LOS ANGELES | Countywide Project Rundown Megathread

[LAsam]

Oh wow, I had no idea they are recladding those residential towers on Barrington. The renovated product looks very nice!

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by LAsam

Oh wow, I had no idea they are recladding those residential towers on Barrington. The renovated product looks very nice!

Yeah, and they are adding in sprinklers / seismic safety features. It was a big deal in Brentwood because a lot of residents who had been there for decades were forced to move out, but I think considering the safety upgrades, it was all for the best.

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Yeah, and they are adding in sprinklers / seismic safety features. It was a big deal in Brentwood because a lot of residents who had been there for decades were forced to move out, but I think considering the safety upgrades, it was all for the best.

I recall them having a really bad fire in one of the units a few years ago. Good that they are upgrading the safety of those building... but understandable that it's disruptive for tenants.

[SoCalKid]

A friend invited me to a panel on SB 79 this morning in Culver City held by a group called the Westside Urban Forum. I highly recommend everyone check out their events, it was like the best parts of this forum in panel form.

[citywatch]

The owners of the Hotel Clark, the Cherit Group, must be running some kind of a real estate...investment...tax scam. I've never checked their hotel's website until right now & was surprised it looked as legit...even fancy...as it did. If I were an out of towner & didn't know the property's full history, I'd think it was a functioning business & might book a room...

dtladev, facebook

Francisco Contreras, July 28
Walked by Hotel Clark today and noticed what looks like a significant increase in construction activity. There are new scaffolds up, construction trucks loading in and out, fresh drywall visible inside, and it definitely looks like active work is happening. Has anyone heard any updates on the project? Is this finally a serious push toward reopening, or is it just another phase of work? Curious if anyone has insight into the current timeline or who’s behind the latest construction.

Matt Gelfand
They do this occasionally, and it's unfortunately always a farce. I had a room reserved for their last "grand opening" that never came to be.

https://www.hotelclark.com/hotel


hotelclark.com


hotelclark.com


hotelclark.com


hotelclark.com


hotelclark.com

The Clark's ground level on Hill St has long been covered with a security gate that makes it look like a warehouse or prison facility. So that alone has long made it obvious the owners aren't treating the property as a serious business. But the legal or financial angle they're using to make it worth their while is a mystery.

[Build_SD_Maxwell]

Originally Posted by SoCalKid

A friend invited me to a panel on SB 79 this morning in Culver City held by a group called the Westside Urban Forum. I highly recommend everyone check out their events, it was like the best parts of this forum in panel form.

Any word on any more SB79 projects in the LA area? Very curious cause waiting to see what happens down here in San Diego County.


If anyone has any tips or info, send to this website, someone is making a resource to track SB79 development
https://www.sb79tracker.com/

[citywatch]

• Video Link

[caligrad]

This was a lovely read. Very informative from a different perspective about LA and development and what's going on with the high demand and zero cranes in the sky like we saw before a certain measure was implemented . Posted today.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real-est...be41ebbd857ccaa1c764ae&uxmode=ruby&ei=10

[LAsam]

^TLDR... developers act rationally and don't develop if they can't make a profit. LA city policies, Measure ULA, and high interest rates have combined to make development in LA unprofitable despite demand for additional housing.

[craigs]

That article is actually from today's Los Angeles Times. Angelenos can't single-handedly lower interest rates or the cost of construction materials, but we can and should exempt multifamily from ULA.

[LA21st]

Does anyone know if that that 30ish floor affordable housing building is u/c or not? Its in a weird location, near the 101 and Western I believe.

[LA21st]

Regarding ULA, its crazy to me developers have gone to bass to cut red tape and help with ULA and her response is shes trying to hurry up homeless shelters and affordable housing/ED1.

Thats not what the developers asked.

They're not all interested in building affordable housing. Shes gotta go. Homeless shelters? WE NEED — HOUSING.

[citywatch]

LinkedIn

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hotel Clark, a design-forward lifestyle hotel bringing new life to one of the city's most storied buildings, has soft opened in Downtown Los Angeles, marking a new chapter for the historic property and the surrounding neighborhood.

The hotel is now welcoming guests, with reservations available athotelclark.com. Set in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, Hotel Clark is a 348-room lifestyle hotel that brings new guest accommodations, dining destinations, gathering spaces, and hospitality experiences to a building long woven into the city's fabric.

With this highly anticipated opening, the appointment of its executive leadership team by hospitality management firmOTH Hotels Resorts marks an important step in shaping the property's direction.



TikTok


• Video Link


Condition of ground floor in past yrs:


downtownnews.com

.

[craigs]

Studio bets $450 million on stacked soundstages, sky bungalows to woo production back to Hollywood


Developer David Simon and a model of Echelon Studios Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Roger Vincent
Los Angeles Times
September 30, 2026

• A $450-million studio rising on the site of a former Sears store will pack five soundstages and production facilities onto a 5-acre Hollywood site, topped by landscaped bungalows with sweeping views.
• The project arrives amid a sharp downturn in local production.
• But developer David Simon is betting that Hollywood can rebound due to expanded film incentives, and that his new studio will give filmmakers a reason to stay in L.A.

