LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ And it's not convenient to hop from pocket to pocket.

You wouldn't have to drive in Westwood Village or the Golden Triangle. But you would have to DRIVE TO them because taking the 720 down Wilshire is such a hassle.

Now...if the Purple Line was extended down Wilshire, there would be a MUCH higher chance that people would find it more natural to walk because it would be much easier to get from pedestrian pocket to pedestrian pocket.

The point is: Build the 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 subway down Wilshire Blvd. (And Santa Monica Blvd.!).

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Here's a pic I took yesterday of the new light scheme at Roosevelt. I'm not sure how I like it...

[DowntownGymRat]

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[DowntownGymRat]

Aon building looming high in the background... I sure wish they would upgrade/update the lighting scheme. I agree with everyone on this thread that's mentioned the BofA building in Dallas, TX as an idea

[StethJeff]

Improved lighting would be nice, but the tacky Main Street Electrical Parade approach of the Dallas BofA is just ridiculous. The Aon doesn't need to become a neon bar sign for Dos Equis.

[ladowntowner]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

I don't mind the structure underneath, heck, it prevents downtown LA having to build even more parking structures, but they could seriously reduce the number of on & off ramps. Pershing Square has a ramp on 3 of the 4 sides, and ramps that come parallel to the park. Union Square has 2 ramps and the cars just go straight into the park.

Actually, I believe there are ramps on all 4 sides, but otherwise I completely agree with what you're saying. The ramps NEED to be reconfigured to minimize their impact on the park. How about one lane of both Olive and Hill dropping out from traffic midway in the block to enter or exit the garage, thereby running parallel to the park without interupting the sidewalk at all and allowing the park to gain some precious real estate. Olive and Hill are both pretty wide at this block (five lanes for Olive and it's one-way) and could likely stand to momentarily lose one lane with minimal effect.

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

Also, I went to the Grand Avenue meeting a few months ago, the developer is also putting a parking garage under 1 block of the park.

Curious. If I'm not mistaken, there's already a garage under one block of the park that currently exists between Grand and Hill. Hmmm...

[ladowntowner]

Originally Posted by edluva

^the exact reply given by hordes of angelenos over the decades who'd gladly justify 🞵🞵🞵🞵 for taste so long as it wasn't "boring", yielding the architecturally moribund city we call home today. angelenos are generally tasteless and so we hail 🞵🞵🞵🞵 as "creative" so long as there's pizazz.

ehhem, there are tasteful ways of avoiding glass boxes, and then there are tasteless ways. don't forget the latter, angelenos. you're collectively way too efficient at that.

Ironically, Downtown L.A. has one of the dullest skylines going - mostly full of boring corporate glass boxes, as I said before. Where are all these "creative" structures with "pizazz" that the "generally tasteless hordes of Angelenos" are hailing, promoting and building? From where I sit, I see very few buildings that I would classify as remotely having any kind of "pizazz" or "creativity," "tasteless" or otherwise.

[ladowntowner]

From the Los Angeles Downtown News Online:

Developer Plans 61-Story Tower
McGregor Company Presents Proposal for Project With 225 Condominiums, 200 Hotel Rooms
by Anna Scott


DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Although the housing market has slowed significantly in the past year and several Downtown Los Angeles projects have been canceled, a Westside developer is planning a mixed-use tower that, if realized, could be one of the community's tallest structures.
The McGregor Company is in the early stage of work on a 61-story, mixed-use development near Eighth Street and Grand Avenue. The company brought the project before the Community Redevelopment Agency last Thursday.

Though officials noted that designs could change, initial plans call for 225 condominium units, 200 hotel rooms, 386 parking spaces, 30,000 square feet of retail and 32,000 square feet of restaurant or bar space. The development would rise on the north side of Eighth Street, between Hope Street and Grand Avenue, where a 65-space surface parking lot and a four-story parking structure now sit.

The site is across the street from another parking lot, where developer Sonny Astani plans to build a multi-phase, $500 million project with residential and retail components. Together, the projects could bring a critical mass and tremendous investment to the southern end of the Financial District.

McGregor only recently initiated the city entitlement process for the project and has not disclosed budget information. On Sept. 4, the CRA Board of Commissioners held its first hearing on the project, giving the public an opportunity to comment on the initial draft of its Environmental Impact Report, a document that assesses the potential traffic, emissions and other impacts of the proposal.

