LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[ksep]

l.a. live










concerto crane

[Patrick]

I just find it amazing how fast the Hanouver popped up! Very sexy building.

Are they still going to redo 1100 Wilshire!? I hope not, I've always loved the tower's design and history.

[funhaus]

From the angelenic blog comes the posting of a new rendering for Monian's LA Central, along with the (almost) confirmation of the Whole Foods slated for that location.



I miss the diagonal swath that used to exist in the old Fig Central plan. (It suggested a potentially nice pedestrian concourse within the block.)

At any rate, a Whole Foods will be a more than welcome addition.

[Easy]

It's hard to say because it's all covered up, but from what I can see the Hanover Tower looks a little plain. The one bright spot seems to be that the windows have some sort of bright blue tint in them. Unless that was just a reflection from the tarp or maybe my imagination.

[Easy]

Does that colorful red/yellow banner represent that there will be some sort of flashy advertising there? It's not gonna really look like that is it?

[Quixote]

Too much space left underdeveloped. Realistically, you could have three high-rise towers sitting on that site. That's prime real estate!

[Easy]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Too much space left underdeveloped. Realistically, you could have three high-rise towers sitting on that site. That's prime real estate!

I agree. It looks like 3 easy just from the rendering showing the planned orientation. When you walk around the lot - it's basically an entire block - it looks like even 4 can fit easily.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by funhaus

From the angelenic blog comes the posting of a new rendering for Monian's LA Central, along with the (almost) confirmation of the Whole Foods slated for that location.



I miss the diagonal swath that used to exist in the old Fig Central plan. (It suggested a potentially nice pedestrian concourse within the block.)

At any rate, a Whole Foods will be a more than welcome addition.

While I do like the added height and overall size of LA Central, I would have liked to have seen the diagnal corridor that would've cut through to LA Live. My biggest hope is that there will be retail on the rear of LA Central. Nice way to hide the parking structure though.

[colemonkee]

I say send them back to the drawing board on LA Central. The retail fronting Figueroa is way too far back from the street, creating little plazas. LA doesn't need anymore plazas. And the towers themselves look like something Donald Sterling would draw up while drunk. For something so prominent in the skyline, I'd like to see a little more thought go into the facade.

[colemonkee]

Here's a couple more photo updates to supplement friday's fine work from earlier today.

LAPD Headquarters




San Pedro Apartments - (Block 8)




Imaginastion Center (formerly the Linda Lea Theater)

[ladowntowner]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Too much space left underdeveloped. Realistically, you could have three high-rise towers sitting on that site. That's prime real estate!

I think the density at the LA Central development is just about right on, with the recently added height factored in. Nice camouflaging of the parking structure with retail fronting Fig and complimenting LA Live catercorner to it, but I too would like to see the originally conceived diagonal pathway cutting through what is an otherwise long block. Also, the design of the towers is a little ho-hum in this render, IMHO. Hopefully they spice it up a bit on the final iteration.

The density is light years beyond any of the suburban type developments popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain around the DT periphery, as well as many other somewhat larger scale proposed projects. Should anyone really be harping on the perceived lack of density of this project? I just can't see the justification. One tower will be nearly 600 ft, for crying out loud. In DTLA, of late, that's pretty phenomenal. Besides, consider how poor light and views would be in many of the units with 3-4 towers on that lot - notice how rather narrow from east to west it is? This layout provides optimum light and view corridors in nearly every unit. Would you honestly purchase a unit in such a development and pay a premium for it just so you can stare across at a glass/concrete wall and nothing else? Factor in, also, that there will likely be more towers to the south and east eventually.

[JDRCRASH]

^ ^ ^
90 new skyscrapers including L.A. Central may be just the beginning....after almost a half-century of suburban sprawl, Los Angeles has finally begun to mature into an urban megalopolis with the potential to rival any city on earth.

It looks like construction has NOT started on the Medallion....
Groundbreaking was supposed to commence yesterday....
The false scheduling of LA Downtown News is riduculously inconvient.

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by ladowntowner

I think the density at the LA Central development is just about right on, with the recently added height factored in. Nice camouflaging of the parking structure with retail fronting Fig and complimenting LA Live catercorner to it, but I too would like to see the originally conceived diagonal pathway cutting through what is an otherwise long block. Also, the design of the towers is a little ho-hum in this render, IMHO. Hopefully they spice it up a bit on the final iteration.

