LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[pesto]

I think Avinine is saying that edluva's tirade is a classic example of projection.

Park 101: it looks really cool; all the people are young, white and well dressed and the sky is blue.

Police architecture improves and crime goes down; now we know what is really needed for a livable city.

[colemonkee]

Weird. There was a film crew shooting this morning on the south lawn of the LAPD HQ building.

Anywho, in other news, looks like Gail Goldberg is retiring early. Let's hope any progress she's made with the Planning Department isn't stifiled. From the Los Angeles Business Journal:

L.A. Planning Director Resigns
By Howard Fine
Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Los Angeles City Planning Director Gail Goldberg has resigned, the mayor’s office announced Wednesday.

Goldberg’s official retirement date is Aug. 27, but she will be out on medical leave starting July 16. There was no announcement from the mayor’s office on an interim replacement for Goldberg or a search for a new general manager.

Get the rest of the story here: http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2010/jun/30/l-planning-director-resigns/

[pesto]

I also heard that Maywood, which is small but one of the densest cities in the country, is exploring getting rid of much of their municipal staffing and duties and contracting them out to other cities and the county. It would seem to make sense, given the proliferation of tiny cities in SoCal.

If this works, it could be a start to saving reducing governmet expenses.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Isn't that the station near the Gold Line Eastside?

[Kippis]

Originally Posted by DJM19

As long as it doesnt look like this:



Ill keep my mouth shut about it.

I don't live in LA, nor do I know a great deal about its architecture, but what in dear heaven's name is this hunk of doodie?

[edluva]

Originally Posted by pesto

I think Avinine is saying that edluva's tirade is a classic example of projection.

probably. that's how i understood his comment.

but how is it projection when people from other cities make the same scathing criticism of la and yet aren't douchebags?

is there no truth to the vast majority of la's upper-mid and educated class living secluded in suburbs?

is there no truth to this class of angelenos generally being less urban-minded, less liberal, and less cosmopolitan than the similar income/education tier counterparts living within the borders of cities like sf, chicago, and london?

is it not true that a city's cultural and economic compass is more overtly guided by the more moneyed and educated of its denizens?

[LA101]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

I don't know how many of you have seen this but it is pretty freaking beautiful.

• Video Link

Awesome!

[pesto]

Social and aesthetic theories abound, but I would guess that it is much more unexciting than most "intellectuals" think. Residential architecture is determined by what it is believed people in that price range like. Commercial is determined by what corporate PR believes puts forth the kind of image the company needs to project. Of course, both are subject to budget issues, unless you have oil or can access other people's funds.

I'm afraid that architects received the direction on these things much more than they give it. Or they don't get built.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by pesto

I also heard that Maywood, which is small but one of the densest cities in the country, is exploring getting rid of much of their municipal staffing and duties and contracting them out to other cities and the county. It would seem to make sense, given the proliferation of tiny cities in SoCal.

If this works, it could be a start to saving reducing governmet expenses.

I think it's terrible that the City of Maywood had to come down to this; at least they didn't disincorporate.

It's sad that this city that was founded by Midwesterners in the 1920s and populated with solid working-class industrious people devolved into the corrupt, mis-managed crap-hole town that it is today.

[Avanine-Commuter]

I'm not claiming that you're wrong here. I just found it funny that, if you are going to call yourself philistine, uneducated, unsophisticated, less cosmopolitan, less liberal, and more douchy, then why should we listen to you?

[pesto]

sopas: this is the history of many small towns. Maybe (and I do mean "maybe") by forming into larger cities, administration and oversight can be improved and services rationalized over larger areas and populations. Cities of 100-200k would seem to be more efficient than 10k to 40k.

I guess this is technically not appropriate for the DT thread, but it's pretty close.

[UrbanJungle]

Originally Posted by RAlossi

I also hope that building at Figueroa and 8th Place can reopen at some point. Does anyone know what the story is behind that? It's been closed for years, and it's sitting on prime land. Who owns it?

That's the old Linder Building which previously housed a social security or some other government office. The buildings is essentially non-habitable, with asbestos and other issues that makes it too expensive to renovate in today's market. It and the parking structure behind it along 8th Place are owned by L&R, who operate it as a Joe's Parking garage.

[colemonkee]

More on USC's planned replacement for University Village. Looks like the timeline for starting construction is roughly 2 years. From the LA Times:


Photo credit: LA Times

USC plans $900-million shopping and residential upgrade
Neighbors are divided on the project, which would replace University Village. Work could start in two years.

USC says it wants what many other big city universities have: an attractive, lively place next to campus for students and faculty to shop, dine, watch movies and just hang out.