Despite the ongoing housing and economic slump, "We believe in the future of Downtown Los Angeles and are excited to play a role in it," said McGregor Company President Bill McGregor. However, he cautioned, "It is a very early stage project and will come far more into focus in the future."


Flexibility

Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's largest real estate company, owns the site where McGregor would build its high rise.

The project was conceived when Mitsui approached McGregor approximately two years ago and asked the company to evaluate the development potential of the property, along with another parcel at Eighth and Figueroa streets. McGregor recommended leaving the Eighth and Figueroa site on the back burner while pursuing a high-density residential project at Eighth and Grand.

"There is a much higher probability that ultimately, Eighth and Figueroa would be more suited for offices or commercial development," said McGregor. The Eighth and Grand location, however, with its proximity to South Park, the rest of the Financial District and L.A. Live and Staples Center, "is an increasingly vital Downtown Los Angeles neighborhood that is becoming a 24-7 community," he said.

Though McGregor expressed confidence in the project's long-term success, he is taking some precautions to safeguard his company in the current economy.

Instead of specific architectural plans, the developer is seeking city approval of a conceptual development plan, which includes general scale and mass parameters. The idea, said McGregor, is to leave room for as much flexibility as possible, in case market conditions force a change of course.

Shane Parker, vice president of Christopher A. Joseph & Associates, the planning and research firm working on McGregor's environmental documents, said that as long as the project's scope falls within a general "outside envelope" defined in the EIR, the document should hold up. McGregor has also asked the city to allow up to three years for the company to submit a specific project design.


Reaching for the Sky

If the project moves forward, it would be Downtown's third development to use the Transfer of Floor Rights (TFAR) Ordinance since the Council adopted it last May.

Under the ordinance, developers can purchase "unused" space above the Convention Center. Revenues from the sale go into a public benefit fund, which can be used for any number of local causes. Developers can also build public benefits into their projects in exchange for the "air rights."

McGregor has asked for approximately 259,000 additional square feet. The exact cost of the space and payment opportunities have not been worked out yet, but CRA officials last week said they would use the recently approved Park Fifth high rise - which also utilized the TFAR Ordinance, though it has yet to break ground - as a model.

The McGregor Company is also developing the $140 million One Santa Fe project in the Arts District, which obtained city approvals in February after years of delay; it is expected to break ground by the end of the year. Asked whether the developer plans to expand its presence Downtown beyond the two projects already in the pipeline, McGregor said, "We have plenty on our plate right now."

[JDRCRASH]

^

I remember reading in the DT News that it would be mostly Hotel space....but I guess not.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by ksep

^ no, people don't walk here because everything you would wanna walk to is too far away.

Well I'm people and I walk to most of my destinations and no destination is too far to walk to in Hollywood. I also catch the subway which connects me to the other walkable communities of Los Feliz, Downtown and (just now utilized) Long Beach. Next time I want to go to the Beach I'm heading to Long Beach and not Venice.. it's about options and they're there.

I know we have a long way to go to connect all the major walkable communities in Los Angeles but LA does offer a genuine walkable urban experience on a rather large scale. There are a lot of new units going up in Hollywood and Downtown so it is possible to change your lifestyle and join it if you want.

On the way back from Long Beach there were 4 people (two couples) from Vancouver who were vacationing in LA and staying in Hollywood. One of the guys commented to me about what a great transit system "we" had with great enthusiasm. They continued their trip from the Blue Line to the Red Line Subway back to Hollywood Highland noticeably having a great time enjoying their vacation.

When we get the subway to continue down Wilshire and Santa Monica and get transit connected (somehow) to LAX this city will be in a much, much better situation.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by ladowntowner

Ironically, Downtown L.A. has one of the dullest skylines going - mostly full of boring corporate glass boxes, as I said before. Where are all these "creative" structures with "pizazz" that the "generally tasteless hordes of Angelenos" are hailing, promoting and building? From where I sit, I see very few buildings that I would classify as remotely having any kind of "pizazz" or "creativity," "tasteless" or otherwise.

