LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[Just-In-Cali]

Even something as simple and inexpensive as the fabric awning things over at the Police Dept parking structure would be a vast improvement over this blocky white box that is there now.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by DominicanLou

In any event, I'm amazed at how fast development is down here - at least with new businesses. And the night life is great. I really feel like I live in a neighborhood, a community. I mean, what place do you know where the owner of the convenience store tells you he loves you? (I'm talking about that place across from Pete's, by the way)

Originally Posted by LA/OCman

I agree with Dominican Lou. I have lived in OC, Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego...and never have I felt like I was a part of a real community until I moved Downtown.It looks like the south end of Broadway is finally taking off.

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

I third that. Ever since I left DC for LA I've had the nagging feeling that I gave up a city with an awesome sense of community for the "cool" city that's completely devoid of it. Since I moved Downtown I feel much better.

Example: I left work late last night-nearly 1am. Wilshire in Ktown felt desolate as I waited for the bus. 15 min later, I'm at 6th and Spring, which is still bustling at 1:00 AM...on a Wednesday no less. People are still sitting outside the bars and outside LA Cafe, and that market next to Dtown Burger Bar was still open. Amazing.

Thanks for giving us a sense of the hood. for some reason I thought districtdirt was a native, didn't know la/ocman was now living in dt, & don't recall dominicanlou posting here before.

folks like you didn't have much of a choice not long ago. iow, it was mainly picking & choosing from a variety of burban type hoods, & that was about it. It's ridiculous that unlike almost any major city in the world, LA-socal has long lacked a traditional urban type of hood for ppl to live & work in. So change for the better is way overdue. That's why the transformation of the hood is more interesting than it would have been if many ppl throughout LA had never ignored or written if off in the first place.

[Just-In-Cali]

Here are a couple of pics I found from the meeting that took place on the Wilshire Grand project. The model really shows the soaring height of the towers and how much they will impact the skyline. Its more accurate of the height of the towers than the previously seen models. One weird part, it looks like the helipad on the roof is perched on some kind of narrow pylon that overhangs the side of the tower. Different.

[Illithid Dude]

Whoa, those towers are amazing! Very, quite exciting.

[JRinSoCal]

Wow, I'm loving those towers, the tall one specially is very sexy. I really hope they get built.

[bmfarley]

Huge. If I were reviewing this, I would suggest an underground passsageway across Figueroa and along 7th Street to connect with the subway station there.

That is huge. I'd also be interested in knowing the height, or relative top elevation compared to the One US Bank Tower. This would certainly be a game changer for the downtown skyline.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by bmfarley

Huge. If I were reviewing this, I would suggest an underground passsageway across Figueroa and along 7th Street to connect with the subway station there.

That is huge. I'd also be interested in knowing the height, or relative top elevation compared to the One US Bank Tower. This would certainly be a game changer for the downtown skyline.

The taller one is a whopping 1250 feet tall, while the shorter one is 750 feet tall.

[colemonkee]

3025 Figueroa from earlier today. All I had on me was my cell phone, so excuse the image quality.



Oh, and there are a bunch of pretty heavy duty steel piles on site at ICON plaza. That one should be officially under way any day now.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

The taller one is a whopping 1250 feet tall, while the shorter one is 750 feet tall.

How much parking would be included? 5,000 spots for an 80 story building? 10,000?

Bottom line: change the parking requirements, then we'll see these developments. It's just not feasible for developers to build something nice and dense with high parking minimums. It's not the developers fault, the City needs to change parking requirements on a district by district basis.

Moral of the story, it won't happen until parking minimums are adjusted appropriately.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

How much parking would be included? 5,000 spots for an 80 story building? 10,000?

Bottom line: change the parking requirements, then we'll see these developments. It's just not feasible for developers to build something nice and dense with high parking minimums. It's not the developers fault, the City needs to change parking requirements on a district by district basis.

Moral of the story, it won't happen until parking minimums are adjusted appropriately.

Have you written to Jan Perry before about this?

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Oh, and there are a bunch of pretty heavy duty steel piles on site at ICON plaza. That one should be officially under way any day now.

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is the ICON Plaza?

[colemonkee]

^ It's the 6-story project going up on the corner of Figueroa and Exposition, across the street from USC. It was previously a Chevron station.


(Image Source: Curbed LA & Clark & Hedrick)

[JDRCRASH]

I'll move ICON Plaza to the Under Construction section.

[Just-In-Cali]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

How much parking would be included? 5,000 spots for an 80 story building? 10,000?

Bottom line: change the parking requirements, then we'll see these developments. It's just not feasible for developers to build something nice and dense with high parking minimums. It's not the developers fault, the City needs to change parking requirements on a district by district basis.

Moral of the story, it won't happen until parking minimums are adjusted appropriately.

