LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by citywatch

^ investment money has dried up....the oceanwide proj on fig was able to break ground over 10 yrs ago because of financing from China. Even back then funding in LA wasn't that easy.

I saw a vid yesterday that said Miami now has the 3rd largest skyline in the US....over the past 10 yrs that city has been able to start work on several highrises because of $$ from places like NYC, with support from investors or buyers from South America. Financial firms & other businesses in NYC or chicago have relocated to areas in Florida or Texas, while too many investors have lost confidence in LA....dtla in particular.

Ppl of dtla, throughout LA & LA city govt during the next 10 yrs really need to make sure they don't take good things for granted.....or the idea that money doesn't grow on trees. Trends like these should scare the ppl of LA....

https://youtu.be/cUi5eVWo7AQ?si=zbn34kOyA_ck23lb

Lol. Downtown Miami has like 12 million sq feet of office space. Its by far the lowest of any american city. Firms aren't moving there. Miami is full of empty condo buildings and dead streets.
Who cares what the skyline looks like if the city looks dead. Im sure visitors realize the difference when they see it up close. Its not a good look.
And Miamis reddit is talking about closing stores and restaurants the same way. Maybe you should get out of your negative bubble.

[SoCalKid]

RE the gondola - allowing this to built at no cost to the public is such an obvious yes it just breaks my brain how anyone would oppose that. It will be a great tourist attraction and could help a little bit with getting to Dodgers games. Even better, it could make it feasible to develop the parking lots around Dodgers Stadium with a mixed use neighborhood. I suspect that last part is the real source of the NIMBYism around the gondola.

RE the convention center - someone made a good point, this should be paired with intensive cleanup/safety efforts. I really believe this plus the Olympics could be a catalyst for another round of DTLA revitalization. I think a lot people forget how happening DTLA was before Covid. Getting more large conventions + having a large Olympic node in DTLA could go a long way to getting the masses back to DTLA if they have a good experience without encountering lots of drug addicts and mentally unstable people.

RE the DTLA Care Package - I hope it's real, but I just don't trust Mayor Bass to do anything effective. Hopefully others in the city make this a priority.

[Calicool]

Originally Posted by craigs

Great photo, very well balanced! It really captures the skyline's continued growth to the south and east.



Disagreed. For that, we need the high capacity of a heavy rail subway.

In addition to rail of course. We need many options.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by SoCalKid

RE the gondola - allowing this to built at no cost to the public is such an obvious yes it just breaks my brain how anyone would oppose that. It will be a great tourist attraction and could help a little bit with getting to Dodgers games. Even better, it could make it feasible to develop the parking lots around Dodgers Stadium with a mixed use neighborhood. I suspect that last part is the real source of the NIMBYism around the gondola.

RE the convention center - someone made a good point, this should be paired with intensive cleanup/safety efforts. I really believe this plus the Olympics could be a catalyst for another round of DTLA revitalization. I think a lot people forget how happening DTLA was before Covid. Getting more large conventions + having a large Olympic node in DTLA could go a long way to getting the masses back to DTLA if they have a good experience without encountering lots of drug addicts and mentally unstable people.

RE the DTLA Care Package - I hope it's real, but I just don't trust Mayor Bass to do anything effective. Hopefully others in the city make this a priority.

Yea. Who knows about the package. BUT, when the next person beccomes mayor they can have those ideas in mind.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by Radio5

Pretty sure Mack Urban withdrew their application unfortunately...

IIRC it was just the taller tower that's either no longer in play or on the back burner.

I hope the smaller one and Mistui Tower (which is just awesome looking) can still happen soon.

[scania]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Lol. Downtown Miami has like 12 million sq feet of office space. Its by far the lowest of any american city. Firms aren't moving there. Miami is full of empty condo buildings and dead streets.
Who cares what the skyline looks like if the city looks dead. Im sure visitors realize the difference when they see it up close. Its not a good look.
And Miamis reddit is talking about closing stores and restaurants the same way. Maybe you should get out of your negative bubble.

Totally agree!!! I was just in Miami in July…there is no energy and life in Miami. It’s not the Miami of 2018. This lady/man citiwatch clearly has an agenda against LA/DTLA. It’s insane that the moderators allow he or she to keep such mess on this forum. Mack Urban pulled the plug on the tallest tower to focus on the other tower that’s still tall, just not as tall. Citiwatch won’t talk about that tower…he/she would rather keep posting about whatever negativity they can find. Again, The Bloc tower just took another step forward…you’ll hear nothing from her about that tower. It’s insane!!!

