LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by ladowntowner

LAB,

I remember as a young child driving through downtown Pasadena (now Old Town) with my family. It was a very dingy, scary place with abandoned, crumbling buildings and homeless everywhere. Ditto downtown Long Beach, even more so. (The rise of Suburbia pretty much killed off downtowns all across North America) Both have significantly turned around and have a great (albeit, somewhat manufactured) pedestrian experience today. Given time and much, much infill with a major effort towards the pedestrian experience, downtown L.A. would outdo them both with a more "organic" feel to boot. There are many things being done in this direction - with some major missteps and squandered opportunities as well. An expanding residential base and being the regional transit hub, nascent as it is (also expanding) adds to the potential for success. Too bad, as we appear to be running out of time before we can realize the dream - I hope I'm wrong here. Downtown L.A. may have reached it's zenith back in the 20's-40's in this regard, never again to see such activation at the street level. Wish I had been there to witness it.

I agree ladowntowner. That's what I meant in my post above too.

"unfortunately, it has arrived very late in the game of any established retail [presence] when material/labor costs are on the trend to skyrocket further up."

[KevinFromTexas]

*Many posts deleted*

This thread is for posting about projects & construction in LA. If you want to talk about the size of LA and what not, then you can create a thread in the Los Angeles section of the California regional forum. And if you're arguing back and forth, take it to private messages please. No name calling.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by PracticalVisionary

Well London, Paris and Madrid have tiny skylines too.

Exactly! And that certainly hasn't hurt the reputation & likeability of those cities. That's why I can't get worked up over new projs in LA, esp those involving new bldgs, that aren't taller. Now don't get me wrong. Yep, it is more exciting when a new highrise is 600 ft tall instead of 300, or 800 ft tall instead of 350.

But when I'm driving or walking through LA-----& I think my response is typical of many others----the thing that always hits me first & foremost is not that the skyline is too small. No, what always strikes me most is that too many of our hoods are bogged down by areas that look no better than the location shown in this pic from Ralossi's blog:


fridayinla at flickr.com

^ Taking care of gaps & deadzones like that is far more important than whether a new devlpt is lowrise, midrise or highrise.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by ladowntowner

Downtown L.A. may have reached it's zenith back in the 20's-40's in this regard, never again to see such activation at the street level. Wish I had been there to witness it.

If the hood's peak was way back then, then it wasn't too impressive to begin with. I don't believe DT was ever oohed & ahhed over, even when LA wasn't as burbanized as it rapidly became from the 1940s onward.

If anything, the hood may be, or is becoming, more balanced today, cuz housing for ppl with $$ didn't exist over 50 yrs ago. There were some old mansions on Bunker Hill dating back to the early 1900s, or before, but that hood in general started to go to seed as long ago as the 1920s.

There were a few nicer hotels scattered throughout the rest of DT, but almost any other accomodations were mainly small boarding houses or apts that, even when brand new, were occupied by SRO, pensioner type of ppl. IOW, ppl with $$ started to abandon the hood over 60, 70 yrs ago, or never wanted to live there from the beginning.

One of the few exceptions to that was the owner of a men's store located in the Oviatt bldg on Olive St, north of 7th. He set up a nice penthouse apt in that bldg----I believe it was in the 1930s----but he wasn't surrounded by many other ppl like him. IOW, other than some larger apt bldgs around mid Wilshire----near McArthur Pk----a few in Long Bch, & a small handful around Hollywood or Sunset Blvd-----LA has always lacked a really urbanized, big city type of setting for ppl to call home.

That's why what's going on in DTLA today really is a first in the history of the city.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by RAlossi

Hey, guys, just a tiny recap for the last few days...

Your blog is the only one that's covering specific new devlpt in the hood. No other web site that I'm aware of has given ppl a preview of, for example, the new MandellCoulter lofts. Or so many close up shots of the Medallion proj.

