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

[Quixote]

West LA continues to densify!

Killefer Flammang's West LA Project Nearly Wrapped Up



By Neal Broverman
March 23, 2011

WEST LA: The Killefer Flammang-designed mixed-use apartment complex, sometimes referred to as Santa Monica Plaza, is big and bright and about wrapped up. A representative from Wiseman Properties says the project will be done by end of May, with prices available in April. There will be 63 apartments in there, two grounds of underground parking, and room for some retail on the Santa Monica Boulevard-facing ground floor. Frustratingly, there is no movement yet on the Vons makeover across the street. [Curbed Staff]


Santa Monica Blvd.


Federal Ave.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/03/santa_monica_blvd_project.php#more

[pesto]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I kinda miss the Pompidou Center-wannabe escalators. The way they zig-zagged and were lit in neon at night, they were the only visually interesting thing about the Beverly Center's exterior.

True. They were the only good thing about the exterior until they built a couple of restaurants into the walls. Maybe some digital news or art?

The rework of Beverly Center is hopeless. If Caruso (or imitator) were to build another Grove across the street it would kill it. Fortunately for Beverly Center there isn't much room for putting in competition in the area and across La Cienega is, if anything, worse.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

I would love to see Beverly Center turn into this:


archpaper.com

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

are you kidding? the neighbors in that area would all die before anything like that gets built there.

i would love it personally though.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

are you kidding? the neighbors in that area would all die before anything like that gets built there.

i would love it personally though.

Why are these Angelenos SO OPPOSED to light? I don't get it.

LED, like any other design element, can be executed poorly or tastefully. I don't subscribe to the idea that LED (or bright signage) is inherently "bad." I personally think it can be done well and can be an exciting and dynamic design element that can spawn economic development and human activity.

If the Beverly Center was strategically "wrapped" in LED signs, it could be an attractive force that draws more people to the area and give that area of LA an infusion of energy.

I am not married with this idea, however. If we can find another way for Taubman to improve the exterior of Beverly Center, I am all for it.


Virtualtourist.com

BTW, I also agree that the original staircase on the exterior of the building was one of the more interesting features and could have been spruced up without having to get rid of it entirely.

[Chef Boyardee]

The latest i could find on blvd 6200 in hollywood.

http://www.gemmimms.com/realestatenews/very-near-future-for-blvd6200-clarett-speaketh-well-sort-of/

[Chef Boyardee]

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

I would love to see Beverly Center turn into this:


archpaper.com

Not a mall, but the new LAX CUP building will look somewhat similar.

[RST500]

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

I would love to see Beverly Center turn into this:


archpaper.com

Wow. Its as if you guys could read my mind! I always envioned the Beverly Center becoming the "Time Square" of LA covered in electronic billboards and the surrounding minimalls tunred into highrises and a subway state.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

I would love to see Beverly Center turn into this:


archpaper.com

you nailed it. that might be the only thing that can save that grotesque monstrosity.

[JDRCRASH]

Look... restrict billboards to Hollywood Blvd (between La Brea and Gower), and in South Park (in an area bounded by 9th, Flower, Venice, and Cherry). These billboard districts actually already exist, but encompass a larger area; they just need to be smaller. Then tax the billboard districts, and use the funds for arts programs and other community projects, like what's done in Toronto. Then ban the billboards everywhere else and fine the billboard companies after a certain amount of time when the ban is enacted, for each billboard they fail to take down that is outside the signage districts. In turn, well over 90% of the city would be ad-free.

There's no excuse why this can't be done without lawsuits. It has already been achieved in so many cities it's ridiculous that people like Dennis Hathaway think that the issue can be resolved with an outright ban of billboards.

[DJM19]

I agree we need bilboard districts. Hollywood and Downtown are good, maybe one or two others in others parts of the city (maybe). But it has gotten ridiculous and inappropriate in some areas. Every building with some space on the roof seems to have a billboard coming out of it. Thousands of these things need to be removed.