[scania]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

IIRC it was just the taller tower that's either no longer in play or on the back burner.

I hope the smaller one and Mistui Tower (which is just awesome looking) can still happen soon.

OMG…the Mistui Tower will be one of the sexiest towers built for residential in the USA!!!

[kittyhawk28]

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2...nomy-is-transforming-southern-california

Not directly DTLA related but I'm curious... with the amount of factories in the Arts District, is there any chance those could one day host aerospace engineering/production-related companies? One way to revitalize DTLA as a major employment base could be to encourage new aerospace startups to locate in DTLA's Arts District factories and warehouses; this has the benefit of being near a walkable and dense Downtown which could appeal to alot of the young startup employees, and is also adjacent to Union Station, which could expand access to skilled engineering workforce across SoCal.

Alot of these startups are popping up in South Bay cities due to SoCal being the aerospace capital of the world; it would be a good opportunity for DTLA to be able to capitalize on this recent aerospace revival

[SC_00_05]

Well, Onni Times Mirror project "on hold", that sucks, but not exactly surprising.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/towers-...ing-in-dtla-on-hold-amid-inflation-woes/

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Miami is full of empty condo buildings and dead streets.

whether Miami is this or that, or good or bad, I mentioned it mainly because projs proposed for dtla in comparison have had problems in getting financing. During the past 10 yrs investment dollars have poured into Miami while projs like oceanwide on Fig took forever....even before Covid...to get funding. Now that money from China has dried up, not only has oceanwide been stalled for over 6 yrs, but the Urban Mack or Onni projs also are now on pause or cancelled. It just means it's even more important that property owners, city officials & residents & businesses in dtla demand that problems, including unclean streets & unattractive sidewalks, aren't allowed to linger.

btw, I consider expo park a part of dtla....the southern side of it...although I guess a vid about this devlpt on Fig can also be posted to the LA metro forum too. however, as with the lucas museum, this devlpt looks out towards dtla way better than other projs do. But I guess mid wilshire...or koreatown....is more metro LA than the way I judge southern dtla.

• Video Link

^ that property across from the coliseum & BMO stadium was long mainly a big parking lot in the fig corridor. When it was across from the old sports arena, the area didn't help the last olympic games in LA. Lots of deadzones were long throughout that section of the city.

Finally removing the parking lots directly south of the Coliseum & converting them to park space is now supposedly not going to happen before 2028.

[SC_00_05]

Originally Posted by citywatch

whether Miami is this or that, or good or bad, I mentioned it mainly because projs proposed for dtla in comparison have had problems in getting financing. During the past 10 yrs investment dollars have poured into Miami while projs like oceanwide on Fig took forever....even before Covid...to get funding. Now that money from China has dried up, not only has oceanwide been stalled for over 6 yrs, but the Urban Mack or Onni projs also are now on pause or cancelled. It just means it's even more important that property owners, city officials & residents & businesses in dtla demand that problems, including unclean streets & unattractive sidewalks, aren't allowed to linger.

btw, I consider expo park a part of dtla....the southern side of it...although I guess a vid about this devlpt on Fig can also be posted to the LA metro forum too. however, as with the lucas museum, this devlpt looks out towards dtla way better than other projs do. But I guess mid wilshire...or koreatown....is more metro LA than the way I judge southern dtla.

• Video Link

^ that property across from the coliseum & BMO stadium was long mainly a big parking lot in the fig corridor. When it was across from the old sports arena, the area didn't help the last olympic games in LA. Lots of deadzones were long throughout that section of the city.

Finally removing the parking lots directly south of the Coliseum & converting them to park space is now supposedly not going to happen before 2028.

That looks like a pretty sizable complex and I love that the units completely surround the parking structure. Stuff like that should be built up the whole fig corridor (with expo park being the starting point I suppose), before hopefully turning to high rises a little further north.

[SoCalKid]

Originally Posted by SC_00_05

That looks like a pretty sizable complex and I love that the units completely surround the parking structure. Stuff like that should be built up the whole fig corridor (with expo park being the starting point I suppose), before hopefully turning to high rises a little further north.

What you're seeing here is called "wrap construction" - you build a parking garage and then units around it. That's opposed to what you typically see in LA - "podium construction" where units sit on top of the parking garage. Podium construction gets more units per acre because you're building units over the entire building footprint vs wrap where you're not building units on the area where the parking structure is. But wrap construction is cheaper because you don't need to deal with the transfer from a concrete podium to wood apartment units and you don't need the parking structure to support structure above it.

