LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[Blesha13]

Any reason why 333 S. Figueroa St is fenced off? If it wasn’t for those bribes, LA Grand Hotel would be close to topping out?

Hope someone can revive that project.

[NIMBY Slayer]

Originally Posted by scania

Disagree…the world changes. Tradition often times needs to be tweaked to adapt to changing times. With the proper elements around the park…people will want to hangout and enjoy. It’s much more than the just a design alone. I’m sure you as well as everyone else on here knows these facts.

Disagree. They still make nice traditional parks in NYC and around the world, so it can be done (and be cost effective). It's just that LA has set the bar super low, loves to over design and loves concrete (probably to keep maintenance to a minimum, hence people come last). Now we just have to accept what they give us and we call it progress? Besides every new LA park in the last 15 years has been "tweaked to adapt to changing times". Almost all of them are duds. The definition of insanity is...

[NIMBY Slayer]

Here are some pics of the mysterious "Gotham City" Boyle Heights park I took yesterday.

It's still locked and had had 0 maintenance from when I last walked by a few of months ago. I wish they would clean up the graffiti and replant the grass. This would be one of the coolest "newish" parks in LA.

The outside gate (notice the metal statues on the stone pillars)


Inside the park (needs some TLC but the bones are all there, notice the cool park entrance gate on the far left)

[scania]

Omg…no need to go back and forth. Lol We can agree to disagree.

[scania]

It looks like some exciting news on Mitsui Fudosan Tower on Urbanize.La!

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by NIMBY Slayer

Disagree. They still make nice traditional parks in NYC and around the world, so it can be done (and be cost effective). It's just that LA has set the bar super low, loves to over design and loves concrete (probably to keep maintenance to a minimum, hence people come last). Now we just have to accept what they give us and we call it progress? Besides every new LA park in the last 15 years has been "tweaked to adapt to changing times". Almost all of them are duds. The definition of insanity is...

100000%.

Just redo the park to look like it did 75 years ago. Large shade trees, paths, benches and a cafe

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by scania

It looks like some exciting news on Mitsui Fudosan Tower on Urbanize.La!

Good news indeed. Also, given the tower Mitsui just finished on Fig, we know they build high quality product that will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Probably won't break ground until construction financing rates come down a bit (maybe sometime in 2025?) but at least it's ready to go now.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by scania

It looks like some exciting news on Mitsui Fudosan Tower on Urbanize.La!

That article is behind a wall--can you post about it here?

[headcheckjj]

Originally Posted by craigs

That article is behind a wall--can you post about it here?

To wit: when I passed by that parking garage recently (on 8th and Grand where the MFA tower will be), the gate was shut and it was empty. Hopefully that means they're getting ready to start work?

[Zapatan]

Mitsui would be very welcomed, hopefully it and the olive street tower can rise together.

[headcheckjj]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Mitsui would be very welcomed, hopefully it and the olive street tower can rise together.

Olive Street meaning the South Park tower?

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by 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.
. . . .

I never called it the Theater at ACE, which was a stupid name, so this is good news. They did a great job restoring the building though.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by craigs

That article is behind a wall--can you post about it here?

The article has seven pictures. I don't believe any of the renderings are new.

https://la.urbanize.city/post/mitsui...-s-hope-street

Mitsui Fudosan America gets approval for 50-story DTLA tower at 754 S. Hope Street
Gensler-designed tower would feature 580 residential units above ground-floor retail
JUNE 26, 2024, 8:00AM STEVEN SHARP 15 COMMENTS

Earlier this year, developer Mitsui Fudosan America (MFA) opened the doors of its Figueroa Eight apartment tower in Downtown Los Angeles, completing the redevelopment of a property it has owned since the 1980s. Its next project may not take quite as long to come to fruition.

On June 25, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve MFA's 8th Grand & Hope project, which would replace a parking garage and surface parking lot at 754 S. Hope Street. The proposed development, submitted to the city for entitlements back in 2017, calls for the construction of a 50-story tower featuring 580 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes above 7,499 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 640-car garage.

Gensler is designing the tower, which is intended to incorporate elements evoking L.A.'s famed Mid-Century modern homes. Plans call for a stepped building envelop which would shift away from Hope Street as it rises, creating terrace decks for residents. Plans call for an exterior of glass, concrete, aluminum, and stone.

The tower may also incorporate up to 189 additional homes at a future date through the conversion of its parking garage to apartments. The parking levels are being designed without a slope.

As was the case when the project was hear by the City Planning Commission in 2023, the project was faced with opposition. Creed LA and the Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, both affiliated with construction trade unions, have argued that the project's environmental impact report contained numerous deficiencies. The Council voted to approve the project simultaneously rejected that argument.

...

[craigs]

Originally Posted by badrunner

If 754 S. Hope Street comes out like this rendering, it will be a new favorite on the LA skyline. Sexy!

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Absolutely. Its gorgeous. Another really nice one is the tower proposed on top of the Metro station on Broadway and 2nd.

[edale]

It reminds me of the LADWP building. Wonder if it's an intentional homage to it. Regardless, it's a very nice looking building and I hope it gets built asap.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by Blesha13

Any reason why 333 S. Figueroa St is fenced off? If it wasn’t for those bribes, LA Grand Hotel would be close to topping out?

Hope someone can revive that project.

Not sure, I wouldn't get my hopes up that anything big is happening there anytime soon but I sure hope someone with ambition buys the site. Who currently has control of it?

Olive Street meaning the South Park tower?

11th and Olive, the 600 footer that is heading for approvals soon.

[craigs]

Does anyone know how tall 754 S. Hope Street would be?

[Yackemflaber69]

It's around 189m I believe

[Zapatan]

^ 592 feet 50 floors I think is the last we heard.

Perhaps that's subject to change though.