LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[JDRCRASH]

From Globe St. news:

Apartment Market Heads for Mild Softening

LOS ANGELES-Not even this city's perennially strong apartment market is exempt from the world's economic woes, but the impact on the L.A. rental market will be mild, a new report says. The study by Marcus & Millichap, reporting on rental trends and investment activity in the third quarter of this year, says that, "Apartment market fundamentals in Los Angeles are expected to soften mildly through year-end 2008, though vacancy will still be one of the lowest rates in the nation.
One reason for the Marcus & Millichap outlook is that, despite the continuing decline in home prices, demand for apartments keeps rising because buying a home in Los Angeles is still too expensive for a large part of the population. Nonetheless, the company's study shows that a weakening job base has produced "a notable uptick in vacancy over the past year" in 26 of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area's 37 class A submarkets.

Despite these vacancy upticks, "Healthy demand and solid rent growth will fuel investor interest in the quarters ahead," Marcus & Millichap forecasts, although it expects that "deal flow will remain measured as tightened lending criteria continue to shrink the pool of active buyers." Sales have already slowed by 37% on a year-over-year basis, partly from a steep drop-off in 1031-exchange activity and "a more diminished role from leverage-dependent investors," the report says. Apartment properties have traded at cap rates averaging in the mid- to high-5% spectrum over the past year and are expected to stay in that range through the remainder of 2008.

Another result of the economic uncertainty is that apartment owners will ask for smaller rent increases, with asking rents expected to rise 4.4% to $1,489 by year-end 2008, while effective rents will gain 4.3% to $1,440. Novato, CA-based RealFacts already has Los Angeles area rents pegged at an average of $1,661, but RealFacts tracks a different property base than the inventory tracked by Marcus & Millichap, with RealFacts focusing more on institutional-grade assets.
The RealFacts figures rank Los Angeles as the fifth-highest rental market in the country. Its $1,661 average rent compares with an average of $2,272 in the Greater New York area, the highest in the nation, followed by Bridgeport-Stamford at $2,179, Greater Boston at 1,905 and San Jose, CA at $1,708.

[Quixote]

717 Ninth & Concerto


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


From Flickr, by ericrichardson


LA Live


From Flickr, by ericrichardson

[JDRCRASH]

^Thats a long way down. Wow, he got permission to go inside the Ritz? I wonder how often we'll see construction updates now that Stephen is going to be leaving soon.

BTW, it looks like they've already set up the framing for the "Marriot Sign".

[friedpez]

Those photos are INCREDIBLE!!!

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Ack, we need at least another 10 major projects in order to fill in those parking lots!

[edluva]

wow, DTLA looks almost like a real city in those photos. i almost want to do city things like go to a DTLA coffeeshop and be seen reading a newspaper by important looking pedestrians in suits and ties.

hey next time, can you crop the parking lots out of the photos. they're ruining my make-believe.

[edkao]

I am guessing Club Nokia is complete?

Because I just received my tickets to a Beck concert on Nov 9th. That date is fast approaching...

I figure the Artist will need a few days to setup and do soundcheck..etc.

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by edluva

hey next time, can you crop the parking lots out of the photos. they're ruining my make-believe.

Hopefully when the market straightens itself out, those lots on the southwest side of DT near South Park will be developed. I have to admit that the last building boom made some nice progress towards making DTLA a legitimate component of the city. These photos also don't show a lot of the investment that went into developing and refurbishing low-rise buildings in DTLA. That kinda thing is hard to see from a helicopter but is noticeable when walking around the area.

[colemonkee]

Great shots, Eric (if you still hang out here). And thanks for sharing Westsidelife. I look at these and see two things: 1) a fair amount of progress from even two years ago in both the skyline and the street level cityscape and 2) a VAST amount of potential for future booms or cycles.

[JDRCRASH]

^ absolutely; especially when older buildings are filled up with new residents.

Originally Posted by LAsam

These photos also don't show a lot of the investment that went into developing and refurbishing low-rise buildings in DTLA. That kinda thing is hard to see from a helicopter but is noticeable when walking around the area.

