LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[pesto]

Agreed as well. Probably won't happen until a Bway address becomes prestigious.

btw, I like the Spanish embassy.

In any event, Happy Turkey Day; wish I could be in LA. It is friggin' freezing up here in NorCal.

[Kingofthehill]

Hmm, it is pretty cold down here in my corner of LA, too. Went out for Peruvian food tonight, and had to wear a long-sleeve shirt, jacket, and scarf. Going to sunny Bahamas for a funeral Friday morning, though

[BrandonJXN]

I'm going to Riverside tomorrow. I haven't been there in ages.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

fyi, i was at Mo-Chica the other day and i was talking to the nice Korean Lady working that night and she said that they have signed a lease in downtown. she said it was at 9th and grand, but i think she meant 7th and grand. if i had to guess, i would say its the corner space next to Sugarfish across from Bottega. they signed the lease a month ago, so i would guess a couple months till we see an opening.

for those that dont know, Mo-Chica is a Peruvian restaurant on fig by USC that is very highly regarded. should be a good addition.

[RAlossi]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

fyi, i was at Mo-Chica the other day and i was talking to the nice Korean Lady working that night and she said that they have signed a lease in downtown. she said it was at 9th and grand, but i think she meant 7th and grand. if i had to guess, i would say its the corner space next to Sugarfish across from Bottega. they signed the lease a month ago, so i would guess a couple months till we see an opening.

for those that dont know, Mo-Chica is a Peruvian restaurant on fig by USC that is very highly regarded. should be a good addition.

I've heard Mo-Chica has been scouting a location for a long while -- great to see they've finally found a space. I wonder which location they'll be going into...

As far as the corner space on 7th/Grand, that was signed by the guy who owns Crocker Club for a bar. There's some clause that allows them to get out of it if they don't get funding though... or something.

Now I'm really curious. I know there's space available at 9th/Hill, and there may be some space available at 9th/Olive in the affordable housing project there. I guess we'll see as time goes by.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

oh cool, that space was fixed up as they were building sugarfish. i dont think it should take long for them to open up. the area could use another bar. 7 grand, 7, bottega are always packed on fridays and saturdays and i can see this place being a popular place.

[Illithid Dude]

Well, I am in San Diego now. It is interesting to see an example of a downtown that totally revitalized itself. In the past twenty years, it has become a place that people really want to live in. At the moment, DTLA doesn't have a mass-market appeal. If you have kids and want them to go to a good school, that could be an hour car-ride a day to get there. San Diego has good school in a very close radius. One of my friends went to the Staples Center. When I asked him how the area around it was he said that, "There were no buildings, just parking lots." San Diego doesn't have that negative connotation. Even if thew buildings have been built to quickly, and are empty, the mindshare of DTSD is really high. I think that is the second most important thing DTLA has to do right now (the first being making DTLA a more livable place for its current residents). DTLA has to seem like a livable place for the people who live in the suburbs, so that it may become, in their minds, a viable option.

[pesto]

Well, hopefully it will become attractive for everyone.

But I hate to even compare DT SD and DT LA because they are so different. SD is built for tourism: boats full of people come to hotels, the Gas Lamp district and nearby “resort casual” areas. The people there are overwhelmingly white, mostly families and mostly dressed like tourists (not urban); black and Hispanic are essentially zero. Not at all like DT LA, SJ, SF, Oakland (or NY or other large cities, for that matter).

I’m not saying this is bad; but it is different. DT LA by contrast has no ships but much more office space, diverse architecture and world-class culture and entertainment; arts districts; large ethnic areas. Restaurants are not tourist oriented and vary from dives to experimental to haute. “California urban mixed” is the best way to describe it demographically: rich and poor; hipster and derelict; gay and straight; models and ho’s. And this is without looking at transit, USC, the fashion district, etc. Big city.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Well, I am in San Diego now. It is interesting to see an example of a downtown that totally revitalized itself. In the past twenty years, it has become a place that people really want to live in. At the moment, DTLA doesn't have a mass-market appeal. If you have kids and want them to go to a good school, that could be an hour car-ride a day to get there. San Diego has good school in a very close radius. One of my friends went to the Staples Center. When I asked him how the area around it was he said that, "There were no buildings, just parking lots." San Diego doesn't have that negative connotation. Even if thew buildings have been built to quickly, and are empty, the mindshare of DTSD is really high. I think that is the second most important thing DTLA has to do right now (the first being making DTLA a more livable place for its current residents). DTLA has to seem like a livable place for the people who live in the suburbs, so that it may become, in their minds, a viable option.