Thanks to your pics, I can see that the site is being excavated more than I thought would be necessary. I thought the devlpr purposefully wanted to avoid digging much below grade level to help keep costs down. That's why I thought all the parking was going to be in multi level structures, &, if anything, located above the first or upper floors of the proj's bldgs. I'm still guessing there won't be any underground parking spaces, although I hope I'm wrong since that type of parking is better than certainly areas for cars that are above ground & visible to everyone in the hood.


alossix at flickr.com


alossix at flickr.com

This looks like one of the smaller billboards that used to sit along the side of the parking lot. Good riddance!:


alossix at flickr.com

State Building demo complete. Now just a dirt lot waiting for whatever shall come. Why not make this into a (temporary) park??

I remember thinking that the original estimated start up date for construction of the new federal courthouse was waaaay into the future. But here it is almost 2008, & I believe that the proj, if it had stuck to its earlier timeline, probably would be at the phase where the new LAPD hdqrtrs bldg is right now.

I thought that maybe the old state bldg site would become a temporary parking lot, esp if the parking garage across from Disney Hall starts getting torn down within the next 20 days. But since the demolition crew left behind a huge pit, & since the new courthouse probably will require alot of excavation for basement levels, the govt agencies that own the site may think it a waste of $$ to bring in new dirt to fill up the hole. So it may be too difficult to convert the site, at least til work begins on the courthouse, into either a parking lot or a park.

[hughfb3]

Why is the LA central fence coming down? FOOLISHNESS I SAY!!!!!! I saw construction workers dis-assembling it this morning when I want to see them doing that to the concrete

[colemonkee]

^ I saw that too. Not a good sign for LA Central.

Rico, great photo update. I saw the ImaginAsian Theater glass last week, and it looks even better in person. I can't wait for that to open up.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by hughfb3

Why is the LA central fence coming down? FOOLISHNESS I SAY!!!!!! I saw construction workers dis-assembling it this morning when I want to see them doing that to the concrete

A slow housing market (slowest since 1988) + tighter lending standards re-instated (reaction to subprime fiasco) + rising energy and construction costs (peak oil, China's insatiable demand) = No LA Central

[Steve2726]

Hopes for L.A. central breaking ground this year are not looking good.

[jlrobe]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

A slow housing market (slowest since 1988) + tighter lending standards re-instated (reaction to subprime fiasco) + rising energy and construction costs (peak oil, China's insatiable demand) = No LA Central

no La central means no LA live in my book.

Right now, there is no street to activate. Why will people walk around south park?!? South group is currently disconnected and wont be utilized. Hanover will add some vibrancy but it is diagonally across LA live. Concerto and 717 are also too far. You need a massing of buildings completely adjacent to LA live otherwise, it doesn't matter!

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

I have to agree with you, jlrobe. LA Central is a BIG part of connecting LA Live and South Park. As mentioned before, there was a resident of Luma complaining that buildings like LA Central were going to block their views and thus, lower the value of their unit. IMO, if LA Central doesn’t get built, Luma’s prices are going to be lower than what they would be if LA Central is built. The connection to LA Live, the shops and restaurants, and the vibrancy it would bring to the area has a lot of value to South Park.

The owner may have decided, opening the space as a parking lot and waiting to see where the economy is going, is the best decision for now???

[DTLA]

Does anyone know if the Ritz Carlton/Marriot is gonna be scrapped? Since its part hotel, it has more of a chance of surviving the housing slowdown, but does anyone know if its gonna keep building?

[ksep]

i just drove by the l.a. central site. much of the fence is STILL INTACT. yes some of the fence was taken down, mainly along 11th street. i am still hopeful. maybe it just got delayed a bit, like usual, and they want to continue using it for parking until they really can start digging.

a south park resident left this comment on curbed l.a.:

I live within a 500-Foot Radius of the L.A. Central site, and recieved a Notice of Public Hearing yesterday, by applicant Fig Central LLC to be held on 05Dec2007, requesting multiple variances in accordence with the Los Angeles Sport and Entertainment District Zone (LASED). Proposing: A, 52 story north tower which will include a 222-room hotel and 412 condo units. A, 40 story south tower wich will contain retail uses and addiontal condo units. A, 100 ft above ground podium containing parking, retail, restaurant uses, a sports bar and a 43,000 sq ft health club. The site will also be home to a 54,000 sq ft food market and app 1900+ parking spaces.

