed tower:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/...5b4b834c_o.jpg
Photo Credit: Steven Ehrlich Architects

Blocking Freeway views?...............WTF??!!

These are the same people that said that digital billboards would be a distraction and that people should keep their eyes on the road!!! It seems clear to me people aren't fighting to keep the landmark there; they're fighting because they think it is a legitimate excuse to fight dense high-rise development in the area. How cluelessly absurd!

People should be grateful that its not going to REPLACE the Capital Records Tower. Besides, I could be wrong, but wasn't Capital going to be turned into residential units; so what would be the use of the chambers?:shrug:

I support the proposed tower.:tup:

Haha, ColDayMan gets a credit on Curbed!

By the way, for you guys who never go to the Califorum, vodila has a great photo update on numerous Hollywood projects

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=72609&page=56

Actually, no. After looking at ColDayMan's recent LA photo thread, I saw he had a great shot of the building and so I used it instead of the Curbed's shot. Thanks ColDayMan!

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...cdb3814e_o.jpg

ConstructionWatch: So Much Aqua Glass in Hollywood

By Dakota
April 25, 2008

As a follow-up to last week's discussion on that big new Hollywood development Columbia Square, let's check in with two under-construction projects in the area: A new office building rising in the 6000 block of Sunset Boulevard and old friend Sunset and Vine, the under-construction 59-unit apartment building that'll eventually have 7,000 square-feet of retail. That aqua rod is now boasting some side flaps---billboard holders? What are those things?

• Construction Watch: Hollywood and Vine [Curbed LA]

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Source: Curbed LA

The Century
 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/...734afe2d_b.jpg

More photos of The Century here.

Wow, The Century is going up pretty fast.


Any word on the twin 45-story towers that will be built at Ave. of the Stars and Constellation?

Basque on Hollywood and Vine is on fire.

i never liked that building.

Hope it doesn't spread... the PaliHouse is right next to it. Fortunately there wasn't anything structurally interesting about the building IMO. I just hope it is cleaned up right away.

I wonder if Pailhouse would want to buy Basque's property for future additions. Seems stupid to rebuild the same type of building there when someone could do some kind of mix-use project. Whatever happens, I just hope they use a lot of glass on the ground floor to open it up to passing pedestrians

Hope none of the Walk of Fame was damaged.

building destruction >> damage to sidewalk

that could probably be repaired very quickly, esp since Hollywood is used to vandalism and other damage to the stars.

People need to respect that sidewalk. There are over 2,000 of them, but each one tells a story.

the walk of fame is the ugliest, tackiest shit.

What's with all the negativity? The Walk of Fame is an icon not only for Hollywood, but for the entertainment industry. It may not be an architectural gem, but it's very effective at serving its purpose. It immortalizes entertainment's biggest names, and is a huge tourism draw. It's been a part of Hollywood since 1958, far longer than most of us have even existed. You're allowed to your opinion... but you come across as a self hating Angeleno a lot of the time.

^Tacky, maybe, but that sidewalk and that sign on the hill bring in a boatload of tourist dollars. cha-ching!


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2005/...9872e4b4_o.jpg
Photo Credit: Curbed LA


During the fire a reporter mentioned how valuable all the property near Hollywood and Vine is now due to the renaissance going on in Hollywood. What a coincidence that this little one floor building would burn to the ground now of all times.:shuffle:

When I first turned on the news and saw the fire next to the construction cranes, I swear I thought the W Hotel complex was burning down. I almost went :ahhh:

some of them do.

but most of them simply remind us about the needless nonstop patting on the back that the entertainment industry gives itself.

jerry buss getting a star for his contribution to television . . . really?!?! :rolleyes: :koko:

ugly? probably not. it's actually pretty eye-grabbing and a clever way to jazz up what would otherwise be just another sidewalk.

tacky? absolutely.

I wish the whole sidewalk would be revamped. That's probably for time when money is available, but I would like someting more sleek then the 60s countertop gravel whatever it is they're currently using. A lot of it is cracked anyway.

I like the footprints in from the grumans though. That itself is an LA monument.