San Diego does in fact have a negative connotation in the sense that The Gaslamp is seemingly catered towards one type of demographic: the rich, white, dumb college kids who so happen to be fans of the Padres. I like San Diego (I spent a lot of my childhood there) and I only wish the best for it but I would much rather spend a day in downtown LA doing nothing then spend a weekend in downtown San Diego dealing with the Hooter's folk. The Gaslamp is also DTSD's main attraction. If there isn't a Padre game going on, what else does downtown San Diego have to offer that compares to DTLA?

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

San Diego does in fact have a negative connotation in the sense that The Gaslamp is seemingly catered towards one type of demographic: the rich, white, dumb college kids who so happen to be fans of the Padres. I like San Diego (I spent a lot of my childhood there) and I only wish the best for it but I would much rather spend a day in downtown LA doing nothing then spend a weekend in downtown San Diego dealing with the Hooter's folk. The Gaslamp is also DTSD's main attraction. If there isn't a Padre game going on, what else does downtown San Diego have to offer that compares to DTLA?

Shopping, I suppose. And food. And every year, Comic Con. But what would you rather have the Broadway LA has today, or Gaslamp? Because, don't forget, Gaslamp didn't use to be so much better then Broadway was today.

[bobcat]

We're getting dangerously close to City vs City territory so I'll just focus on DTLA. The area is still lacking in retail options, but I have a feeling that will change quite rapidly over the next few years. As for dining, there have been so many new and innovative restaurants opening up recently: Church and State, Nickel Diner, Starry Kitchen, and Gorbals just to name a few. In addition you've got high end restaurants serving haute cuisine in the financial district/Bunker Hill, tourist oriented restaurants near the convention center, and authentic ethnic eateries virtually everywhere. Taken together, I think one could argue that DTLA is the most interesting place for foodies right now in all of SoCal. The upcoming Mo Chica's should fit right in.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by bobcat

We're getting dangerously close to City vs City territory so I'll just focus on DTLA. The area is still lacking in retail options, but I have a feeling that will change quite rapidly over the next few years. As for dining, there have been so many new and innovative restaurants opening up recently: Church and State, Nickel Diner, Starry Kitchen, and Gorbals just to name a few. In addition you've got high end restaurants serving haute cuisine in the financial district/Bunker Hill, tourist oriented restaurants near the convention center, and authentic ethnic eateries virtually everywhere. Taken together, I think one could argue that DTLA is the most interesting place for foodies right now in all of SoCal. The upcoming Mo Chica's should fit right in.

I'm sorry if it seemed like I was verging onto City vs. City territory. What I was trying to show was that Broadway is a street that is (quite literally) crumbling. It needs a revitalization, and soon. Gastown is one of the directions it could take. That is all I was trying to say, though I phrased it pretty poorly. On your topic, I think it is pretty evident that downtown is great for eating. I love going down there and getting a bite, especially during lunch at Bottega Louie. That is one aspect of urban life that downtown has honed into perfection.

[BrandonJXN]

Broadway should turn into Broadway. Not turn into another Gaslamp.

[Crackertastik]

Some reference, I was raised in San Diego and now live in Los Angeles, and for the past 10 years.

Broadway should absolutely become Broadway. All it has to do is look to its own past for influence. The old Broadway brought to new would be ideal. That means operating theatres and add concert locales, and then mix in the diverse restaurants and shops, add housing and you have a premium space. Im on the streetcar side as well, although i admit that might be a tad kitschy.

