LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[Blesha13]

Carmel's arts district tower has been topped out for a few weeks now.



Brookfield’s long lost twin.

[Blesha13]

https://youtu.be/w0xGE-JZnsY?si=NG1kxD2mZpF6j_Ua

I’d love to see someone one draw inspiration from this and maybe LA could get a new Neo Art Deco supertall as well.

[superfishy]

Originally Posted by LA21st

I was in Seattle the last 4 days. Pretty much saw all of downtown and neighboring areas. A few things-

1) It is the 4th best downtown i've seen in the U.S. Not the 4th most vibrant, but I think the built environment/size is 4 behind NYC, Chicago, SF. The amount of new towers and construction is very impressive. For vibrancy it's behind those 3, Philly, Boston, and possibly DC and LA. DC isn't what it was.

2) I dont know why it's not as vibrant as it should be. The only places that looked busy were tourist areas (Pikes Market/1st Ave/waterfront) and the Seattle Center, and the Pine/Pike shopping district. The big Amazon neighborhood (South Lake Union) was pretty quiet, even on a weekday at lunch. I don't get it. All these big modern office towers and apartments and it just...idk. It looks nice, although kinda soul less in those new sections. Where the hell is everyone? There's all this new housing but it felt like there's not enough retail/storefronts to go with it. It def hurt the street level feel.

3) Seattle is much grimer than I expected. Not a grimy city per se, but you never hear how sketchy Pioneer Square/International District/Belltown/Capitol Hill can be on these kinds of forums. Empty storefronts with graffiti in the nice areas. Strange people wandering/yelling in almost every section of downtown. Pikes Market seemed to be immune to that weirdness. Third or 2nd ave near/in the financial district looked pretty gnarly. Is Seattle focusing on the new Amazon area? The "old" part of downtown Seattle looks like it's being left behind. It was boring to walk around, not much different than LA's financial district.

The international district SHOULD be some kind of tourist area but is somewhat run down. Little Tokyo is far more vibrant, and is Chinatown is as well.

4) The homeless/drug addicts is bad and all over downtown. Even next to the big department stores and outside every subway station there. Not as bad as SF or LA but it must be 4. I haven't seen Austin yet and I'm sure it's the same deal. Everyone just focuses on the new construction/tech and ignores all the bad, unlike with California.

5) In regards to LA, Seattle is kicking our but for new housing. That was one of the biggest take aways, we're so far behind. I'd say Chicago is behind Seattle too, Seattle seems to be building everywhere.

6) Their subway stations were cleaner than LA but has the same issue of homeless/tents right outside. Pioneer Square, especially. The trains didnt seem packed. They were doing ok, but not great

I dont think LA will catch up to Seattle for built environment. But it could for vibrancy/street life. If not, already. Its hard to compare.

I've lived in Seattle for the last year after living most of my life in San Diego and LA. Actually have a move in date next weekend for a 23rd floor apartment in downtown and absolutely love the skyline view from it.

I agree with 4th place honestly. The density is attributed to the city being surrounded on all sides by water as well as hilly terrain.

As for the vibrancy of the city, a lot of people in tech jobs with companies that fill up the office space here are fighting to stay remote so the amount of people downtown during the week is way less than pre-covid.

[scania]

Do some of you really hangout in DTLA??? Seattle is not close to the vibrancy of DTLA. Pre and post Covid. I hope we can get off the Seattle on this thread.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by scania

Do some of you really hangout in DTLA??? Seattle is not close to the vibrancy of DTLA. Pre and post Covid. I hope we can get off the Seattle on this thread.

Haven't been to downtown in a bit lol. Was mostly in Little Tokyo, which was bustling. I brought it up because of the doomers on this thread.
The Seattle visit actually made me more optimistic for downtown LA, going forward. We do need to build more frigging housing though. That has to be fixed.
I don't care if they have to build 20 of those new towers for the homeless. Just BUILD IT.

[Charmy2]

Originally Posted by scania

Do some of you really hangout in DTLA??? Seattle is not close to the vibrancy of DTLA. Pre and post Covid. I hope we can get off the Seattle on this thread.

DTLA is honestly a vibe. I was there in June and spent most of my time there and I loved it.

[milquetoast]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Indeed, the Olympics, while exciting will probably
not have much, if any impact.

If Los Angeles had a better economy, if it had leadership
and had an eye towards the international media, then there
would be various 21st century projects underway right now.