Project Address: 930 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90017
Project Description: The Wilshire Grand Redevelopment Project includes development on a 3.2-acre site located in
the Central City (Downtown) area of the City of Los Angeles. The Project includes demolition of the existing
Wilshire Grand Hotel and Centre, and the development of a maximum of 560 hotel rooms and/or condo-hotel units,
100 residential units, 1,500,000 square feet of office, 275,000 square feet of amenity areas including, but not limited
to, project-serving retail and restaurant uses, conference and meeting rooms, ballrooms, spa, fitness center, and
ancillary other hotel, residential, and office areas. The Project includes a landscaped pedestrian plaza at the corner of
Figueroa Street and 7th Street, as well as a rooftop helistop. Approximately 1,900 parking spaces will be provided in
eight levels of subterranean parking. The Project includes one approximately 65-story structure, no more than 1,250
feet in height, one approximately 45-story structure, no more than 750 feet in height, and an approximately six-story
podium structure, no more than 168 feet in height.

Actually 1,900 total spaces being built into an 8 level underground parking structure...is like ANY large mixed used office/hotel complex in ANY city. So all the dramatization, not sure the purpose. Unless you wanna stay at a hotel where parking is a block away, uncovered.

[tommaso]

Does anyone know whether Union Station will get additional food/retail options apart from the Wetzel's Pretzels and Famima? I noticed a commercial leasing ad, but that space was for a formal sit-down restaurant establishment available in the station. Thank you.

[202_Cyclist]

Speaking of Union Station, what is the significance of the joint MTA/CA High Speed Rail Authority plans to purchase Union Station? I attended a presentation at the recent Transportation Research Board meeting and an executive from JR East, a Japanese high speed rail operator, gave a presentation. Approximately one-third of the company's revenue comes from real estate development, including a significant portfolio of properties around the station. Rod Diridon also gave a presentation but I didn't get a chance to ask him about this (I asked about Jerry Brown's proposal to take money from the various local development authorities and use it for deficit reduction).

[tommaso]

Also, I recognize that this isn't the city discussion forum and you can move this question there. I would like an informed opinion on what the benefits of living in downtown L.A. over Hollywood are. The primary focus here and my criteria for this question are pedestrian experience, urban activity, liveliness, diversity of activities and opportunities for spontaneity.

Personally, I have enjoyed my downtown experiences, although they are too spread out for my liking. Although there have been some bright points, I have never felt a lasting deeper level of comfort and connection when spending time in DT Santa Monica, Venice, DT Beverly Hills and even DT Hollywood. Certainly, I feel that I have run out of options for places to be myself and experience life in a city setting. And, almost by default, I only really feel somewhat comfortable in downtown L.A. As a result, I sincerely hope that big money makes its way downtown as quickly as possible. I have to feel like I can yell, shout and scream at the top of my lungs when I am elated, disappointed and the entire range of human emotions in between. Despite all of my efforts to adapt and acculturate, I have never been consistently or thoroughly comfortable being fully open or myself in most of Los Angeles.

Clearly, I find that my everyday human experience is inextricably linked and married to the street scape, the personality of the buildings and the interaction between the human beings who live, eat, work and breathe the air of these city streets and our feelings, emotions, hopes, dreams, aspirations and lives. We are one and the same. The buildings and the people, we are equal parts to the marriage of humans and the buildings we eat, live, work and play in. Of course, I understand that there is too much wealth concentrated on the west side for downtown L.A. to develop as quickly as I need it to. However, the west side is already well developed and I believe now is downtown's opportunity to receive its share of care, wealth, opportunity and development. We must restore our soul as a city and give Angelenos an opportunity to dream and to wake up in the morning and have that burning fire in our belly, and to always be wanting to discover more and strive to quench that insatiable thirst.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Besides Downtown LA, Downtown Pasadena is the only place that is getting truly more mature as a mini-city center in the region (not to say SM, BH, Hollywood aren't either, but Pasadena seems a bit further along). Downtown Pasadena has most of everything you could want on a daily basis: culture (pasadena symphony, norton simon, pacific asia museum, boston court, etc.), shopping (old pasadena, south lake, paseo colorado), entertainment (bars/lounges, ice house comedy), educational stimulation (caltech, pcc, culinary arts, art center), etc.

But even in Downtown Pasadena's case, it's not dense enough yet. It's getting there, but still needs about double the amount of development to reach a level of maturity that really is conducive to walking.

But it's not surprising to me that Pasadena is so far ahead given that it is the SECOND oldest incorporated city after Los Angeles, it grew up right along side LA.

Nevertheless, Downtown LA has the potential to really become the CROWN JEWEL of Southern California. It just needs A LOT MORE development to fill in all those parking lots (deadzones) and not have everything so spread out. I mean, DTLA cannot be a more perfect microcosm of the rest of LA.