[citywatch]

Oh, fergawdssakes!

It was bad enough getting spooked recently by news that the Parkfifth proj had possibly gotten snagged by a problem with financing. Now there's news that part of the barrier around the LA central site is being torn down?!

I will be so if this devlpt doesn't go forward----& within a length of time that will make the construction of a barrier several wks ago seem logical.

I thought I was being cautious enough guessing that only the Grand Ave & LA central projs would be underway before the end of the yr. So if the clock keeps ticking & the site at Fig & 11th St still is a semi parking lot several wks from now, that will require a major . That's even more the case cuz the LA central wasn't even on my radar earlier this yr. If anything, I thought the only proj that might break ground this yr in South Pk would be the Glass Tower.

But the devlpr still is trying to get variances for the proj?

I know even something as small & simple as the opening of the Pinkberry store in little Tokyo was delayed for several wks because of the slowness in getting permits. So if little things like that take forever to get through the red tape, I hate to think what a big proj like LA central may be encountering.

And it's now Nov 12------18 more days til the end of the month. The Related Cos said they'd start work on the Grand Ave proj by December 1st. There better be the sight of bulldozers being assembled up on Bunker Hill WITHIN the next 18 days.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by DTLA

Does anyone know if the Ritz Carlton/Marriot is gonna be scrapped? Since its part hotel, it has more of a chance of surviving the housing slowdown, but does anyone know if its gonna keep building?

L.A. Live does not equal L.A. Central. 2 different projects. LA Live is fully funded and construction is going forward. Loans are already in place and the project is still moving forward. None of us really knows what's going on with L.A. Central and that's the most annoying part.

[DTLA]

^I knew they were 2 different projects, I just wasn't sure if it would still be profitable enough to complete the Ritz/Marriot project, but you're right, since its part of the LA Live project, it probably will continue.

[LAofAnaheim]

^ It's like you're saying, well if 717 Flower halts construction, then Concerto will follow. Don't mix the two projects. They're mutually exclusive. We still have 717 Flower, Concerto, Evo, and Medallion under construction. And a ton of conversions still happening (Brockman, Roosevelt, 655 Hope, 1010 Wilshire, Grand Republic Lofts, the Chapman, Union Lofts, etc...).

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

Originally Posted by ksep

i just drove by the l.a. central site. much of the fence is STILL INTACT. yes some of the fence was taken down, mainly along 11th street. i am still hopeful. maybe it just got delayed a bit, like usual, and they want to continue using it for parking until they really can start digging.

a south park resident left this comment on curbed l.a.:

I live within a 500-Foot Radius of the L.A. Central site, and recieved a Notice of Public Hearing yesterday, by applicant Fig Central LLC to be held on 05Dec2007, requesting multiple variances in accordence with the Los Angeles Sport and Entertainment District Zone (LASED). Proposing: A, 52 story north tower which will include a 222-room hotel and 412 condo units. A, 40 story south tower wich will contain retail uses and addiontal condo units. A, 100 ft above ground podium containing parking, retail, restaurant uses, a sports bar and a 43,000 sq ft health club. The site will also be home to a 54,000 sq ft food market and app 1900+ parking spaces.

Yes, if this is true, this is hopeful. You wouldn’t send a notice like this on a canceled project. But you would remove fencing on a delayed project if there is parking income to be made.

And a portion of this is hotel, which I don’t believe the housing slump affected.

[BigDan35]

So what's going on with the LA Live Hotel? This is the biggest thing going up in LA right now, by far, and I haven't seen any sort of an update in weeks.

[BrandonJXN]

^ Update: It's under construction.