In what is described as the most ambitious construction project in South Los Angeles in a generation, the university plans to replace an outdated shopping center with a retail, cinema and hotel complex that would also include dorms for about 5,000 students.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uscvillage-20100703,0,4059714.story

[colemonkee]

And some interesting and unexpected news on Eli Broad's museum project from the Downtown News:


Photo credit: Gary Leonard - Downtown News

Permit Filed for Grand Avenue Museum Site
Grading Approval Sought for Eli Broad’s $100 Million Project
by Jon Regardie and Ryan Vaillancourt

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - A construction firm working on philanthropist Eli Broad’s proposed Grand Avenue art museum has filed for a permit to begin grading at the site. It is the strongest indication yet that Broad will choose Downtown Los Angeles as the location for the Broad Collections.

Additionally, a person close to the proceedings, who asked not to be named because they do not have permission to comment publicly, told Los Angeles Downtown News that the plan is to begin construction on a parking garage for the museum by August or September. Broad has said the museum, which still needs approval from the County Board of Supervisors and the joint powers authority overseeing the Grand Avenue project, would be set on top of the garage so it could face Grand Avenue. He said in May that he hopes to open the $100 million facility in 2012. He would also provide a $200 million endowment.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2010/07/02/news/doc4c254b58ab255695630016.txt

[JDRCRASH]

Park Powers Forward

Green Component of Grand Avenue Plan, Including a Dog Park, to Have Groundbreaking Ceremony July 15

by Ryan Vaillancourt, Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, July 1, 2010 1:43 PM PDT

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - The Grand Avenue Authority is poised to grant final approval this week to construction plans for the Grand Avenue project’s Civic Park, setting the stage for work to begin July 12 on the $56 million project. A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held three days later.

The Community Redevelopment Agency and County Board of Supervisors have signed off on the plans, but the joint powers authority overseeing the stalled Grand Avenue project must give the final green light. The panel meets July 7, and if the documents are approved, preliminary construction work could start right away, but will likely wait until the following week.

Barring any unexpected changes or hurdles, “The date is July 12,” said Barry Widen, vide president of construction for Related of California, the developer of the $3 billion project formally titled The Grand. “That’s the day we’re going to actually start.”

Barbara Casey, a spokeswoman for the project, said that civic and business leaders will gather at the site on July 15 for a groundbreaking ceremony.

The park is expected to take about two years to complete. Backers of the plan see it as a milestone for the Civic Center and Downtown, saying it will give a facelift to a public space that has been severely underused for years.

“I think it will create major public open space that will become the epicenter of the city and the primary place for public gatherings and concerts, arts and crafts fairs and things like that,” said Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry, who sits on the Grand Avenue Authority.

The park will essentially connect the Music Center and City Hall. It will start on Grand Avenue and run between the County Hall of Administration and the Hall of Records on the north and the County Courthouse and Law Library on the south, culminating at Broadway. Although a park exists there now, it is unknown to many passersby, who must navigate past two tall, circular parking ramp barriers at the Grand Avenue entrance, or snake up L-shaped staircases to access it from Broadway.

The new design eliminates the ramps at the western end, opening up that entrance point across the street from the Music Center. The ramps on the western side of Broadway will be replaced with a series of landscaped stairs and terraces that invite the eye up to the park.

The most significant effort is the addition of a new plot of land immediately west of City Hall — now a parking lot servicing the Clara Foltz Criminal Justice Center. The effect will be a park bookended by two institutional and cultural icons, with City Hall to the east and the Music Center and DWP headquarters to the west, said Tony Paradowski, senior associate at Rios Clementi Hale Studios, the architecture firm that designed the park.

Park Evolution


The Civic Park will mark the first and, currently, the only real action tied to the Grand Avenue plan, which stalled amidst the global recession as Related has been unable to secure the $700 million construction loan needed for the first phase of the Frank Gehry-designed project.

The park’s $56 million budget was financed by a $50 million, non-refundable deposit Related paid to the county in return for development rights, plus accrued interest. That allowed the park to move forward even while Related waits for the economy to improve.

The park’s design has morphed over the past two years, as Rios Clementi Hale has repeatedly put its designs out for public comment and suggestions. When finished in the summer of 2012, visitors will gain access to a new “event lawn,” an array of new seating areas, a mix of terraced green space and hard-surface walkways crisscrossing the park, new native landscaping and trees from around the world that represent Los Angeles’ ethnic diversity, Paradowski said.

One aspect of the site that will be largely unaltered is the Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain. The 1960s-era stone landmark will not be changed, though the surrounding area will be extended with a half-inch- to quarter-inch-deep “membrane pool” that people will be able to walk through.

“From our very first public meeting, the loudest voice was to preserve the historic foundation,” Paradowski said.

Others criticized the current space for having too much pavement, a problem the firm is trying to alleviate with more greenery and narrower walkways.

Rios Clementi Hale presented the most recent design in March at a Downtown meeting. That led to the addition of a 1,800-square-foot dog park, Paradowski said. The 60-feet by 30-feet facility will rise in the easternmost section of the park, in the new plot adjacent to City Hall.