From Wikipedia:
 

Star nomination process

In order for a person to get a star on the Walk of Fame, he or she must agree to attend a presentation ceremony within five years of selection, and a $25,000 fee must be paid to the Trust for costs such as security at the star ceremony; a 2003 FOX News story noted that the fee is typically paid by sponsors such as film studios and record companies, as part of the publicity for a release with which the honoree is involved.[citation needed] On other occasions, the fee is paid by a fan club or the nominating person or organization.

i see what you mean. but in my book, i'd also throw the footprints into the 'tacky' category as well. any representation that attempts to deify actors of all people screams of stupidity.

I deleted some posts that had personal attacks - and I'm getting tired of doing so. You guys need to cut it out with the personal attacks. Read LASam's reply for how to respond to an opinion that you don't agree with. It's perfect.

The next person who posts a personal attack will be suspended.

If you guys really need to have a discussion about the Hollywood Walk of Fame, create a thread in the California forum. No more hijacking this thread, which is for LA Metro projects.

Um....okay.

Building Boom Gives Hollywood Pause

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-05/38535133.jpg
Construction cranes soar above the landmark corner of Hollywood and Vine. More than a
dozen multimillion-dollar projects have been announced, launched or just completed in
Hollywood that promise new stores, restaurants, apartments and towers of glass and steel.

Some worry that a proliferation of high-end projects will bury the charm of the storied area's golden past.

By Roger Vincent,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 6, 2008

Construction cranes hover over Hollywood as the movie industry's historic home undergoes another sweeping -- and sometimes wrenching -- transformation. More than a dozen multimillion-dollar projects have been announced, launched or just completed that promise new shopping and restaurants, thousands of new apartments and condominiums and towers of glass and steel.

Glitzy clubs dot once-sketchy street corners. Residents swim atop the former Broadway department store at Hollywood and Vine. Construction projects cuddle up to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and are popping up in the shadow of the landmark Capitol Records tower.

The changes can be both impressive and alarming to those who know Hollywood best. Residents and business owners marvel at the improvements around them. Yet they prize the lingering charm of Hollywood's golden past and fear that the place they love is slipping away.

"My worst-case scenario is that it loses the special flavor that is unique to Hollywood," said neighborhood activist Cheryl Holland, who has lived there for almost 20 years. "We want some give and take" with planners and developers, she said. "Our streets are unique because we abut commercial property." But, she added, "this is a very historic neighborhood with streets that are quaint and charming."

The love-hate battle over development that is playing out in neighborhoods all over the Southland and elsewhere is amplified here. Every construction permit faces questions about parking, open space, blocked views, historic preservation and the stress on basic city services. To be sure, some outsiders may dismiss the concerns as grousing by people who don't appreciate how good they have it. After all, this is a neighborhood of growing affluence seeing an explosion of new entertainment venues and luxury housing and hotel rooms that would be the envy of much of Southern California.

http://www.latimes.com/media/graphic...5/38544041.gif

Not just a neighborhood

Reinventing Hollywood is a challenge more daunting than most city centers ever face. "It's a place of dreams, a metaphor and not just a neighborhood," said urban expert Joel Garreau. People have so many different visions in their mind of what Hollywood is, he said, "you are going to get incredible culture clash, economic clash and political clash."

Since the days of Cecil B. DeMille, Hollywood has been larger than life and still holds a grip on people's attention and fascination with Southern California. Changes like those underway today come with protest, boosterism, second-guessing, excitement and angst.

With traffic already awful at many hours, fears multiply that congestion will make Hollywood truly unbearable if developers aren't reined in. Parking has become a fractious issue, too, as prices rise at a diminishing number of lots and local leaders debate whether to build more garages.

Between the traffic and parking difficulties, "it's not much longer that we are going to be able to come down there," said Hollywood Hills resident Daniel Savage. "There is a fantastic domino effect that happens when traffic backs up."

For many, it is all a mixed blessing. No one seems to miss the bad old days dating back to the 1960s, when the neighborhood started losing its luster as many prosperous residents decamped L.A.'s urban core for the suburbs. Entertainment industry businesses fled too as teen runaways, drug dealers and prostitutes populated the boulevard and traditional Main Street-style stores gave way to strip joints, tattoo parlors and touristy trinket shops.

The neighborhood's reputation was so bad by the 1980s, recalled honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant in an interview shortly before his death in January, that "it was tough to get people to come accept a star on the Walk of Fame." Grant's boosterism was a source of amusement, he recalled. "The big sport was laughing at me because I kept saying that Hollywood was coming back."

