LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[KevinFromTexas]

Let's get back on the subject of projects & construction in Los Angeles.

[ladowntowner]

Originally Posted by POLA

crazy to think that someone looked at the Examiner buildings and said "Oh, no! Those windows have to go!"

I'm excited for this one!

POLA,

I think that decision goes back to the days when downtown was on a downward spiral and the neighborhood became seedy enough to make it somehow seem like a good idea to someone. It will be nice to see this grand dame restored to her former elegance.

I'm not as excited about the "brutalist" architecture chosen for the residential towers included in the development. I would have preferred to see something that would blend in more seamlessly with the Examiner building. Something Spanish or even nouveau beau-arts would've been much more appropriate.

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

Originally Posted by ladowntowner

POLA,

I think that decision goes back to the days when downtown was on a downward spiral and the neighborhood became seedy enough to make it somehow seem like a good idea to someone. It will be nice to see this grand dame restored to her former elegance.

Yeah, like when they decided to build a mall downtown, but build it as a fortress so you felt safe once you were inside. It made sense at the time, but now we have a lot of un-doing to do.

Photo Credit: you-are-here.com

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

Photo credit: http://www.meruelomaddux.com/

While I like the effect of the tower floating above the parking podium of 717 Flower (not sure if you’re going to get the effect at street level once built, however), it does not appear the parking podium will be hidden at all. IOW, there is no attempt to make it look like anything other than a ‘parking podium’.

Construction of Waterview Tower in Chicago (parking podium)

Photo Credit: BVictor1

Model of Waterview Tower in Chicago

Photo Credit: HarryC

Looking at the Waterview Tower in Chicago construction and model’s pics, there is an attempt to dress up the podium. I don’t think I have ever seen this in LA. Maybe it is there, but I was fooled into thinking it was part of the office space? Anyone know of any examples?

[BrandonJXN]

^ Aon's parking garage looks to be a modest 6 or 7 story office building. I thought it was a office building forever.

[LA311]

Got this via e-mail this morning...hopefully they'll sell a few more units

[Echo Park]

re: exposed parking podiums, are LA's planners/developers clueless or just cheap? ugh. and the macy's fortress is one place i WOULDNT MIND seeing flashy billboards tacked on.

[LAofAnaheim]

Anybody want to start a petition to remove Zev Yaraslavsky from office?

From the Daily News (http://origin.dailynews.com/ci_7411321)

NBC move from Burbank to Universal City faces hurdle
By Rick Orlov, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 11/09/2007 12:11:44 AM PST


Less than a month after NBC announced plans to move to an $800 million development in Universal City, opposition has started to build over concerns about the project's massive scale and its potential impact on traffic.
The project, on which NBC would serve as the major anchor tenant, initially called for construction of twin 24-story towers, a five-story studio complex and a 34-story high- rise that would all be finished over the next eight years.

But Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said they are negotiating with the developer, Thomas Properties Group, about reducing the development's size. And on Thursday, the Studio City Chamber of Commerce board said it had withdrawn its support for the new West Coast headquarters for NBC because of the potential impact on the area.

"We are back to a white canvas on this," said Ben Neumann, a chamber director and member of the Studio City Neighborhood Council that he said now is neutral on the project.

"We need to know more specifics about the buildings they plan, the traffic and what will be done to mitigate it. I'm a businessman here. I'm a resident. I drive these streets every day, and we need to know what the impact will be."

NBC's move from Burbank would centralize the station's news properties, including the news division of local affiliate KNBC (Channel 4) and Telemundo's KVEA (Channel 52). The complex eventually could employ about 3,200 people.
But Yaroslavsky and LaBonge said they already have been working to try to reduce the project's size because of its potential impact on traffic.

"As it is proposed, this is far too big a project," said Yaroslavsky, who is on the Metro board that will have to approve a lease for the land.

"I have been talking with Thomas Properties about downsizing this," he said. "The talks are continuing and there is nothing conclusive yet, but I believe we are making headway."

Finding solutions

NBC officials said they would have no comment on the matter, since most of the issues involve the developer.

Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for Thomas Properties, said the firm understands the concerns and has been working with officials and the community.

