LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Its the big Little Tokyo project Newsom has got involved in for speeding it up.

The north tower is going to be on the same block as Little Tokyo Galleria.

It's being promoted as an Arts District project.

But technically it's in Skid Row .

[sopas ej]

From the LA Times, regarding the Los Angeles Convention Center:

L.A. City Council panel backs billion-dollar plan to redo Convention Center for 2028 Olympics


By Dakota Smith
Staff Writer

June 19, 2024 3 AM PT

A Los Angeles City Council committee on Tuesday backed an effort to remodel the downtown Convention Center ahead of the 2028 Olympics, even as city leaders acknowledged the ambitious time frame for completing the project.

The council’s Trade, Travel and Tourism Committee voted to spend up to $54.4 million for preconstruction work on the aging, city-owned Convention Center, a proposal that now heads to the full City Council for a vote.

The 2028 Olympics were billed by proponents as fiscally prudent because no major venues needed to be built. But with table tennis and other events planned at the Convention Center, city leaders want to use the Games as an impetus to start construction that could ultimately cost billions of dollars.

Over the last decade, various plans for modernizing the center, which opened in 1971, have been proposed but have not moved forward.

Business and labor leaders packed Tuesday’s meeting to support the project, arguing it would help the economy, create jobs and revitalize downtown.

Nella McOsker, president of the downtown business group Central City Assn., told the five-member committee that this “is a challenging moment for the city and a challenging decision to make, but surely the right one.”

If the Convention Center is expanded, the city would pay for the construction but the work would be carried out through a private-public partnership with Anschutz Entertainment Group, which runs the convention center, and development firm Plenary Group.

In the short term, the city will spend up to $54.4 million on preconstruction design work. The City Council is expected to vote later this year on a final work agreement for the entire project with AEG and Plenary group.

However, if it becomes clear during the preconstruction work that the timeline for final completion isn’t feasible, the city can pull the plug, officials said Tuesday.

Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso warned council members at the meeting that it will be challenging to get the project done before the Olympics, calling the schedule “very fast-paced.”

“There is no room for error in this timeline,” she said.

The redesign would address the lack of contiguous space at the center, which is viewed by city officials as a major problem for attracting convention-goers. None of the existing facilities would be demolished under the proposal, and the new construction would connect the Convention Center buildings, adding 190,000 square feet of additional exhibit hall space, 55,000 square feet of additional meeting room space and 95,000 square feet of multipurpose space.

[...]

Read the rest by clicking the link.

[Wally West]

Originally Posted by craigs

I thought I'd bump this post since we are currently discussing the project but the name is so bland and non-descriptive that many of us forgot what it was!

I'd even argue that the project would fresher in people's minds if it was named 4th/Alameda since Alameda is a more commonly used street compared to Central. Alameda is even the defining line between Little Tokyo and the Arts District. This project would really help those two neighborhoods feel a tad bit more cohesive. Praying that this project actually gets built.

[craigs]

Fresh renderings for proposed DTLA high-rise at 1105 S. Olive Street

The 51-story tower would feature 536 apartments



A pending presentation to the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council's Planning Committee offers a better look at Mack Real Estate Development's proposed residential tower at 1105-1123 S. Olive Street.

The project, last seen before the council in 2020, calls for replacing a surface parking lot with a 51-story tower which would feature 536 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes above 4,178 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Plans also call for a four-level podium and six subterranean levels containing parking for 581 vehicles.

CallsonRTKL is designing the tower which would rise 603 feet in height, and is shown in renderings with a glass and metal exterior. Amenity decks are proposed atop the building's podium, with several smaller terraces to adorn its upper floors. Images also show a landscaped setback at street level at the intersection of 11th and Olive, and uplighting to highlight the building crown.
. . . .
Read the rest at Urbanize Los Angeles.

A diagram:

[sopas ej]

Los Angeles' helipad ordinance was rescinded in 2014, yet all the latest designs for skyscrapers have been so... blah and boxy.

[scania]

I think this honestly looks better than their other properties here. This would will be a welcome addition. It’s not mind blowing…but definitely still nice.

[craigs]

This is exactly what downtown LA needs--hundreds of new homes in a pedestrian- and transit-friendly part of town. And being so close to so many other recent developments, it will just add to South Park's critical mass.

Aesthetically, another 600-footer for Los Angeles makes me happy. Olympic + Hill almost made that threshold, but this one will slightly exceed it.

[homebucket]

This might be an unpopular opinion but I think 1105 S Olive actually looks decent. The crown is slightly angled, to help provide visual interest and break up the monotony of only having right angles. And if you look closely, the corner of the main intersection is actually rounded, which helps provide a sleeker appearance. There's also no balconies for most of either side of 11th or Olive, which also contributes to that cleaner, less busy, sleeker appearance. The podium, at least on the 11th St side is a cohesive design that matches the rest of the tower. It also seems like they put a lot of thought into the street interaction, stepping back the tower slightly to create a wider pedestrian area, placing the parking garage driveway off to the side to minimize pedestrian disruption.

