LOS ANGELES | METRO Project Rundown 2.0 (non-downtown) - Page 79

Illithid Dude · #**1561** Posted **Mar 8, 2011, 6:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pesto

As usual, I'm confused.

illithid: I don't understand your post. Westfield was planning a high-rise at SM and A of the Stars, with Bloomingdales moving to it, a subway station in it and retail of some sort along SM and A of the Stars. Is this still happening even if the station moves to Constellation and CP West (or near there)? Good news if it's true.

Caruso: is that a road (Burton or La Cienega) or a parking lot or both? I would guess that this sort of mid-rise development is going to proliferate on the west-side but not with surface parking lots. That's got to be banned.

I'm just saying that the retail won't be cancelled out if the subway stop moved in. It would be intagrated.

RST500 · #**1562** Posted **Mar 8, 2011, 8:11 PM**

I am dissapointed with the Caruso project. I always envisioned a highrise for that spot. Maybe I am confusing it with another location but ins't it a parking structure. I always wanted to see several highrises around the Beverly Center.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**1563** Posted **Mar 9, 2011, 10:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RST500

I am dissapointed with the Caruso project. I always envisioned a highrise for that spot. Maybe I am confusing it with another location but ins't it a parking structure. I always wanted to see several highrises around the Beverly Center.

An 8-story mixed use development at that busy intersection is perfect. The fact that it'll also have a Trader Joes means that it'll be busy as well with many pedestrians from the neighboring areas that will be walking there.

Haven't you ever heard of the TJPP effect? Trader Joes Pedestrian Phenomenon

I wrote about it here:

http://brighamyen.com/2010/10/25/the-trader-joes-pedestrian-phenomenon/

colemonkee · #**1564** Posted **Mar 9, 2011, 11:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RST500

I am dissapointed with the Caruso project. I always envisioned a highrise for that spot. Maybe I am confusing it with another location but ins't it a parking structure. I always wanted to see several highrises around the Beverly Center.

It's at 8500 Burton Way, which was the former home of Beverly Hills Mercedes Used Car lot, then briefly as an overflow lot for Beverly Hills BMW. It's a triangular lot that's mostly surface parking at the moment, and immediately adjacent to and north of the SLS Hotel. The side you're looking at in the render is the Burton/San Vicente street-frontage, with the thin corner of the building facing La Cienega. The render doesn't accurately represent the area. In this view, Morton's Steakhouse (which is attached to the SLS Hotel) would be right behind the building, and visible on the left side of the rendering.

colemonkee · #**1565** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 12:27 AM**

And in other news, the densification of Hollywood gets one small step closer. From Curbed LA.

Image Source: Curbed LA

No on Hollywood Surburbia? 1601 North Vine Deal Approved

The saga of the 1601 North Vine project, which involved a $1 million payout to Molly's Burger (her burger shack sits on the land), and questionable actions by the Community Redevelopment Agency (moves which gave ammunition to the CRA-bashers), appears to be over following the City Council's approval of the sale of the CRA-owned property in Hollywood. In anticipation of today's vote, the Wall Street Journal rehashes some of the drama surrounding the deal. And more about what's planned via the Wall Street Journal:

"Under the terms of the transaction, a majority of the space would be reserved for businesses tied to the entertainment industry, something that is needed, given the new housing in the area, according to the developer.

Read the rest of the article here.

Illithid Dude · #**1566** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 12:38 AM**

Ever since I saw that render, I liked that building. There is something nice about having a good, clean stucco-less infill project. Also, I happen to like buildings that are glass with very little extraneous design, like this building. So, I suppose that makes it a win-win.

LAsam · #**1567** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 12:55 AM**

Good stuff. Hopefully we can get some shovels in the ground before too long!

colemonkee · #**1568** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 1:28 AM**

The project still needs entitlements and financing, so it's a long way off from shovels in the dirt. But the approval of the sale is a good first step.

Quixote · #**1569** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 1:41 AM**

I've always liked the design of 1601 North Vine. It's very DC-ish.

DistrictDirt · #**1570** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 5:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

I've always liked the design of 1601 North Vine. It's very DC-ish.

You beat me to it.

It seriously would fit right in on K Street.

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**1571** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 7:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

The project still needs entitlements and financing, so it's a long way off from shovels in the dirt. But the approval of the sale is a good first step.

they are hoping to break ground in the fall, which seems optimistic to me.

Any news on BLVD 6200? is it still awaiting a decision on that neighbor that wants to sue?