"We appreciate the concerns and are trying to find solutions," Stutzman said. "The truth is we are still in the process of developing an EIR that will decide what the development looks like.

"To us, what is important is we are creating and retaining jobs in the city and have a prestige tenant like NBC," Stutzman said. "This is the process any project has to go through, and we hope we can educate people on the value of what we are proposing."

Yaroslavsky said he is considering advancing a proposal that would limit the development based on the number of vehicle trips generated.

"The issue there is traffic," Yaroslavsky said. "We want to put limits in there that would determine the amount of development allowed."

Traffic issues

LaBonge agreed that traffic issues are raising the most concern.

"This is not an area that can take a lot of traffic," LaBonge said. "We have Lankershim on the east, but the other areas cannot take a lot of cars. I am very concerned about the size of this and the intensity of the development."

LaBonge said he has been meeting with NBC representatives to discuss the plans and try to scale it back.

Yaroslavsky, in whose district the project sits, is waiting to see environmental studies before taking an official position. An environmental impact report is expected to be released after the first of the year.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whose office was involved in the original negotiation with NBC and Thomas Properties, supports the development but also is encouraging negotiations on the final details, his aides said Thursday.

Mayor's backing

In a luncheon speech at a Valley Industry & Commerce Association forum Thursday, Villaraigosa said the NBC project is proof of the vitality of the Valley and the city to attract major investments and generate badly needed revenue for the city.

"Yet you have a couple of people scaring people." he said. "We're going to need VICA, we're going to need the business community, and we're going to need everybody to speak up."

Bruce Ackerman of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley said the discussions are part of the process for any major development.

"I think that's why NBC and the developers are spending so much time in looking at the traffic issues," Ackerman said. "What we have now is a vision of what they would like to do. We won't really know what their plans are until the EIR is completed.

"The one thing that's impressed me is they have been open and communicative about their plans."

But Neumann said he became upset when he received a recent mailing on the project saying the Studio City chamber was backing it.

"I don't think we should support anything until we have all the details," he said.

The action also came as a surprise to the neighboring North Hollywood-Universal City Chamber of Commerce.

"We haven't taken a vote on this, but the members I talk to all support this," said Victor Viereck, president-elect of the chamber. "We look at this as something that's a positive.

"For years, we've seen all the businesses and jobs - and taxes - move to Burbank. It's nice to have it coming back to this area."

Viereck said the developer's plans to build on Metro land in North Hollywood also could give a much-needed boost to revitalization plans for the area.

"We think, with what they are proposing, that we will see a much richer type of development in the entire area," Viereck said.

[email protected] 213-978-0390

[Steve2726]

Unbelievable. L.A. has to be the only city on the planet that wouldn't embrace this project, and might possibly try to squash it.

[RAlossi]

If we can't get this project built on a parking lot, next to a freeway, near two major boulevards, and literally on top of a subway station, I don't think it will get built anywhere.

There's political support at the city level, which is a good sign, but I don't see how anything gets built in the Valley. Or Hollywood, for that matter.

I think the article is overstating the opposition, though. Everyone knows you propose a project much larger than what you want, then you negotiate with all the various groups -- neighborhood councils, City committees, CRA if applicable, the County if applicable, homeowners' associations -- and downscale it.

The powers that be at the City are generally favorable to development, especially when it comes to ground-up development on current surface lots. I deal indirectly with appeals to development projects on an almost daily basis, and I'd really have to get out of this business because of the frustration it causes me, if it weren't for people like Ed Reyes and Eric Garcetti, who are very pragmatic when it comes to these types of projects.

I've found that the number one gauge of whether a project will be successful or be shot down by opposition is being open and honest with the community from the very beginning. Going to the neighborhood councils and working with their PLUM and design committees is essential. NBC needs to start being open about their plans, or they're not going to get anywhere.

[LA101]

Originally Posted by POLA

Cool that they are uncovering so much at fourth and main. I know that the crew working on block 8 found the foundations of several buildings, a brick street, horse shoes and bones, and a Chinese Laundromat! Crazy how so much history is underneath our parking lots.

Where did you come about this information? ... Very interesting stuff.

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

Somebody needs to get NBC to move this development downtown. All the rail transit comes this way, plenty of new housing units for employees that want to move closer to work, and nobody should complain that the project is too big for the area.

