LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0 - Page 48

RAlossi · #**941** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 5:06 AM**

That's why I'm suggesting we get back on topic.

LongBeachUrbanist · #**942** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 6:06 AM**

I stopped by the Downtown Ralphs @7pm tonight. The place was packed. I saw wealthy folks and working-class folks, people of all colors, obvious tourists as well as locals.

And don't tell me those were hangers-on from the festivities earlier. That was genuine demand...people were there for groceries.

That market is going to be a genuine asset to existing residents and a draw to potential residents of South Park. It's been a long time coming!

Easy · #**943** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 6:27 AM**

^I saw pretty much the same thing at 1:30 this afternoon. People weren't in there just looking around, they were shopping! That grocery store is gonna be a huge success.

fridayinla · #**944** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 8:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Today that whole area - from 8th to Olympic - was literally teeming with people. And they all had Ralph's bags in their hands or their little urban shopping carts. It took me a good 3-4 minutes to get the shot of 717 Flower from across the street without any pedestrians in the foreground blocking the view. That's a great problem to have.

I also noticed the waves of pedestrians out today, especially Flower b/t 7th & 9th which is usually a dead zone b/c of, well, all the dead zones. When there are people walking by, all of a sudden the ugly parking structures and bare brick walls don't seem so depressing.

Now that the Ralphs is turning into an overnight success, how long will it take for other big retailers like Target and Borders to move into our new little community? Anyone who is still a nay-sayer at this point has no ground to stand on.

ksep · #**945** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 10:56 AM**

^ absolutely true. all of a sudden that neighborhood is much more walkable. at 10pm we saw many shoppers with grocery bags several blocks away.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**946** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 11:13 AM**

Reading everyone's personal accounts of Ralphs and its success is so exciting and uplifting. I am just hoping that Ralphs Downtown LA will break the record for a supermarket on the West Coast. I don't think it's impossible because many businesses based in Downtown LA are some of the best grossing ones in their respective chains (like Roy's, Daily Grill, Rite Aid on 7th/Hope, Palms).

petescafe · #**947** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 6:10 PM**

Went to Ralph's on Saturday.

Great looking store.

It's great to FINALLY have a store that's close.

I'm just not use to a three minute trip home.

Easy · #**948** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 8:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

Reading everyone's personal accounts of Ralphs and its success is so exciting and uplifting. I am just hoping that Ralphs Downtown LA will break the record for a supermarket on the West Coast. I don't think it's impossible because many businesses based in Downtown LA are some of the best grossing ones in their respective chains (like Roy's, Daily Grill, Rite Aid on 7th/Hope, Palms).

That's not going to even come close to happening, but I'll be happy to be wrong. My local Albertsons (which is larger) appeared to me to have higher sales than the Ralphs when I visted both yesterday afternoon. And I'd say that my local store is fairly average. It's busy, but there are definitely busier locations.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**949** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 9:06 PM**

^ Do you mean "higher sales" because you see more people in the Albertsons than the Ralphs Downtown?

Many businesses in Downtown LA do extremely well just because of large influx peak-periods (usually the lunch crowd or Staples games). This applys to Roy's (which is the highest grosser in the chain) and Rite Aid (which is ONE OF the busiest in SoCal according to Rite Aid) as well as Palm steakhouse (3rd busiest in the chain due to Staples mostly).

I think Ralphs Downtown LA will do extremely well if office workers add to the residential customers. That influx every weekday COULD boost sales of Ralphs to record levels. Especially since there are not too many options right now in Downtown LA to eat.

Easy · #**950** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 11:06 PM**

Well I left the Ralphs very impressed and I still am. It's just that I went home to my local store right after. I didn't do any sort of official count or even an estimate, but it appeared to be ballpark about the same amount of people as I saw in the Ralphs. It wasn't as crowded because my local store is bigger. In my unofficial tally I also saw many more people with completely full carts compared to the Ralphs.

I'm not a hater and don't mean to be negative because I think that the Raplhs will do very well. I just don't see it being a sales leader for the chain like the other places that you mentioned. Like I said, I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

Didn't the Daily Grill also say that the downtown location was their sales leader? BTW the guy that started that chain goes to the downtown location every once in a while. They make a big fuss over him even though he doesn't run the company anymore.

Sodha · #**951** Posted **Jul 22, 2007, 11:20 PM**

It's great looking at the Ralph's outside of my balcony and seeing PEDESTRIANS. And, it's also nice to see people occupying Market Lofts (finally!). I'm seeing blinds and people standing on their balconies. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but I saw a person hail a cab to get his groceries from Ralph's to his residence. Totally citylike. This should be impressive to other potential developers. I cannot wait until Concerto & 717 Flower is complete, this 9th & Flower block is going to be ridiculously impressive!

bobcat · #**952** Posted **Jul 23, 2007, 12:04 AM**

It's hard to compare the DTLA Ralphs with other supermarkets for a number of reasons. The DTLA Ralphs is smaller than a lot of other suburban stores, and its urban location means it will have different peak business hours as well. Plus the products it carries are somewhat higher end than your average suburban megamart. The stat I'm interested in, though, will not be its overall gross revenue but rather its revenue per square foot.

JDRCRASH · #**953** Posted **Jul 23, 2007, 6:37 PM**

I know this is off-topic, but we have a new tallest building!
Anyways, when does Metropolis break ground?

colemonkee · #**954** Posted **Jul 23, 2007, 8:45 PM**

^ I assume you're talking about the Burj Dubai?

As far as I know, there's no official date set for ground breaking on Metropolis.

DTLA · #**955** Posted **Jul 23, 2007, 9:33 PM**

how tall is park 5th gonna look in comparison to the rest of the bunker hill skyscrapers due to the elevation difference? I just saw a model of it that put it at about the same height as the gas company tower. Even though park 5th is only about 70 ft. taller it still seemed shorter in the model than it should be.

colemonkee · #**956** Posted **Jul 23, 2007, 11:06 PM**

^ No one on this forum will know for sure, but models are usually pretty accurate and good indicators of how tall it will be in comparison to neighboring buildings. Park Fifth does have a base elevation that's 30-40 ft. lower than Gas Company Tower, so it's entirely possible that it will be in the neighborhood of GC in the skyline view.

WonderlandPark · #**957** Posted **Jul 24, 2007, 12:10 AM**

Yeah, its lower, but not 70 feet lower (that is 7 stories). If you are viewing the skyline from far away, than Park 5th should appear a bit taller. It should come close to AON, infact. But viewing a model close up will make things a bit unequal. Gawd I hope Park 5th gets off the ground.

F1 Tommy · #**958** Posted **Jul 24, 2007, 12:47 AM**

AON LA is 858ft.
This is supposed to be 820ft.Is it going to get built for sure?

DTLA · #**959** Posted **Jul 24, 2007, 1:04 AM**

^As far as I know its not approved yet, but it seems to have at lot of power behind it. It's made enough of an impact already that unless something drastic happens it will probably get built. I hope so because it looks great & its planned 2 have an observetion deck up top, which would be a new thing 4 LA. Its gotten as much if not more publicity than Grand Ave. so it has a strong enough following to ensure that it will do well.

fridayinla · #**960** Posted **Jul 24, 2007, 1:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by F1 Tommy

AON LA is 858ft.
This is supposed to be 820ft.Is it going to get built for sure?

No one can say with 100% certainity. I would say it has a very good chance of actually happening. They're opening a sales office this summer and have already done extensive marketing... these people are serious.

And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the developer already has some entitlements in place... a similar project was going to happen years ago on this site before the office market recession, and the developers were able to use their previous entitlements for the Park Fifth project.