LosAngelesBeauty · #**1572** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 8:28 AM**

I love 1601 N Vine! I know it'll add TREMENDOUS value to the neighborhood in Hollywood as Vine has surprisingly become one of the most active north-south pedestrian corridors in LA! I remember before the W Hotel was built, and the Sunset+Vine mixed use building was just finished around early 2000, hardly anyone walked up and down Vine. It was pretty sad. Now, I was just there last week, during the day, and it was THRIVING. There were as many people walking up and down Vine as there were people on Hollywood Blvd itself. Having 1601 N Vine completed will only add MORE energy to Vine as it continues to densify.

If we can make Sunset Blvd into a more pedestrian-oriented street (more like Hollywood Blvd with contiguous retail and dining), Hollywood would be one of the most 3-dimensional/pedestrian grid districts in LA.

Of course we would also need Highland Ave to fill in between Hollywood Blvd and Sunset to make that vision happen...

Illithid Dude · #**1573** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 4:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

they are hoping to break ground in the fall, which seems optimistic to me.

Any news on BLVD 6200? is it still awaiting a decision on that neighbor that wants to sue?

They are? Really? That's great. Do you have a source?

Steve2726 · #**1574** Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 6:14 PM**

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/11/ho..._project_may_be_breaking_ground_soon.php

pesto · #**1575** Posted **Mar 12, 2011, 6:04 PM**

Every property has a story:

BLVD 6200: Mrs. Allen
W: burger stand
Americana: Patel
1601 Vine: burger stand
Emerson: recording studio

The W and Americana paid their "ransom" and I guess the others will have to also.

jamesinclair · #**1576** Posted **Mar 14, 2011, 5:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

An 8-story mixed use development at that busy intersection is perfect. The fact that it'll also have a Trader Joes means that it'll be busy as well with many pedestrians from the neighboring areas that will be walking there.

Haven't you ever heard of the TJPP effect? Trader Joes Pedestrian Phenomenon

]

Um, no way any effect will happen, have you seen the "intersection".

The city needs to reorganize that fail NOW. It looks like a bad joke. When people say LA is obsessed with cars, it's because there are more lanes in this one intersection that entire highways in some countries.

It becomes much harder to realign streets when buildings come in with garage entrances and such.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s...-118.37724&spn=0.00212,0.006309&t=k&z=18

LosAngelesBeauty · #**1577** Posted **Mar 14, 2011, 6:49 AM**

It seems fine coming from the back side of 8500 Burton Way. It may be harder to cross La Cienega, but there are thousands of residents that live just west of 8500 Burton Way as you can see from even the Google Image you have there. Those are exactly the residents that would likely walk to Trader Joes.

colemonkee · #**1578** Posted **Mar 15, 2011, 2:04 AM**

More recent news on Blvd. 6200, from Curbed LA. Not the best news, but it doesn't necessarily spell the end for this project.

Image source: Curbed LA

Clarett Group Shutters NYC Headquarters, What's Happening in LA?

Raising questions about the future of Clarett Group's Blvd 6200 project, a fully entitled apartment development in Hollywood, last week the developer shut down its New York headquarters, according to the Real Deal. The closure follows the departure of its founder, staff layoffs, and an “inability to line up financing for new projects," according to the publication.

But details are vague on the company's West Coast plans: “Clarett's other two offices, in Washington and Los Angeles, where the company has projects in the works, will stay open but rename themselves, according to sources, though calls for comments to both of them were unsuccessful," reports the Real Deal.

Read the rest of the article - and the ubiquitous snarky comments - here.

pesto · #**1579** Posted **Mar 15, 2011, 4:57 PM**

This whole area is "midtown" in the sense of density, commercial activity and no freeways. One of the few areas outside DT where there is a real grid of medium-rise buildings and destinations (Farmer's Mkt/the Grove, Melrose, Beverly Center, Cedars, LACMA, Park La Brea, La Cienega, the whole design district). The opening of the Red Building will not help.

San Vicente is the main issue, since it is a bit of an expressway slanting from Pico in mid-town to Santa Monica in WeHo. That particular intersection really cries out for work. I don't know if there is a short-term solution.

The longer term solution is to take at least San Vicente (preferably the whole intersection) underground and to build the Pink Line (Hollywood to BH). Like I said, long-term.

colemonkee · #**1580** Posted **Mar 15, 2011, 10:47 PM**

While the intersection of La Cienega, Burton, and San Vicente certainly has its challenges, it's not uncommon to see pedestrians use it, though fairly precariously at the moment. If a Trader Joe's opens up right there, I would expect that pedestrian traffic to increase, which might force changes in the signal timing that would benefit or at the very least protect pedestrians a bit more. While the sheer geography of the intersection probably won't change, it could be made more amenable to pedestrians without completely re-imagining it. Which could further increase pedestrian activity in that area, and hopefully spill south into Restaurant Row.