[citywatch]

• Video Link

[citywatch]

LA Times assessment of Oceanwide plaza claims it may never pencil out....other than putting a casino on the ground level or also downsizing the apts or condos, dtla's graffiti towers may remain a bad symbol for the city.

The fastest path forward for a new owner would be to complete the original plans for the three-tower development that ground to a halt in 2019 and stands about 60% finished. But some potential buyers and construction experts say that doing so is financially untenable, in large part because tenants would be scarce for the expansive retail space on the project’s bottom floors and a redesign would be very difficult for the oversized residential spaces in the towers above.

“Believe me, somebody would have jumped forward with a viable plan if there really was one,” said developer Bill Witte, chief executive of Related California. Witte said he believes Oceanwide has “negative value because of the scale and the indeterminate amount of work that would have to be done to complete it.”

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[ocman]

Pershing Square will be renamed Biddy Mason Park.

https://abc7.com/post/councilman-kev...uare/14977223/

[craigs]

Originally Posted by ocman

Pershing Square will be renamed Biddy Mason Park.

https://abc7.com/post/councilman-kev...uare/14977223/

I thought it was just a proposal from Kevin de Leon at this stage?

[bighomey3000]

Originally Posted by ocman

Pershing Square will be renamed Biddy Mason Park.

https://abc7.com/post/councilman-kev...uare/14977223/

Call it whatever you want, will still be garbage until the close the parking ramps and make it a real park. Pathetic we haven't been able to do this yet, giving our tremendous lack of accessible park space.

[scania]

Being open-minded, I would say that one side of the park having a ramp that goes down, can still be a great park if the other three sides are still ground level for entrance and site. Realistically, it would only be seen from that one side and if the other three sides are ground level, even when walking or driving by you would see street level entrance and sights of the park.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by scania

Being open-minded, I would say that one side of the park having a ramp that goes down, can still be a great park if the other three sides are still ground level for entrance and site. Realistically, it would only be seen from that one side and if the other three sides are ground level, even when walking or driving by you would see street level entrance and sights of the park.

Union Square in San Francisco was successfully renovated without removing the parking garage entrances. The Pershing Square renovation can likewise succeed if the design is executed well. Time will tell.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by scania

Being open-minded, I would say that one side of the park having a ramp that goes down, can still be a great park if the other three sides are still ground level for entrance and site. Realistically, it would only be seen from that one side and if the other three sides are ground level, even when walking or driving by you would see street level entrance and sights of the park.

Are there updated renovation plans to reduce parking ramps from all four sides to just one? I see in this rendering that only the ramp on the Hill Street side will be removed.



https://la.urbanize.city/post/checki...-square-revamp

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by scania

Being open-minded, I would say that one side of the park having a ramp that goes down, can still be a great park if the other three sides are still ground level for entrance and site. Realistically, it would only be seen from that one side and if the other three sides are ground level, even when walking or driving by you would see street level entrance and sights of the park.

I do agree that there is a little too much emphasis on the parking ramps. Yes, they do inhibit accessibility to some extent, but ultimately, removing some or even all of them wouldn't necessarily suddenly transform it into a vibrant park with high usage. It'll help for sure, but I think there needs to be some examination in the surrounding areas as well. What will bring people to this part of DTLA and have them sit and relax for a bit at Pershing Square. In SF, I can think of a park, Yerba Buena Gardens, which is nearly enclosed on all four sides, with only a small section that is easily accessible from street level, yet IMO, it receives pretty good usage. But that's also because there's a museum, performing arts center, convention center, and a shopping mall in the adjacent area to help increase pedestrian traffic. That's probably what would help Pershing Square most.

[craigs]

Former Ace Hotel in downtown L.A. reopens as ‘Airbnb on steroids’


The elaborate proscenium arch of the United Theater on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Recently reopened under new management, the theater will continue to host live events while the attached hotel will offer few services akin to short-term rentals. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Roger Vincent
Los Angeles Times
June 21, 2024

The former Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, which helped lead an economic revival on a historic stretch of Broadway a decade ago, has reopened as a minimal-service operation akin to Airbnb, following a strategy that has become increasingly common for struggling hotels in recent years.

Now called Stile Downtown Los Angeles by Kasa, the 1920s-vintage hotel tower has resumed limited operations after shutting down nearly six months ago. Downtown hotels were particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, and some have changed owners or operators.

Ace Hotel Group had operated the 182-room hotel near Broadway and Olympic Boulevard since it opened in 2014, even as its ownership changed twice over the years. The chic brand made the Ace a destination for travelers as well as local residents who patronized its buzzy rooftop bar and restaurants.

South Korea-based AJU Continuum, which bought the hotel in 2019, announced last week that it had brought in Kasa Living Inc. to operate the property.

Kasa, which is based in San Francisco and has a national presence, “offers the consistency of a major hotel chain with the convenience and character of a modern short-term rental,” AJU Continuum said in a statement.
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