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by RST500

Wow. Its as if you guys could read my mind! I always envioned the Beverly Center becoming the "Time Square" of LA covered in electronic billboards and the surrounding minimalls tunred into highrises and a subway state.

Pretty much. That area has so much potential to develop into a major urban crossroads like Shibuya or Piccadilly Circus because there is so much activity going on in and around the intersection (Beverly Center, Cedars-Sinai, Restaurant Row, Robertson and 3rd Street retail districts, SLS and Sofitel hotels, etc.). Some LED lighting and billboards would put it over-the-top. It would form a triangle with 7th/Figueroa and Hollywood/Highland as the city's three main epicenters.

[edluva]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Pretty much. That area has so much potential to develop into a major urban crossroads like Shibuya or Piccadilly Circus because there is so much activity going on in and around the intersection (Beverly Center, Cedars-Sinai, Restaurant Row, Robertson and 3rd Street retail districts, SLS and Sofitel hotels, etc.). Some LED lighting and billboards would put it over-the-top. It would form a triangle with 7th/Figueroa and Hollywood/Highland as the city's three main epicenters.

i agree. the westside is already where la's wealth concentrates. who cares about downtown? it's just a friggin cbd. dtla will never attain the status of city de-facto city center. ever. there, i said it.

let's get real trains to come to the mid-city/westside. if we had a subway line stop at bev center and melrose, and zoning laws changed, that would awaken the development gods like we've never seen. la could become bad-ass.

but that won't happen in my productive lifetime.

beverly hills is retarded. la has a lame upscale district. have you seen omotesando hills? if you want to see new walkable upscale neighborhoods that is what we could be emulating.

killefer flammang's apts are ugly as hell btw. what a waste of perfectly good money and perfectly good vacant land. la has no taste.

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by edluva

i agree. the westside is already where la's wealth concentrates. who cares about downtown? it's just a friggin cbd. dtla will never attain the status of city de-facto city center. ever. there, i said it.

Thanks for the lolz.

[pesto]

Nice to get some thought going around this again.

Beverly Center: Electric green is very nice but even better, open it up to the street AND electric green. It's doing well, but opened but and with bold decor it could be world famous.

High-rise is off the table due to local opposition. There isn't much over about 10 stories away from Wilshire. But 5-15 should be everywhere.

Traffic is legitimately bad and every new development at Beverly Center or Farmer's Mkt. creates a battle so nothing makes much sense without Pink Line. Around Fairfax we may have to live with shuttle buses from the Purple (Wilshire) and from Red or Pink.

[JDRCRASH]

Soooo..... does this belong in the downtown thread, or the metro thread...?:

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/04/ixnay_on_wyvernwood_says_boyle_heights_city_councilman.php

[pesto]

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

Soooo..... does this belong in the downtown thread, or the metro thread...?:

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/04/ixnay_on_wyvernwood_says_boyle_heights_city_councilman.php

I lived in Wyvernwood. It was low-grade post-war housing at that time and now is simply a slum. Anything to get rid of it would be desirable. It is stunning that Huizar, or any one, would think that leaving it as is rather than upgrading it into decent housing with sufficient parking and modern amenities is a good idea.

This is not eminent domain; it is a single property. As such it is relatvely unusual in an urban area. It can be developed without acquring properties and would be a boost to the entire area (including the old Sears building, which is prime for redevelopment).

Is this "slum preservation"? Park La Brea is analogous and no one complains when it is expanded or redeveloped into higher rise or more modern construction.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by pesto

Park La Brea is analogous..

Somewhat, but not really since Park La Brea isn't a slum.

[SD_Phil]

^Right on. I'm a huge fan of PLB. Never lived there myself but have known people that have. Seems like something the city needs more of frankly (dense affordable housing for middle income people).

[Illithid Dude]

Just throwing this out there, and I have no idea what the current situation of that place looks like, but on account of clearing slums, just remember that at one point Bunker Hill was considered a slum. We all know how that turned out.