Observers stopped laughing a few years ago as investment exploded in Hollywood. Nearly 5,000 condominiums and apartments have been built or are soon to be underway in the blocks around Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, where a glitzy W Hotel is also under construction. Plans have been announced to add 10 stories of office space atop the historic Pantages Theatre to complete the original 1920s design. And nightclubs seem to be opening on every block -- there are, according to police, about 100 establishments in the core entertainment district licensed to sell liquor.

Meanwhile, crime in Hollywood is down 32% from 2003, said Capt. Clayton Farrell of the Los Angeles Police Department. "We don't have the endemic crime problems that Hollywood experienced in the '80s and '90s in spite of an increase in the number of persons coming to Hollywood for entertainment," Farrell said. "The nightclubs bring in alcohol and other issues but also a lot of affluence and people" who patronize other businesses.

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-05/38535136.jpg
With traffic already awful at many hours, fears multiply that congestion will make Holly-
wood truly unbearable if developers aren’t reined in.

'A little tawdry'

In the years after World War II, Hollywood was "a glamorous little town," said writer Milt Larsen, with chic nightclubs, elite restaurants including the Brown Derby and live theater. He enjoyed going from studio to studio to sit in the audiences of radio broadcasts by the likes of Jack Benny, Fanny Brice and Groucho Marx. Magicians still perform to crowds in the legendary Magic Castle that Larsen founded in Hollywood in 1963. But by then, he said, Hollywood Boulevard was "starting to get a little tawdry."

Now it's on the upswing again. In five years, the boulevard "will be a cross between Melrose Avenue and the Third Street Promenade" in Santa Monica, predicted developer Richard Heyman. He is working on a $12.5-million refurbishment of the Art Deco-style former Kress dime store that later became the flagship of racy lingerie seller Frederick's of Hollywood.

When the Kress opens in a few weeks, it will house a nightclub, restaurant, sushi bar, banquet room and rooftop bar. Owner Michael Viscuso also has acquired other property nearby, with plans to add more stores and to build a 15-story hotel-condominium. Viscuso said he had watched Hollywood for almost a decade but "the streets looked pretty rough." Around 2005 he could see change coming and wanted to get in on it. "It's amazing now."

The heady pace of that change -- more than $2 billion worth of development since 2003 with an additional almost $1 billion approved and ready to start -- is unnerving people like Hollywood Hills resident Savage, who is also president of the Hollywood Knolls Community Club homeowners group. "It's all going way too fast for me," said Savage, who fears that growth will overwhelm roads, mass transit and other public services. "I'm not a Luddite," he said. "I generally believe in the free market, but I think someone needs to call a timeout and let the infrastructure catch up."

Pendulum swings

Hollywood has long been known for low rents and as a destination for starving artist types such as actors and musicians as well as home to a large number of immigrants. Losing such residents would reduce some of the "economic diversity" special to Hollywood, says City Planning Commissioner Michael Woo, a former City Council member. "I anticipate more concern about gentrification and people being pushed out."

But there is probably no stopping it. Hollywood is going through a type of dramatic change that is sweeping many of the country's city centers, said analyst Christopher Leinberger of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "What we are dealing with here is the pent-up demand in this country for walkable urban places."

By Leinberger's reckoning, there are two models for real estate development: "walkable urban" and "drivable suburban." After more than 60 years of focusing almost exclusively on the latter, the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living in the United States, and the Los Angeles region is woefully short of neighborhoods where residents can work, shop and entertain themselves on foot, he said. "Great urbanism attracts people," Leinberger said. "Places that do have it are going to have overwhelming demand."

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-05/38535135.jpg
When owner Michael Viscuso opens the Kress — a $12.5-million refurbishment of the Art
Deco-style former Kress dime store — in a few weeks, it will house a nightclub, restau-
rant, sushi bar, banquet room and rooftop bar. Viscuso has assembled other property
nearby with plans to add more stores and build a 15-story hotel-condominium.

I wonder what people mean when they worry about developments changing Hollywood's "flavor" or when Zev says something like condos ruining a hood's "character?" By character and flavor are they talking about all the ugly surface lots ? By "quaint and charming" do they mean all those run down one story buildings, tacky gift shops and suburban style strip malls? I wonder if provincial neighborhood councils have this much unwarranted power in other cities.