“The Downtown meeting was really eye-opening,” Paradowski said. “A lot of voices were saying that, ‘Hey, this is our neighborhood park.’”

The project will add two new structures, one on the westernmost plot and one at the east end, that will include public restrooms and a cafe-type space. A Starbucks that now sits in the middle of the park will be moved to the new structure on western end, Paradowski said.

Once completed, the park will be run by an as yet undetermined nonprofit manager, Paradowski said. That entity will coordinate frequent public events including concerts, cultural celebrations and possibly a farmers market. The new, eastern plot is being called the Events Lawn, and could be used for community gatherings that would entail closing Spring Street and Broadway temporarily, he said.

“I think there’s a lot of momentum to move forward and an enormous amount of anticipation,” Perry said. “It’s going to be a legacy project.”

Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at [email protected].

Source: http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2010/07/01/news/doc4c2ce0e7d25c1251589212.txt

[JDRCRASH]

Here are some renderings in the article:

[pesto]

So what do we call it, "Trojan Grove"? "Westwood East"?

I notice the "Keep University Park Shitty" crowd struck immediately: keep retail on a par with Vermont (pawn shops, discounters, liquor stores and the ever-popular "abandoned"). Just to reiterate the Spring/Main story: aren't there pleny of places in DT/South Central that the poor could shop (say, 2 blocks in any direction) if a handful of people with jobs actually move into the neighborhood and aren't that interested in paycheck cashing services? Isn't that what "redevlopment", "improvement", "bringing a neighborhood back from the dead", etc., mean?

So where do the new "gentry" move instead. Well, I guess there is Diamond Bar and the OC. And how does that help anybody in LA? Anybody at all?

Of course the reality is that the "community" opposition is basically the local landlords, who will lose their monopoly profits (when my nephew went to SC he was part of a group that rented a decrepit house for $4000/mo.; from chats with his landlady, she had bought the house for 100k and over time more than quadrupled the rents).

I also like the accusatory comment that SC sees a chance to make a healthy profit (presumably at the expense of the "struggling" landlords). First, of course, SC is a non-profit institution, so its net rents, if any, will presumably go to more student services, education, etc. Second, so what? Do the slumlords dislike a little free-market competition? I guess they figure the point of government is to keep them rich and tenants hungry.

[pesto]

Brief comment on civic park: leaving aside the people drawn in, the renderings look about the same as the current reality and I expect the same usage: approximately zero. It isn't even used much by county employees, except to the extent they have to walk through it to get the hell out of town at 5:00 sharp. Weekends you might as well be on Mars for all the likelihood of meeting human beings.

What community? Bunker Hill, Civic Center, Grand Ave.? The LIbrary, the Biltmore, the parking lots, the two or three aged apartment buildings on Hill or Olive among the govt. buildings?

Most of what Paradowski says is just b/s. There is nothing great to preserve here; the fountain is OK at best. Most people think the park is a waste and the new design is a different version of mediocre. It will be newer; hopefully less concrete. But not worth 1/4 of what is being spent.

And sticking a dog park in the middle of your "civic gathering place" and "emblem of civic pride and grandeur". Nice.

[colemonkee]

^ As someone who lives in the area, I can say with some confidence that people are itching for green space and will use the new park. Now, will be as active as the renderings indicate, but it will get far more use than what's there. Keep in mind that it will green up the area considerably from what it is now, make access to the park much more visible, and will add a huge amount of green space that currently doesn't exist directly in front of City Hall.

Plus it will have a fair amount of fanfare around the opening, so it should draw some interest outside of just the local community.

[citywatch]

with things in such a slump, it's nice to see some new changes underway. But I'm assuming that work on the civic ctr pk really will be starting very soon & most importantly that work on the Broad museum will be fast tracked. If construction on the parking space under the proposed museum actually begins by august or sept, that will have to be sort of a speed record for LA.

as for the new pk getting little use, I think that's a problem with the hood in general. It's strange to go to DT, esp on weekends, & find so many streets, sidewalks & stores just about empty. it's times like that that I think LA actually must be a small city, with a population more similar to porterville than NYC.

Where is everyone?!! out in the burbs?! In Samo, OC, pasadena??! if more of the ppl who clog the fwys that go straight past & around DT lived in DT or close to DT, traffic wouldn't be so bad.

A big hurdle in making the civic ctr pk nicer & greener is that I believe much of it is located above underground parking garages. So there's a limit to the size of trees & landscaping. Same problem is true of pershing sq. I know the original trees on the plaza of the Music Ctr, which also is above a garage, were cut down several yrs ago cuz they had grown too big.

Only the space right across from city hall doesn't have a similar limitation. Good thing too cuz that has been a deadzone parking lot for way too long & will need a major, big time conversion to make up for the past.