Hey NBC if you’re listening…….

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

^ Aon's parking garage looks to be a modest 6 or 7 story office building. I thought it was a office building forever.

Thanks Threehundred, I’ll have to look for that building on my next downtown walking tour.

And Echo, not a bad idea for jazzing up the shopping fortress.

[POLA]

Originally Posted by LA101

Where did you come about this information? ... Very interesting stuff.

talking with one of the project managers for related.

[LAofAnaheim]

^ Well..717 can't look any worse than 1100 which ranks high in terms of eyesores like the Macy's plaza garage.

Hanover is done on a podium, but at least it will be covered by ads. Our parking requirements has seriously got to be reduced.......

[LA101]

Originally Posted by fridayinla

Nice shots, Colemonkee. Oh man, a Canon 5D - my dream camera. Photography equipment is so friggin' expensive. I'm nickle and diming to get a new wide angle lens for my Canon.

Pastagina in Little Tokyo:

What kind of camera are you using, friday'?

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

Anybody want to start a petition to remove Zev Yaraslavsky from office?

Thanks to Zev & a ballot initiative he sponsored several yrs ago, sales taxes no longer can be used for new subway projs in LA County.

When he was an LA city council member, he opposed the original version of the Metropolis proj at Fig & 9th St cuz he said the proposed office towers would cause too much congestion. This was before the hood started to really go down the drain, starting around the time of the LA riots.

Originally Posted by Planning Report

Changing subjects, you recently drafted a letter of opposition to the city of L.A.’s current plan to implement SB 1818, which is meant to encourage the development of affordable housing through density bonuses. Why are you so upset about the current implementation plan?

The proposal that has been drafted by the Planning Department is a give-away to developers in the city of Los Angeles. If I were a planner, I’d be embarrassed to put that proposal forward.

The plan was touted as a way to get more affordable housing; in fact, it will cost the region more affordable housing than it will create. It is a call for developers to come into virtually any neighborhood in Los Angeles and bust the zoning regulations in those neighborhoods and neglect the affordable housing that should be created. Most of the units created will be market rate, and the number of affordable units that are needed will dwarf the number of affordable units created in those projects.

How do you reconcile the city’s sincere need to create more affordable housing with the reality of the rhetoric? The Planning Department and the city’s administration ought to be honest about it and say, “We want to create more market-rate housing. And if we destroy the Fairfax area or the Crenshaw area or the Silver Lake area or the North Hollywood/Studio City area in order to get more market-rate housing, so be it.” That’s what they really should be saying; of course, they wouldn’t say that, because it wouldn’t sell well.

I’ve lived here all my life. I spent 20 years of my professional life as a councilman in the city of Los Angeles, where I spent a considerable amount of my energies protecting affordable housing, and I’m watching my work of two decades being slowly dismantled.

Building massive buildings next to single-family homes is not elegant density. It’s ugly development. It’s destructive development. I believe you can generate more affordable housing and even more market-rate housing in areas in Hollywood, in areas that do not compromise some of the zoning decisions and land use planning decisions that neighborhoods and developers negotiated over the last 25 years.

We should be protecting single-family neighborhoods, protecting affordable housing stock, and protecting the quaint, beautiful, and somewhat dense apartment buildings in various parts of the city—Fairfax, Echo Park, Hancock Park, Silver Lake, North Hollywood, Studio City, Leimert Park, Lincoln Heights—communities that are dense but have a charm and scale to them that has preserved affordable housing for seven or more decades.

These drafts of the city’s SB 1818 were not negotiated or shared with any neighborhood groups or with any neighborhood councils. They were negotiated between the developers and their attorneys, the Planning Department, and the Central City Association. The Central City Association wants to bring Downtown to every neighborhood in Los Angeles. That will not fly. Bringing the same policies that are being implemented Downtown to the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura, Beverly and Fairfax, or Cesar Chavez and Soto, is lunacy.

The CCA wants to bring "downtown" to other hoods in LA?! The CCA is as concerned about other hoods in LA as it is about DT?!

Zev sounds about as loony as the ppl who say a new devlpt in the arts district will be an eyesore. An eyesore?! HUH?! That part of DT is great looking right now, & has been for yrs & yrs??!!