People who create these projects with a plan to introduce them
to the world, literally, would be scrambling to finish them off.
Remember the lesson of 1984, where the products bought media
time, financing the Games themselves while showing off on the
world stage.

Los Angeles is not there anymore. (Got to get the homeless
into those hotels!) I estimate that Exposition Park will share
international media attention with the tents.

And Seattle still has two black eyes from CHAZ and CHOP
and their "Summer of Love". They may be building, but this
ain't 'Frazier's' Seattle anymore, and people are pensive about
what used to be. So am I.

[LA21st]

Maybe la will do what did Miami for their super bowl.
Hide the tents. It Miami was liberal it would've taken more shit for that by the media. Sad

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by Blesha13

Carmel's arts district tower has been topped out for a few weeks now.

...

Brookfield’s long lost twin.

This looks much more like Atelier (801 S. Olive). All three are good quality, much better than any of the Onni towers.

[craigs]

17-story high-rise breaks ground at 600 San Pedro in DTLA

Weingart and Related California team up on 302-unit supportive housing complex

Steven Sharp
Urbanize Los Angeles
October 19, 2023

Regular readers of Urbanize may have already noticed the red construction crane, but a groundbreaking ceremony held on October 12 made it official: construction is underway for Weingart Center's latest high-rise supportive housing complex.

The project, which is being developed in partnership with Related California, is named 600 San Pedro for its location, previously a city-owned parking lot at 6th and San Pedro Streets in Downtown. The under-construction development with consist of a 17-story tower featuring 302 homes, 298 of which would be permanent supportive housing. Plans also call for 2,800 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, a standalone 212-car parking structure.

Large Architecture is designing 600 San Pedro, which is portrayed in a rendering as a contemporary high-rise structure. Planned open spaces include a new deck above the parking garage, which would include a courtyard, an amphitheater, and a community garden. Other common features would include laundry facilities, a library, and a fitness center.

Completion of the tower is expected in mid-2025.

The project is the second of three Weingart Center projects near the non-profit organization's headquarters at 6th and San Pedro Streets, following a neighboring 19-story tower which is now wrapping up construction next to the organization's longtime home. The non-profit service provider is also planning a 12-story building with more than 100 supportive housing units at the same intersection. The three projects would account for nearly 700 homes at completion.

Weingart and Related are not done with building housing in Downtown. The two organizations teamed on up on the Alveare apartments, a proposed 335-unit affordable housing complex which would rise not far to the west at 1405 S. Broadway.

[citywatch]

"Downtown is the heart of the city," said Mark Houston during the event. "This is a melting pot of culture and interesting creators coming together. Like tonight, Los Angeles is here and that's a beautiful thing. We're also hosting Fashion Week events and my friend's movie premiere after-party. I love that we are all coming together here and changing the narrative of the city and Downtown. "


Nainoa Andrade for Cincoro


Nainoa Andrade for Cincoro


Nainoa Andrade for Cincoro

As for this being posted today by CNBC:

https://youtu.be/52iCmSFW2Wk?si=MNPBHBlIIwiFvgjn&t=126

"Although it's expensive...it's common practice in city centers.....In Germany & the Netherlands, nearly all of them are".

DTLA is one city center where that rule doesn't apply. Last wk, & not too far from the Moxy hotel, I was on 9th St right off the 110 fwy. The Salvation Army bldg, surrounded by mainly parking lots, was there as always. It still also looked abandoned but was more heavily graffiti bombed than the last time I saw it. Some bldgs around there, however, over the past 5 yrs have been torn down. 9th st is right by Figueroa & very much in LA's 'city center'. The ppl at city hall really need to get with the program.

[scania]

Originally Posted by craigs

17-story high-rise breaks ground at 600 San Pedro in DTLA

Weingart and Related California team up on 302-unit supportive housing complex

This is somewhat interesting...I'm not sure which angle it will have an impact, if any on the skyline. With that being said, more housing for supportive housing is always a plus.

[headcheckjj]

We need dozens more projects like this—nothing sexy, no wow factor, just a solid height and density addition.

PS. As a hotel, the location is fine, but definitely wouldn't want to live on top of the 10 freeway such that I can open my bedroom window and touch a car:

https://la.urbanize.city/post/proposed-tower-complex-1600-s-flower-street-dtla-showing-signs-life

[ChelseaFC]

Originally Posted by headcheckjj

PS. As a hotel, the location is fine, but definitely wouldn't want to live on top of the 10 freeway such that I can open my bedroom window and touch a car:

Metropolis is right by the 110 Freeway, so it's not unheard of.