[colemonkee]

^ They build a lot of these kinds of apartments in Dallas and Houston.

[SoCalKid]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ They build a lot of these kinds of apartments in Dallas and Houston.

That's right. Some people call them "Texas donuts" but they're also pretty common all over the country now, including in the LA region outside the urban core. They're all over the Warner Center for example.

[202_Cyclist]

Populous reveals images of Los Angeles Convention Center "decades in the making"

By Ellen Eberhardt
Dezeen
OCt. 8, 2025


Rendering courtesy of Dezeen.

"US architecture studio Populous has revealed images of the expansion to the Los Angeles Convention Center in Downtown Los Angeles in conjunction with the project's groundbreaking, which took place earlier this month.

The expansion encompasses wedging a new building between the two existing major wings of the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), which would span over the city's Pico Boulevard throughfare..."

https://www.dezeen.com/2025/10/08/los-angeles-convention-center-images-groundbreaking-populous/

[craigs]

That looks pretty good for a convention center addition.

[FoldingBoxes]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Populous reveals images of Los Angeles Convention Center "decades in the making"

By Ellen Eberhardt
Dezeen
OCt. 8, 2025


Rendering courtesy of Dezeen.

"US architecture studio Populous has revealed images of the expansion to the Los Angeles Convention Center in Downtown Los Angeles in conjunction with the project's groundbreaking, which took place earlier this month.

The expansion encompasses wedging a new building between the two existing major wings of the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), which would span over the city's Pico Boulevard throughfare..."

https://www.dezeen.com/2025/10/08/los-angeles-convention-center-images-groundbreaking-populous/

The images at the link seem realistic, until you see that the far-away shots all show the Oceanwide Towers lit up, cleaned up, and inhabited.

[SoCalKid]

Speaking of Oceanwide, this is the latest status update provided to the bankruptcy court. Disappointing to hear the offer hasn't come through, but fingers crossed that it's real and is still happening.

Continuing Interest and Active Negotiations: At the August 19, 2025 status conference, Debtor’s counsel reported continuing interest and substantial progress in selling the Property. Since that time, Debtor and its professionals have continued to maintain intensive engagement with multiple interested parties, with particularly focused negotiations ongoing with at least one serious interested party. Indeed, the Debtor is in the process of extending the term of its engagement of one of its retainer brokers (Colliers) to facilitate on-going interest and negotiations from a significant interested party.

Imminent Formal Offer: Debtor advised the Court in August 2025 that a formal offer to purchase the Property was expected within weeks. The Debtor has not yet received that offer, but continues to be in contact with that buyer and expects it will be forthcoming. While Debtor remains unable to disclose specific terms at this time due to the sensitive nature of ongoing negotiations and confidentiality requirements, the level of engagement and specificity of discussions continues to indicate genuine and serious interest from qualified parties.

[craigs]

L.A. planners clear $2-billion project in Skid Row neighborhood



Roger Vincent
Los Angeles Times
October 15, 2025

A proposed mega-development in downtown Los Angeles, which would replace a cold storage facility with a $2-billion residential and commercial complex, cleared a major hurdle last week when the city Planning Commission backed it. Commissioners unanimously recommended the construction of Fourth & Central in the Skid Row neighborhood.

The 7.6-acre compound along Central Avenue that would contain apartments, offices, shops and restaurants in 10 distinct buildings of various sizes that would change the city skyline. The City Council will consider final approval later this year. The project, which would be built near the neighborhood’s boundary with the Arts District, is being proposed by property owner Larry Rauch, president of Los Angeles Cold Storage. His family has operated food chilling facilities at Fourth Street and Central Avenue since the 1960s and plans to move the business to a new location.

In its place would be 1,589 rental apartments with 249 affordable units, along with 401,000 square feet of creative office space and 145,748 square feet of retail or restaurant space. The complex was conceived by Long Beach architect Studio One Eleven. In response to changing market conditions and reactions from community members, a number of revisions have been made to Fourth & Central since the project was initially proposed in 2021.
. . . .

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Calling this skid row is purposefully done by the LA Times to stir up controversy. Regardless, i absolutely love this project and truly hope they find the financing and right partners to pull it off.

Also, i would love a taller version of this between Olympic, the 110, Figueroa and 9th street. Id tear everything down other than the Hotel Fig and the Marriot and have at it.