Artists Are Sharply Divided Over Project Near L.A. River

Supporters see a boon to the arts district in the proposed complex of housing, shops and gallery space. Foes see an out-of-place, outsize 'wall.'



By Ari B. Bloomekatz,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 9, 2007

The proposed building sprawls across three city blocks and reaches 70 feet high. To some, One Santa Fe would sweeten the gritty streets that run along the Los Angeles River east of downtown. To others, the $140-million project is a monstrosity. Along this stretch of Santa Fe Avenue, between the bridges on East 1st and 4th streets, chain-link fences topped with razor-wire enclose Metro Rail car repair depots and an employee parking lot. The river is barely visible, and delivery trucks pass noisily along.

"To me, this is visual blight I'm looking at," said Father Spencer T. Kezios, a city planning commissioner. "We have lemons and we're getting lemonade."

But the massive, 500,000-square-foot development has divided local residents, pitting artist against artist -- with violin-makers, architects, designers and painters choosing sides. At stake, many residents say, is the fate of the arts district, an area that was once a beacon for artists who needed affordable living and work space.

Opponents cannot stomach "the great wall" and argue that One Santa Fe is a byproduct of a sweeping downtown gentrification that is rapidly changing the complexion of local communities. "This is something that we're going to regret in a decade," said Jeremiah Axelrod, an area resident and history professor who started an opposition website, www.onesantafe.org. "My big objection is to the scale of the project," he said. "It's going to be an eyesore."

But supporters say builders have compromised with community groups, and would bring vital additions to a neighborhood that has been struggling in recent years. Several neighborhood organizations have signed on to the project; they include the Historic Cultural Neighborhood Council, the Los Angeles River Artist and Business Assn. and the adjacent Southern California Institute of Architecture. "It's going to provide a lot of neighborhood amenities that have been desperately needed for years," said Tim Keating, 58, who has lived in the district for over two decades.

One of those amenities is a 5,000-square-foot arts community center that developer McGregor Co would lease to Keating's own neighborhood arts organization for $1 a year. The center would provide gallery space, show films and host a variety of cultural activities. Other plans include 439 rental units, 50,000 square feet of retail space, parking and improvements to the streetscape, such as dozens of trees.

Developers hope to break ground next summer. World-renowned architect Michael Maltzan's designs for One Santa Fe are built around the existing Metro structures, and drawings show a narrow series of buildings rising six stories. But despite Maltzan's prestige, his designs for One Santa Fe look to opponents like nothing short of a large wall.

Foes have described the development as "aircraft carrier-sized." They also say that it lacks affordable housing for young artists and that the complexion of the district will change as One Santa Fe fills up with people who can afford the market rates of luxury lofts. Julie Rasnussen, who has lived in the arts district about four years, said she would support the project only if it were used exclusively for community art space or to house artists. She called the design a "weird, mammoth, monster building."

The arts district emerged around the 1970s when young artists illegally moved into abandoned buildings in the area and used the large spaces to both work and live in. The city passed an ordinance in 1981 that legalized artists' dwellings in the abandoned industrial buildings. Once a major hub in L.A.'s art world, with an array of galleries buzzing each weekend, the area in recent years has not been the flourishing arts community that many residents had hoped for. The One Santa Fe project reflects the differences in opinions about how to move forward.

At last month's Los Angeles Planning Commission meeting, artists gave radically different predictions of what effect the project would have on the community. One woman speaking for the opposition called the project "the essential death of the arts district," while a supporter viewed it as a good thing because "it's an area that needs to be activated."

After more than three hours of discussion, the commission passed the first zoning changes necessary for the project to move forward. The City Council must still approve the development before builders break ground.

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

Originally Posted by RAlossi

If we can't get this project built on a parking lot, next to a freeway, near two major boulevards, and literally on top of a subway station, I don't think it will get built anywhere.

Funny that the article, with all its talk about traffic issues, never mentioned that silly little subway station.

[fridayinla]

Originally Posted by LA101

What kind of camera are you using, friday'?

A Canon Rebel XTi, but it's about the lens!

[LAofAnaheim]

Does Zev, LaBonge, et al. have term limits? When are they up for re-election?