For a while I thought that looking on the outside showed investment, but I was reminded by several people on this forum that that is because of converted buildings like Rowan, Roosevelt, and El Dorado.

But when the Housing Market DOES rebound, hehe, well believe me....we will see a tsunami of demolitions to make way for Mid-rise and High-rise construction.

[BrandonJXN]

^ Why would they need to destroy something? Downtown has more than enough room to build ground up projects.

[Quixote]

I hope Metropolis has been cancelled. I've never been fond of that project; nor do I think it appropriate for such a location.

With declining office vacancy rates, a growing white-collar population, and several key transit projects underway/planned; I do believe Downtown is ripe for commercial, let alone residential, development.

[colemonkee]

^ I'm not sure what you meant by that, westside. Metropolis has a mix of residential, hotel and commercial (office). The first phase would be residential, second phase residential/hotel, third phase residential again, and fourth phase (the tallest of the bunch) office. Of course, the phases could be rearranged to adjust for market demands.

Why would they need to destroy something? Downtown has more than enough room to build ground up projects.

Agreed. There are far fewer buildings that would need to be torn down in comparison to the number of surface lots that could be developed, many of them with development rights and entitlements already attached (cough!Glass Towercough!).

[Quixote]

^ Sorry if I was unclear.

What I'm saying is that Downtown will soon be ripe for commercial development given the factors outlined above. The parking lots north of LA Live are ideal for a southward expansion of the CBD, leaving space for an additional 20+ million square feet of office space.

The residential development belongs in South Park.

[edluva]

dtla isn't really "ripe" for anything until mass transit becomes feasible for most would-be white collar types who currently reside in orange county and the westside. at this point, dtla is more or less a giant public-sector employment center for county and civic agencies. despite all the "progress" to date i'd still hesitate to call dtla a functionally organic urban neighborhood

[colemonkee]

^ Very true. DT still has a very long way to go until it's an urban neighborhood, and mass transit will play a key role in that. But little things like this, however late, are helping to make the slow transition.

From Blog Downtown


(Image credit: Flickr, Ed Fuentes)

Elusive Angels Flight Set to Get Its Rail Cars
By ED FUENTES
Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008, at 02:41PM

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The elusive Angels Flight appears set to make its grand entrance. Ken Johnson and Jim Toomey were at work on the funicular’s tracks today, and say that the two cars should be moved to the site tomorrow and testing should begin shortly.

In Curbed’s report, Angels Flight foundation head John Welbourne says that engineers were testing the cable drive and performing track work today.

Those involved hope to have the short railway up and running sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The two cars – Olivet and Sinai – have most recently been stored at the Metro Red Line yard in the Arts District.

Angels Flight was first put into service in 1901, rising adjacent to the 3rd Street Tunnel. It was dismantled in 1969 and rebuilt in its current location as part of the California Plaza development. Reopened in 1996, the service operated for five years until a fatal accident closed the line.

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by edluva

Despite all the "progress" to date i'd still hesitate to call dtla a functionally organic urban neighborhood

Agreed. DTLA is moving in the right direction though... and in this city... you can't hope for much more than that.

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by edluva

dtla isn't really "ripe" for anything until mass transit becomes feasible for most would-be white collar types who currently reside in orange county and the westside. at this point, dtla is more or less a giant public-sector employment center for county and civic agencies. despite all the "progress" to date i'd still hesitate to call dtla a functionally organic urban neighborhood

I added "soon" in the latter post -- soon as in 5-10 years, but that really depends on what happens with Measure R next week.

[logandankr]

Nicé, the mail-order mexican jewelry store below the aeg parking lot on the southwest corner of 11th and hope has moved out. anyone hear anything about a new lease being signed in this space?

South Park is buzzing today with preparations for LA Live opening. The plaza is starting to get l.e.d.-ed out, crews are working in all the LA Live restaurants, not to mention Rivera and Bottle Rock. Rivera looks close to being ready. At Bottle Rock they're doing some exterior work (looks like they're framing the entrance). Inside is all still studs.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Took this picture tonight! Really exciting to see these two cars up there now. (It's the first time I've ever seen them in real life.) It should be up and running around the same time that most of LA Live's restaurants are open too.