LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[Zapatan]

How much demo work needs to be done for Mitsui?

[craigs]

Despite its name, South Park is park-poor. That could change


The parking lot at 11th Street and Grand Avenue. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)


Thomas Curwen
Los Angeles Times
November 1, 2024

In downtown Los Angeles, parking lots are often placeholders, eventually giving rise to future development, but in the district known as South Park, one parking lot might just stay low.

Surrounded by residential towers, this ordinary patch of asphalt at 11th Street and South Grand Avenue, smaller than an ice-skating rink, may soon become a public park. Where cars sit idle beneath the open sky, trees might one day arch overhead and couples linger
in a waning twilight. “New urban parks are incredibly rare because of the market dynamics of acquiring land in downtown,” said Nolan Marshall, executive director of the South Park Business Improvement District. “This is huge for us.”

Since coming to South Park in 2022, Marshall has been scouting locations and pushing hard for a park. An executive director who knows the talking points, he speaks less of its bucolic allure than its economic benefit. A park can be “a catalyst for development in an area,”
he said. “If you’re a land owner who owns multiple sites — with an ability to develop on multiple sites — having one go to public space will only increase the value of the others.” Owned by the entertainment giant AEG, the 0.31-acre property — assessed in 2023 for $10.3
million — was to become a hotel, but a plan never materialized. Today a private lot for AEG, it is open to the public only when events at nearby Crypto.com Arena or L.A. Live spike the need.
. . . .

[craigs]

Also of note in the article above:

Marshall said the business improvement district is willing to maintain and operate the park.

“The city is only being asked to purchase the parking lot,” he said.

[craigs]

From LA Reddit, something very SSP--somebody dressed up as Oceanwide Plaza for Halloween:

[colemonkee]

Hahahaha! That is brilliant.

[craigs]

L.A. County to buy downtown skyscraper for new HQ despite a “hell no” from Hahn


The Gas Company Tower, center, in downtown Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

• The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved the purchase of the Gas Company Tower, one of downtown L.A.’s most prominent skyscrapers.
• The $200-million purchase clears the way for a plan to move county employees currently based inside the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration.
• The sale price is a deep discount from the building’s appraised value of $632 million in 2020, underscoring how much downtown office values have fallen in recent years.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved the county’s purchase of the Gas Company Tower, one of downtown L.A.’s most prominent skyscrapers, paving the way for the transfer of thousands of workers and public services out of the city’s civic center.

With a 4-1 vote, the supervisors gave county officials the final green light to move ahead with buying the tower for $200 million.

The approval came over vehement objections from Supervisor Janice Hahn, who warned that the purchase would sound the death knell for downtown’s civic heart and shunt the county’s workforce to a “souless” office tower on Bunker Hill.
. . . .

[colemonkee]

I've been in a few meetings in a law office in Gas Company Tower. I would hardly call it "soulless". It was quite nice, to be honest. The lobby is a bit narrow and weird with the entrances being at significantly different levels due to the elevation change of the hill, but it's a rather nice building inside otherwise.

[Illithid Dude]

The Civic Center is already dying a slow death. This will do wonders for the Historic Core, and can be the impetus needed to turn the Civic Center into a fully residential neighborhood.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

The Civic Center is already dying a slow death. This will do wonders for the Historic Core, and can be the impetus needed to turn the Civic Center into a fully residential neighborhood.

Yes, this is really good news for the Historic Core, as the thousands of county workers will activate the streets as they go out for lunch or grab something on the way to/from the office. And I agree about the Civic Center--it has been eerily sleepy every time I have been there.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Absolutely 10000%. Tear down hahn, expand the park and add a couple residential buildings, do the same with mosk building, develop that empty lot, build the la times project and the one above the subway station... You can see it rounding into shape. Expand out towards Little Tokyo and the historic core.. done

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

The Civic Center is already dying a slow death. This will do wonders for the Historic Core, and can be the impetus needed to turn the Civic Center into a fully residential neighborhood.

Yeah, I don't see the current Civic Center has being a particularly soulful part of town. Not sure where Hahn is coming from on this one.

[sopas ej]

I kind of straddle the fence when it comes to the LA County Hall of Administration being moved into a 1990s-era office tower.

