LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Does anyone know if the LA Conservancy plans on restoring the columns of the Chapman Building?

Huh?! Why would the LAC be responsible for renovating a bldg----any part of it, columns or other things----they don't own? However, if you're asking whether the owners of the Chapman are seeking tips from the LAC about preservation methods & tax write offs for historic properties, that's another matter.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

Why can't both towers be constructed around the same time? Does one tower really have to finish before the other one begins?

It would be great if your question was based on insider info indicating that sales of condos in the hood are continuing to boom. However, as far as I know, most (but not all) of the condo projs----either the conversion or totally brand new ones----that have opened within the past yr to 18 months still can't fly the "sold out!" banner.

[BrandonJXN]

The $190-million construction loan from Corus is for the first phase of the project, which will include one of the 30-story towers, the six-story building and the parking structure. Construction of the second phase is expected to begin after the first phase is out of the ground and the parking is completed. "The first phase is very front-loaded, which is why this was such a complex deal," Astani says, explaining that the first phase includes all of the common areas, the parking, the pool and other facilities.

So does this mean that the 2 towers will more or less risee at the same time?

[Patrick]

Incase you havent seen, here are some renders I made for Park 5th, I'm really excited for this project

This shows the elevation of the nearby towers, due to the height of Bunker Hill, the Tower looks much smaller.


From Inside the City.


Best for last! From Pershing Square.

[Dale]

This is probably one of my five favorite planned highrises.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

The Medallion project sounds good, despite the lack of towers.

A wide pedestrian road will stretch from where Boyd Street dead-ends into Los Angeles Street across Medallion's lot and exit to Main Street with a wide staircase. Another thoroughfare will run north-south.

That's excellent. The blocks in Downtown are huge: breaking them up is a good strategy for the area.

[fridayinla]

Oh man, those renderings are AWESOME!

[DJM19]

the least they could do it cover that white top with glass

[fridayinla]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

So does this mean that the 2 towers will more or less risee at the same time?

That's what it seems like to me also from the article. But if that's accurate, then why call it phase two?

[colemonkee]

Patrick, those renders are sick. Just sick. Remind me to buy you at least 3 beers if we ever make it to the same forum meet.

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

So does this mean that the 2 towers will more or less risee at the same time?

Yup. They'll probably rise at the same time, but staggered, with one tower a few floors ahead.

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

You think that technology is fast, look at the Burj Dubai framing, its going up at a rate of 2 1/2 floors per week!

The core is rising at 2 1/2 floors per week, not the entire floor. They're building each floor with wings that trail the core. And that speed is largely maintained by working in shifts 24 hours per day (which wouldn't be allowed here).

Technically, steel can rise faster - given the same floor area - largely because it doesn't have to cure.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by fridayinla

That's what it seems like to me also from the article. But if that's accurate, then why call it phase two?

Beats me. But look at the bright side: This is one of the few phased projects in LA that'll rise roughly at the same time. Unheard of.

...

Did I just say 'beats me?' Who says that?

In other news, I want to be trapped in some remote island in the South Pacifc with Bear Griylls. He's so hot..

[Patrick]

I have yet to get started on the requested residential towers.

But I did do a quick model of the 755 Tower, looks like a great addition to the skyline!

[LosAngelesBeauty]

WOW! Awesome renderings Patrick!

Also glad to learn that Concerto will be rising soon. Would be nice to confirm that both towers will be rising around the same time. Could the entire project be done by end of 2009/early 2010? That would be fantastic since LA Live will be pretty much done by that time (Ritz Carlton tower would be topped out at around that time).

[BigDan35]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

In other news, I want to be trapped in some remote island in the South Pacifc with Bear Griylls. He's so hot..

Ummm

[Patrick]

Here are those renders I promised of the Ritz!

In my opinion, the Tower is too far from the downtown skyline, having the "Transamerica Effect", so I'm not that crazy about its placement. Hopefully more towers will be planned around LAlive. Since we dont know the height, I assumed it'd be a little bit higher than the 777 tower.









Although, I do like the Tower itself

[Quixote]

You're the best, Pat.

About the placement of the Ritz, there are towers proposed immediately to the north and east of LA Live (Metropolis, LA Central, and Jardin). I'll give you the heights of the towers just in case you want to include them in some of your sketches in the future.

Metropolis - 350 ft./500 ft./620 ft./620 ft.

LA Central - 575 ft./455 ft.

Jardin - Don't know the exact height, but I've noticed that virtually all residential units in Downtown have an average floor to ceiling height of 11 ft. So if we multiply that by 34 stories (tower one) and 23 stories (tower two), we get 374 ft. and 253 ft.

717 Ninth - 35 stories (385 ft.)

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Patrick, great work on all your diagrams! we really appreciate it. The area between LA Live and Transamerica has many many towers in the 25 - 50 story range, somewhere around 15 - 25 towers, many breaking ground in the next 5 months plus a couple under construction (Evo at 23 stories, Hanover at 27). The area between LA Live and the main cluster has proposed towers as well, with the 4 towers of metropolis, the maguire office tower, Concerto, Murelo, etc. It will all fill in and connect, rather densely, in the next 3 - 5 years. if you like, you can make a diagram with all those towers , they are all on the first page.-+

[LAMetroGuy]

Patrick, you rock!!! Those renderings are amazing. I would like to add that Hanover Tower, even though it is only 27 floor, does sort of close the gap between downtown and the Ritz. Also, won't Evo add some height to this area also?

[colemonkee]

^ Evo won't really ad height to the skyline per se. It's only going to be about 250 ft. tall, give or take. But it will help densify the South Park skyline from a sidewalk perspective, in the same way that Luma does. Evo is already making an impact when walking on Figueroa looking east, or when driving east on the 10, approaching the 110 interchange, and it's only about 2/3 of the way up. I think when it's done it should diminish the isolated feel that SBC Tower has to it when viewed from the west or the south.

[JDRCRASH]

Awesome rendering! Very Times Square style look to it!



So what do you guys think?
Should we Southern California Taxpayers spend $100 Billion to fix the Freeway and Rail systems to accomadate the expected 31 million SoCal residents in 2050, as the Local Transportation Agencies suggested in the Los Angeles Times today?
And guess what, it just so happens that this plan includes a tunnel under the SG Mountains from Glendale to Palmdale, just like I envisioned!