Well although my issue isn't as much with the skyline, which in a way, I actually like... my issue is more with some residential building going up in South Park right now that have elevated above ground parking sturctures. That does more to sterilize the look and character of a city IMO. Fotunately in Hollywood the new residential has subterranean parking we should demand the same for Downtown.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by dktshb

When we get the subway to continue down Wilshire and Santa Monica and get transit connected (somehow) to LAX this city will be in a much, much better situation.

I totally agree - those two projects that you mentioned are absolutely the most important. The Wilshire Subway and a connection to LAX alone would do so much to give people an incentive to use mass transit. In fact, it makes me wonder why we even bother with all of the other transit projects when those two are left undone.

The Gold Line Eastside Extension and Expo Line are very welcome additions to the grid, but they don't even come close to Wilshire and LAX.

[DTLA]

^It seems as though the Crenshaw Corridor will be the next major project to get underway

[Dylan Leblanc]

great to see some new buildings in downtown LA!

[Echo Park]

whoa, the big cheese makes an appearance in our very own LA project thread!

[colemonkee]

Well, the development gods giveth, and the development gods taketh away. From the Downtown News:




Condo Project Gets Scrapped
Market Woes Halt Arts District High-Rise

by Anna Scott

Developer Linear City, the firm behind the Arts District's Biscuit Company and Toy Factory lofts, has scrapped plans for a 17-story, 122-unit condominium project titled the Mill Street Lofts because of the troubled housing market.

Instead, the developer has re-dubbed the existing 40,000-square-foot, two-story building at 1820 S. Industrial St. as the Industrial Street Art Studios, and is renting out the property's 40 units to a variety of creative users. The decision to abandon the project was primarily due to the current financial market, said Linear City principal Yuval Bar-Zemer. He said he was unsure whether the project would ever revert to housing.

"It's hard to tell these days. We have the entitlements, we have a set of plans ready for permits," he said. But for the economy to recover "might take three, four or five years. It's all up in the air right now."

The Mill Street Lofts, in the works for more than two years, were originally envisioned as a complement to the existing Toy Factory and Biscuit Company projects. Housing projects across the city, and indeed the nation, have been delayed or canceled as developers increasingly face trouble securing construction loans.

Linear City's Toy Factory Lofts, at 1855 Industrial St., also houses the Royal Clayton's restaurant and a slew of recently opened retail businesses, including clothing stores and a gourmet chocolate shop. The French brasserie Church and State, from restaurateur Steven Arroyo, is expected to open at the Biscuit Company Lofts, across the street from the Toy Factory, in the near future.

Previous plans for the Mill Street Lofts called for 122 condominiums housed in a 132,000-square-foot complex. The development was also slated to include a park, swimming pool and other amenities.

Spaces at the newly positioned building range from 550-2,400 square feet and rents are $1-$2 per square foot, said Bar-Zemer. The Tarryn Teresa Gallery, formerly housed in Santa Monica's Bergamot Station arts complex, recently moved into the building. The structure also houses a high-end jeans manufacturer and individual artist studios.

[colemonkee]

I updated the first page finally. The following changes were made:

1. Updated the render for 1340 Figueroa
2. Updated the render for 1100 Wilshire, revised story count to 30 stories
3. Moved City House and Olympic to On Hold
4. Removed Mill Street Lofts

I'll add the 61-story proposal at 8th and Grand when we get a render.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by DTLA

^It seems as though the Crenshaw Corridor will be the next major project to get underway

So then the idea is to connect LAX to Wilshire but not to complete the projects that the Crenshaw Corridor will eventually connect?

[KarLarRec1]

I take it this 8th/Grand project is different than the 8th/Grand project that was announced a couple of years ago? That one was probably my favorite project. It had several building component with really funky and curvy architecture and a street cut into the project, where street-side retail would go. Any ideas??

[colemonkee]

^ The new 61-story proposal is located across the street from the Sonni Astani 8th and Grand proposal, which you are referring to. Here's a map to illustrate where each one goes. The Sonni Astani proposal is the red area, and the 61-story proposal is in green.

The only thing that may not be accurate about this map is whether they are talking about the parking structure on the corner of 8th and Hope or the parking structure on Grand. I've included the garage on 8th and Hope in the illustration, but the article doesn't clarify all that well.


Image source: Google Maps