You are in the right place, and I think that as Target opens and more retail options are coming, DTLA will stat to feel more and more normal and have the kind of energy that makes a city feel exciting to live in.

[tommaso]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

Besides Downtown LA, Downtown Pasadena is the only place that is getting truly more mature as a mini-city center in the region (not to say SM, BH, Hollywood aren't either, but Pasadena seems a bit further along). Downtown Pasadena has most of everything you could want on a daily basis: culture (pasadena symphony, norton simon, pacific asia museum, boston court, etc.), shopping (old pasadena, south lake, paseo colorado), entertainment (bars/lounges, ice house comedy), educational stimulation (caltech, pcc, culinary arts, art center), etc.

But even in Downtown Pasadena's case, it's not dense enough yet. It's getting there, but still needs about double the amount of development to reach a level of maturity that really is conducive to walking.

But it's not surprising to me that Pasadena is so far ahead given that it is the SECOND oldest incorporated city after Los Angeles, it grew up right along side LA.

Nevertheless, Downtown LA has the potential to really become the CROWN JEWEL of Southern California. It just needs A LOT MORE development to fill in all those parking lots (deadzones) and not have everything so spread out. I mean, DTLA cannot be a more perfect microcosm of the rest of LA.

You are in the right place, and I think that as Target opens and more retail options are coming, DTLA will stat to feel more and more normal and have the kind of energy that makes a city feel exciting to live in.

Thank you kindly for your positive input! I do believe that the change that we believe in is materializing and with the economy improving over the next 12 t0 24 months, we will continue to see the downtown residential and commercial retail elements grow. Where we are in DT is where we should be considering that the vast majority of prime retail is concentrated on the westside.

I still don't know how downtown is going to create an environment where a Bloomingdales and a Barneys can thrive financially. I don't like to be forced to be in Beverly Hills to go someplace nice. That to me is just annoying. Not everyone wants to go to Beverly Hills to visit some prime retail and restaurants. If Beverly Hills is Madison Ave on the Upper East Side, then I believe downtown L.A. should become the 5th Ave. and 34th Street of Manhattan. We need urban shopping options! It's really imperative. No more ridiculous games for L.A.

There is way to much legal, finance and government money downtown that we can't afford to spoil that opportunity. For God sakes, Fashion Institute is there, the Jewelery District, the Fashion district, Old Bank, Financial District/Bunker Hill. I mean, I've only named a couple of names and we can go on and on! How about even a Nordstrom there in downtown! I'm not asking for much. But, the Macy's that we do have is set up all wrong and anyone can and will tell you that. Macy's SF Union Square, Macy's Marshall Fields DT Chicago, Macy's 34th Street, the list goes on and on.

We have to have a very good large retail establishment in DTLA point blank period full stop. No more excuses and dillydallying. That is already understood. I can't rally around false hopes, false dreams and so on so forth. This has got to materialize very soon. I suggest that should happen by 1st quarter 2012. I don't need to go to the Beach (Santa Monica) or the overly sanitized and fake Beverly Hills to go shopping. And, let's be clear and frank here. I have given up on the Beverly Center. I don't like the setup.

The Westside Pavilion is more physically attractive from an architectural standpoint, visually, the exterior facade and especially the interior, the layout and the overall quality of the design aesthetic.

I understand that there are developers out there who want to build a spanking new urban shopping mall in Los Angeles. My advice to them. Don't build it in Korea Town or any other section of L.A. We have built nice malls everywhere except for DTLA. Hollywood/Highland, Santa Monica, the list goes on and on and on. No more time to focus on everybody else's neighborhood. Enough of that.

Now built it in downtown L.A. S.F. Westfield Market and Powell, Chicago Watertower Place, Block 37, NY Shops at Columbus Circle, Mall of Manhattan. We have all the examples we need if we want to draw from stateside. Europe's another place if you want some concrete examples. Let's get this thing done. Pick a parking lot and build what you want on it.

I'm not billionaire guy, so I need them to get the job done. And ultimately, yeah, that football stadium is interesting, but I want this downtown real deal prime retail to get underway before anything else gets done. Fact of the matter is, I need a comfortable place to relax in the neighborhood and a real deal blockbuster quality and even luxury mall is the answer. Thank you

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

3025 Figueroa from earlier today. All I had on me was my cell phone, so excuse the image quality.

If you hadn't said anything, I'd never have known your pic was from a cell phone. the image looks quite good to me! I only know where the location is cuz I can see a bit of the shrine auditorium in the background.

the USC area has come along nicely over the past several yrs. It's now hard to believe that some very key parts of the hood, right across from the campus, were nothing but gaps & deadzones not long ago. Before projs like the university gateway, galen ctr & even the large multil level parking structure around Expo blvd were built. It will seem even more complete with the former site of the gas station now being replaced with the new apt bldg.