[headcheckjj]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Metropolis is right by the 110 Freeway, so it's not unheard of.

Didn't say it wasn't. Wouldn't want to live there or any of Palmer's lung cancer apartments either.

[citywatch]

Mitsui Fudosan CEO for America John Kessler along with renderings of the proposed project at 754 South Hope and 609 West 8th Street (Getty, Mitsui Fudosan), therealdeal.com

Mitsui Fudosan America’s 50-story multifamily faces wave of appeals

In early October, it looked like Mitsui Fudosan America’s 50-story Park Terrace project in downtown Los Angeles was headed to a vote before the L.A, City Council after slogging through five years of the approval process at City Hall.
The 580-unit apartment project had already weathered several appeals and won approval from the Planning Commission. But it has run headlong into new hurdles with two last-minute appeals to the city’s Planning Commission — a familiar scenario for any developer. In the most recent round of the approval process, the commission’s determination letter gave Oct. 11 as the deadline to file an appeal for the project located on the corner of 754 South Hope Street and 609 West 8th Street by The Bloc retail center.

But then another developer filed an appeal on Oct. 6. And a labor-affiliated group filed a second appeal on Oct. 11. Both groups had filed appeals earlier — both were rejected.

Digital Realty, headquartered in Austin, complains in its new appeal that MFA has failed to comply with the state’s CEQA law because the environmental impacts for MFA’s project have not been adequately explored. The developer’s appeal asserts that MFA did not adequately consider how the skyscraper will affect two neighboring buildings eligible for California’s Register of Historical Resources. It also contends that MFA breaks guidelines set forth by the city’s Downtown Design Guide. MFA’s proposed property line for the tower is only 40 feet from another proposed building — a Digital Realty project.

In April, Digital Realty filed plans to develop a 13-story data center at 727 South Grand Avenue. The windowless building would feature nine floors of data suites to house computer servers, data storage drives and networking equipment.

The second appeal came from the union-affiliated Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development Los Angeles, which alleges the project breaks CEQA and zoning rules. CREED LA’s appeal says the commission did not adequately consider how the project will affect the surrounding environment with greenhouse gasses and noise pollution.

Previous appeals by Digital Realty and CREED LA were rejected by the Planning Commission in July.

.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

These appeals are par for course for every development. Its an extortion tactic and are easy and cheap to file if i recall correctly. The process needs to be changed as this bullshit delays sorely needed projects by months and months for no reason

[Zapatan]

CREED LA’s appeal says the commission did not adequately consider how the project will affect the surrounding environment with greenhouse gasses and noise pollution.

How exactly would it cause "noise pollution"? As far as greenhouse gasses aren't there tons of trees? It's probably the lesser offender of downtown buildings.

Dreaming of this was fun while it lasted...

MFA’s proposed property line for the tower is only 40 feet from another proposed building — a Digital Realty project.

This does not seem to unordinary in a city, it (the other proposal) is also only a 9 story building with no windows for equipment storage.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by headcheckjj

We need dozens more projects like this—nothing sexy, no wow factor, just a solid height and density addition.

PS. As a hotel, the location is fine, but definitely wouldn't want to live on top of the 10 freeway such that I can open my bedroom window and touch a car:

https://la.urbanize.city/post/proposed-tower-complex-1600-s-flower-street-dtla-showing-signs-life

Yes, yes, yes.

Projects like this are sorely needed. It's got solid density, qualifies as transit- and pedestrian-oriented development, and on first blush it looks like it's not fancy enough to qualify as a trophy property in which foreign investors snap up the units and leave them empty because they want to park their money offshore.

[edale]

I recently took an out of town visitor to the Broad to see the Haring exhibit. The museum and the exhibition were great, but we went across the street to check out The Grand after, hoping to grab a drink or something before heading out of downtown, and there wasn't a single business open, other than an art gallery and a gift shop for the Basquiat exhibit they're hosting there. I really hope they can get going on leasing out that retail space. I worry they provided way too much commercial space in the development and it's going to be difficult to fill up. Some standard, street facing retail/restaurant space would have been fine, and would have contributed more to the vibrancy of Grand Ave than the multi-level mall that was built. Even before the pandemic, I thought it was strange to provide that much retail on multiple levels in this part of downtown. Malls everywhere are struggling. Brick and mortar retail everywhere is struggling. Hope they can figure something out with this site quickly. It was a total ghost town on a Friday afternoon...