I think the criticism voiced here of Gaslamp is a misnomer. The college crowd is Pacific Beach and those bars. The Gaslamp is very Mini Hollywood. Yuppies, post college professionals, still in party mode, with disposable income to burn. It is certainly not all white. That is also not true. But again, regardless of the race, the group is the same, that trendy young professional, in-scene group, so they are still quite homogenous. It isn't very diverse, but neither is Hollywood.

Downtown LA, for all its high points with diversity, eccentric spots, etc, fails to attract for that very reason. And as a result, chokes the overall regeneration of the district.

LA's downtown has the disadvantage of being a city of fantastic alternatives. The amount of fantastic places to go elsewhere in the city and surrounding neighborhoods makes downtown just another option rather than the epicenter. It needs to create a mass appeal section, to literally open the eyes of the unaware to the rest of its amazing aspects.

South Park needs to continue to move towards a gaslamp type appeal (not necessarily in the same manner) but towards that type of appeal and draw, and then allow that success to spill to more diversified and interesting neighborhoods in the downtown area.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Crackertastik

LA's downtown has the disadvantage of being a city of fantastic alternatives. The amount of fantastic places to go elsewhere in the city and surrounding neighborhoods makes downtown just another option rather than the epicenter.

that pretty much sums it up.

as for your old hometown, I recall a time when SD meant not much more than Mission bay & sea world, & the zoo & the surrounding park. DTSD was either dead or mostly lifeless. american cities in general were going through a long slump around that time.

It wasn't that long ago when LA wasn't much better too, when those "fantastic places" you describe were in their own slump: hollywood before its new devlpt, pasadena before old town, samo before the 3rd st promenade. dtla was in even sadder shape at that time. that was before & after the riots of 1992.

coming back to the present, things are in another kind of slump. the fact this thread often ends up being about things not necessarily specific to DT, like transit routes throughout LA or general principles of good or bad urban planning----since there is no, or very little, actual new devlpt or projs in dtla for us to speak about---is a sad sign of that.

so what's going on with the new museum next to Disney hall?! any word on that federal courthouse that was supposed to be built on top of the huge hole at 1st & broadway?!! can the owners of the brockman bldg finally sort out legal matters so its condos are ready for tenants?!

the parkfifth tower, anyone?!

[JDRCRASH]

double post-please delete

[JDRCRASH]

Interesting...Roberson Partners (developer of City House & The Olympic) has made some changes to their website...including new projects i've never heard before...

http://www.robertsonpartners.net/ResComMixUse.htm

Originally Posted by citywatch

so what's going on with the new museum next to Disney hall?!

Mr. Eli said he would break ground before the end of the year, but I have a feeling it won't happen for MONTHS.

any word on that federal courthouse that was supposed to be built on top of the huge hole at 1st & broadway?!!

The feds were supposed to provide funds to build it, but they haven't. And with the recent shift in the political world in Washington, that probably won't change anytime soon. I remember hearing that the project might undergo some revisions.

the parkfifth tower, anyone?!

Last I heard the developer was still searching for financing because that Dubai-based company backed out.

[RuFFy]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

Broadway should turn into Broadway. Not turn into another Gaslamp.

It's funny that this post doesn't say very much, but at the same time I know exactly what it means... And I agree 100 percent. I'd like to see the historic theaters return to use. Some off Broadway productions, maybe some ethnic shows, and movies. I'd like for the top floors to become mixed use office/living space. I'd also, and this might sound corny, like to see the the old department stores become department stores again. Some of the hotels revitalized would be great too so there could be that gritty, hostel/chic hotel experience. Maybe I'm way off of what it'll actually become, but I picture the future of Broadway looking like that. ((Crossing fingers for a Bloomys))

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by citywatch

the parkfifth tower, anyone?!

Park Fifth is sadly dead. The land it was going on has been put up for sale. Total bummer, but it will never go up. Luckily, we have Wilshire Grand to make up for it!

[OneMetropolis]

The fact that dtla is becoming an epicenter for entertainment is good. I also agree dt San Diego also has plenty of flaws itself that everyone just seems to overlook because they're always hidden from the big tourist areas.