At a time when news about the pace of film and television production seems to be relentlessly bad, a Hollywood real estate developer is ignoring the headlines and building a brand new studio. Construction is far along on Echelon Studios Hollywood: an old-school movie studio with all the standard features, but stacked in a single building rather than spread out on a sprawling lot. The challenge was to design a 10-acre movie studio for a 5-acre site, architect Andrew Wright of RIOS said. “Everything is crammed as tight as it can possibly go,” he said.

Behind the $450-million venture is real estate developer and landlord David Simon, a true believer in Hollywood who came up with the idea of knocking down a former Sears store on Santa Monica Boulevard west of the Hollywood Freeway and building a studio that is set to open early next year.
. . . .
Echelon Studios Hollywood will have five soundstages and support facilities, including offices, mills to make sets, and “base camp” space for trucks, production equipment and actors’ trailers. There will be screening rooms and cafes. At the top will be a landscaped warren of bungalows with panoramic views of the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory, downtown L.A. and Hollywood that Simon hopes will be a draw for studio tenants. Bungalows are such a beloved feature of classic movie studios that Simon felt he needed to have them to get his studio vibe right. Often thrown together as low-cost office and dressing spaces in the early days of Hollywood, they evolved into coveted, private sanctuaries for elite talent, writer-producers and studio moguls. “People fell in love with them, and so they became the premier real estate on the lot,” Wright said. “Every production team wanted to live in one for a year while they filmed their production. We built this neighborhood in the sky based on this extremely Hollywood typology.”
. . . .


A rendering of Echelon Studios Hollywood being built on Santa Monica Boulevard at St. Andrew’s Place in Hollywood. (Design by RIOS / Rendering by Omegarender)


A pedestrian runs by Echelon Studios, being built in Hollywood on Sept. 4, 2026. The construction of the new movie studio is a rarity in the currently challenged climate for the entertainment industry. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)


Developer and landlord David Simon stands on the top floor of Echelon Studios. The building includes bungalows providing views of the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory and downtown L.A. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

[Build_SD_Maxwell]

Originally Posted by craigs

That article is actually from today's Los Angeles Times. Angelenos can't single-handedly lower interest rates or the cost of construction materials, but we can and should exempt multifamily from ULA.

Hello from San Diego, here is an example of a local builder that makes 80% AMI affordable housing for profit in our city. They do so by building mostly in federal opportunity areas and use a number of permit streamlining tools to make affordable development work.

https://kirebuildersinc.com/

They build medium scale infill housing around National City and San Diego. They've been doing it for years and others are starting to follow.

https://buildsd.org/projects/sol-haus

Here is an article I wrote about one of their developments in South East San Diego. This is under construction right now and they have 2 others under construction.

It can make sense to build affordable housing for a profit, but due to a number of factors it does not make sense in LA rn, ULA is a part of that.

[dktshb]

Great news about the Hotel Clark. Hopefully the soft opening becomes a full opening and their other hotel in south park follows suit.

[sopas ej]

New building completed on the Caltech campus: The Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement building.


Photo by me


Photo by me


Photo by me


Photo by me


Photo by me


Photo by me

[citywatch]

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times


Archinet, Colburn © Captis Lucem Photography

A pet project of architect Frank Gehry, a smaller concert hall to complement his legendary Walt Disney Concert Hall, is taking shape in downtown Los Angeles for an opening next September.

Elements Gehry devised to set it apart are already visible, as construction on the $337-million addition to the Colburn School of Performing Arts reveals details the architect conceived years ago. The centerpiece of the expansion will be a 1,000-seat concert hall named for Pasadena philanthropists Terri and Jerry Kohl with an in-the-round design meant to create intimacy between the performers and the audience.

Part of the hall's commercial appeal is expected to be its size, in a sweet spot between the 2,265-seat Disney and the popular 415-seat Herbert Zipper Concert Hall already on the Colburn campus. The nearby Dorothy Chandler Pavilion seats about 3,200 guests. The Peacock Theater at L.A. Live seats 7,100. Kohl Hall's in-between size "is the missing piece of the venue puzzle" for Los Angeles, Colburn President Sel Kardan said.



Archinet, Colburn © Captis Lucem Photography


Archinet, Colburn © Captis Lucem Photography

.

[citywatch]

• Video Link

While downtown Los Angeles is languishing, Burbank is booming. Its secret formula, the city says, is embracing businesses, helping the homeless and keeping streets clean, to make downtown a go-to destination for more shoppers, diners and commuters.

"You have to be vigilant with your maintenance, with your homeless outreach, with outreach to businesses, with your marketing and PR," said Community Development Director Patrick Prescott. "It's just constant vigilance."

Downtown L.A. could benefit from Burbank’s approach, said Nella McOsker, president of the Central City Assn. business support group in Los Angeles. “Downtown L.A. should be a priority zone where the city could implement a white-glove approach to helping retailers,” she said. “Progressive values and economic growth are not competing values."

• Video Link

[craigs]

A great shot of the downtown skyline from back in April:


Source