The density is light years beyond any of the suburban type developments popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain around the DT periphery, as well as many other somewhat larger scale proposed projects. Should anyone really be harping on the perceived lack of density of this project? I just can't see the justification. One tower will be nearly 600 ft, for crying out loud. In DTLA, of late, that's pretty phenomenal. Besides, consider how poor light and views would be in many of the units with 3-4 towers on that lot - notice how rather narrow from east to west it is? This layout provides optimum light and view corridors in nearly every unit. Would you honestly purchase a unit in such a development and pay a premium for it just so you can stare across at a glass/concrete wall and nothing else? Factor in, also, that there will likely be more towers to the south and east eventually.

Personally, I prefer density ten times to height. I would much rather have three 345 ft. towers than two towers of 575 ft. and 455 ft., both combinations producing a total height of about 1,030 ft. But if you're suggesting that I'd rather have 3-4 story towers as opposed to the current proposal, hell I'll take the current proposal in a heartbeat! I just think that the Moinian Group, a company with deep pockets and lots of experience developing in NYC, could do so much more with that parcel of land right across from LA Live and Staples Center. Something along the lines of the Cityfront Plaza proposal in Chicago was what I was hoping for:

[RAlossi]

Some parts of the Medallion lot were taped off today; still no sign of groundbreaking as of ~6:00 PM today.

[JDRCRASH]

I agree with you WestSideLife, density of several mid-rises IS better than having only a couple of high-rises.

[kazpmk]

Originally Posted by ksep

concerto crane

Has that foundation work always been there since the tower was put on hold (unofficially) a few months ago or is that new work that just started?

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by RAlossi

Some parts of the Medallion lot were taped off today; still no sign of groundbreaking as of ~6:00 PM today.

The fact everyone has to wait forever, always wondering & guessing, to see even rather modest projs like this under actual construction is what I take into consideration when dealing with far bigger, far more $$$ projs like LA central. It all comes down to demand, & if condos & apts can be sold or rented fast enough, everything else will fall into place.

The LA central towers look kind of bland, & it appears a large above ground parking structure is going to take up part of the block of land. I'd guess unlike Concerto's underground garage, the parking spaces for Monian's proj will go from the 1st level upward to save $$$. I can't take that lightly cuz the higher the cost of building the condos, the harder it will be to sell them.

As for another grocery store just a few blocks away from the new Ralphs!? I know Whole Foods' format is different from Ralphs, with WF being for the more health conscious shopper, & with higher prices to match. If LA Central is built within the next 3 or so yrs, & it does contain a WF, I hope it & the ralphs don't cannibilize each other.

I still remember the Barnes & Noble up on Bunker Hill several yrs ago, & it not doing enough business to stay open even a few yrs after it was first built. Don't want to see a repeat of that ever again, for bookstores or supermkts, or any serious retailer that otherwise will give credibility to the hood.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by kazpmk

Has that foundation work always been there since the tower was put on hold (unofficially) a few months ago or is that new work that just started?

That's totally new work. Until about 2 wks ago, the bottom of the construction site was empty, nothing but dirt & maybe one bulldozer that had been left sitting around for a few months.

[k3d]

This was in my mailbox tonight so friday July 20th it is.

[ladowntowner]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Personally, I prefer density ten times to height. I would much rather have three 345 ft. towers than two towers of 575 ft. and 455 ft., both combinations producing a total height of about 1,030 ft. But if you're suggesting that I'd rather have 3-4 story towers as opposed to the current proposal, hell I'll take the current proposal in a heartbeat! I just think that the Moinian Group, a company with deep pockets and lots of experience developing in NYC, could do so much more with that parcel of land right across from LA Live and Staples Center. Something along the lines of the Cityfront Plaza proposal in Chicago was what I was hoping for:

The Cityfront Plaza proposal in Chicago that you posted sure looks sweet. I really like the layout, with the heights and positions staggered such to maximize views and light. It does help me visualize how up to 3 towers could fit nicely on the Fig Central plot with more careful planning, however I still stand by what I said about 4 towers - that really would be excessive. Chicago does get a lot of exceptional projects and architecture in general - seems like a waste, what with the climate there.

One thing to consider, and I may be wrong about this, but I'm guessing that 3 shorter towers of same total height as opposed to two individually taller towers like you mentioned would probably be more expensive to build. That on top of the fact that you would not get any net gain in saleable square footage/units by constructing the three towers would push it into the economically impractical/infeasible. Deep pockets or no, at the end of the day the project has to "pencil out".