Echo Park, I went to www.abc7.com's "Ask the Mayor" link again; this time I asked why Zev Yaroslavksy appears to discourage high-rise density development anywhere in Los Angeles.

Quite frankly, this new development should be tied-in with historic landmarks.

Hollywood had been neglected for so long and now it's finally seeing the development it was always envisioned as having. I find it hard to believe when groups or individuals talk about it losing it's "charm." I have lived in Hollywood since 1978 and I have to ask what were these people doing about it's "charm" then? Hollywood was run down and suburbanites were frightened to visit. Retail was abyssmal and the homeless, drug dealers and runaways ruled the streets. Some charm. Tourists would get off on Hollywood Blvd. and gasp, "This is it?!"

Now we have a wonderful subway and bus service. What area is better poised to take advantage of this infrastructure than Hollywood? These so-called community activists need to take a good look around and realize this ain't Kansas. Hollywood's time has come to take its place as one of the great urban centers of this country. Traffic is a problem all over LA County and is not exclusive to Hollywood. The homeowners in the hills can stay up there for all I care, they never did anything for those of us who live on the flats below, now they want to control its development in order to retain their suburban lifestyle in the hills, gracing our presence only when they have to go to the supermarket, movies and other amenities only found in urban centers. They should move to Santa Clarita.

That's been an often described reaction from many ppl visiting the hood written about in countless numbers of articles. In spite of that, there are a variety of locals who've made it sound like keeping Hollywood exactly as it's been was a good thing. And if the ppl in the hills, inc all the nimbites, had their way through the yrs, projs like Hollywood & highland never would have been built.

I notice the proj listed as no. 9 in the LA Times diagram, which is boulevard 6200, now is supposed to break ground in fall in 2008 instead of the previously predicted first or 2nd qtr of this yr. That's too bad cuz that proj will replace a lot of parking lots on both sides of Hollywood blvd, so it would be nice to see it under construction ASAP.

So I caught a few episodes of "The Real World - Hollywood" this weekend. It was fun to play "I Spy" with the different clubs, restaurants, etc. in the background shots. But I also did a lot of cringing. If you know the area, then you will know that so many shots of them walking down the streets have them walking along big expansive parking lots. "Sigh"

Pali House, The W, Blvd 6200, much of Columbia Sq, and many other developments are being built on these huge parking lots. Anyone sad to see these go, or thinks losing these will change the character of Hollywood for the worst, lives in a Hollywood Fantasyland.

Seriously, what falvor is hollywood losing? Nothing of importance has been torn down since this recent redevelopment began. Hollywood already lost all of its flavor long before Hollywood and Highland. You cant talk about the good old days with the Brown Derby, when there is no more Brown Derby. Instead of parking lots around the remaining iconic establishments, we have more stores and condos. Is this a bad thing?! I think not.

Unless it was the parking lot where you scored with Mary Jane Rotten Crotch after giving her $20 bucks, no one is going to cry over a parking lot.

Pics and comments from Curbed LA

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/0..._revea.php?o=5

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/...2b095b90_o.jpg

Certainly not every new Hollywood project can be seen here, but check out the new nighttime skyline of the booming neighborhood and its under-construction W Hotel & Residences. Is this rendering reality? The project will offer a 305-room hotel and 143 residences. Prices start at $800,000, sizes of the units start at 1,000 square feet and the whole thing will be finished by October 2009. A tour of the sales office to follow.
· W Hotel and Residences [Official Site]
· ConstructionWatch: Hollywood and Vine/W Hotel [LA Curbed]

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I like the night rendering, but is it supposed to be during a blackout in Hollywood, and The W is the only building maintaining lights? Because... that's a good reason to buy there.:cool:

Oh god, that just has to get built!:hyper:

It is getting built. It's already two stories out of the ground.

:yes:, but I was being sarcastic.

Looks like the Metro station will be well intergrated with the project. Very nice.

i also love the massing of this building. its dense and tightly packed. I wish LA would stick to building projects of this height or smaller and not try to go for 35-40 story toothpicks on a podium.

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...ab22a0ba_o.jpg

yeah. I've always loved that block after block of tightly packed ~10 story buildings look. Like berlin, or paris, or tons of european cities. Its very good human scale, and also very urban.