When the Civic Center was created in the mid-20th Century, the goal was to put all County and City government offices in one area. Prior to that, County and City offices were all scattered throughout downtown, many in rented office space. At one point in time, the Los Angeles Civic Center was (maybe still is?) the highest concentration of government buildings outside of Washington, DC.

I assume the Gas Company Tower will then be used for public Board of Supervisors meetings as well as containing all Hall of Admin. offices and departments? If LA County's Board of Supes does expand to 9 members, I assume they'll have some sort of large auditorium for the public Board meetings?

[NIMBY Slayer]

Originally Posted by LAsam

Yeah, I don't see the current Civic Center has being a particularly soulful part of town. Not sure where Hahn is coming from on this one.

Probably because she wants to work in a building with her name on it

Yeah, I'm on the fence of tearing that and the courthouse down but the more I look at them and think about it, it might be the only choice and they are extremely bunker like and offensive how they interact at the ground floor.

I think I have a pretty good imagination but I don't see how those building can be repurposed into anything that is not civic without altering them to the point they would hardly resemble the original.

With that said, knock them both down and build high rises (MINIMUM 25 floors) along both edges of the park (if they can reimagine the entire area) if possible widen the park as well.

As stated, build the LA Times towers and the one over the subway stop and you'll have one of the most desirable neighborhoods downtown if not the city.

[colemonkee]

Originally Posted by LAsam

Yeah, I don't see the current Civic Center has being a particularly soulful part of town. Not sure where Hahn is coming from on this one.

Probably has a tiny bit to do with her dad's name being on the building. Not the best reason to oppose the move. They can always dedicate a space in any new development to Kenneth Hahn (who also has Kenneth Hahn State Park, which is an absolute gem for the City and region).

[ChelseaFC]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I assume the Gas Company Tower will then be used for public Board of Supervisors meetings as well as containing all Hall of Admin. offices and departments? If LA County's Board of Supes does expand to 9 members, I assume they'll have some sort of large auditorium for the public Board meetings?

I've only read that some offices will be moved. Is something happening to the current building that I missed or hasn't been reported? Otherwise I would just assume that Board of Supervisors meetings will remain in the current building.

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Probably has a tiny bit to do with her dad's name being on the building. Not the best reason to oppose the move. They can always dedicate a space in any new development to Kenneth Hahn (who also has Kenneth Hahn State Park, which is an absolute gem for the City and region).

I was wondering if this may be her motivation a well...

[craigs]

The reason this is happening is that Hahn is unsafe and will collapse in an earthquake. It would cost so much to retrofit Hahn (and other nearby county facilities) that purchasing the Gas Company Tower and moving the affected departments in there makes fiscal sense. And I have never seen county workers activate the Civic Cente--it always seems empty and forgotten in time. They will activate the streets around the Gas Co. building, though.

[craigs]

L.A. County votes to purchase Gas Company Tower

The sales price of $200 million is a steep discount from what the building was appraised at in 2020

Steven Sharp
Urbanize LA
November 7, 2024



It's official: Los Angeles County is buying the Gas Company Tower. On November 6, following a legally-mandated notification period, the Board of Supervisors voted to spend up to $205 million to purchase the 1.5-million-square-foot office tower at 555 W. 5th Street. The agreement would also include air space rights accounting for 1,184 parking spaces at the nearby World Trade Center complex.

According to a staff report, the move was prompted by the unprecedented decline in the Downtown office market seen in the aftermath of the global pandemic. By acquiring a building that was appraised at $632 million just four years ago, the County can move staff from leased space and a stock of aging buildings into a modern tower completed in 1991, while also saving money over time.

The County had reviewed 42 different buildings in the Downtown area before moving forward with the transaction, eventually narrowing its search to six buildings, and then touring three. It is expected that the Gas Company Tower will serve as back offices for the County, rather than housing public-facing functions.

[LA21st]

Drove through downtown for a bit today and it looked pretty vibrant on 7th in the financial district/historic core and the side streets.

Less homeless was visible outside of the skid row area.

[dktshb]

Does anybody know how phase one of the Pershing Square remodel is coming along? I was there on a weekday over the summer and the area was fenced off but there was no activity on that particular day. I am hoping it is coming along and almost complete.