LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0 - Page 34

LosAngelesBeauty · #**661** Posted **Mar 29, 2011, 10:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allnatural85

this was posted on abc7.com these is an article about the project and also gives a date of the hotel being done in 2015 and the bigger tower in 2017... worth a read =)

That's great news! BIG

Illithid Dude · #**662** Posted **Mar 29, 2011, 10:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allnatural85

this was posted on abc7.com these is an article about the project and also gives a date of the hotel being done in 2015 and the bigger tower in 2017... worth a read =)

That's great news! This is the first real confirmation that the office tower isn't dead. Hopefully, if need be, the office tower completion date can be pushed up if, in the next six years, demand increases (as I suspect it will).

JDRCRASH · #**663** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 2:12 AM**

All right!

Time to move Wilshire Grand under the "Approved" category!

Illithid Dude · #**664** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 4:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

All right!

Time to move Wilshire Grand under the "Approved" category!

Damn straight. Damn straight. In more detail, today City Council gave the final approval to Wilshire Grand. Construction is supposed to start at the end of the year. Demolition of the current structure will last for one year. Almost all of the funding for Phase 1 is already acquired, with only about fifty million still needed. Lastly, they are saying there are going to be phases, with the hotel tower being Phase 1. This makes me happy and more comfortable, knowing that they are saying that the second tower is going to be built. Normally, Phase 2 happens.

bobcat · #**665** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 4:43 AM**

I'm bummed there won't be an observation deck atop the office tower, but it is encouraging to see that even in this economy there are still developers beside AEG who can think big.

Allnatural85 · #**666** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 5:41 AM**

haha this is my fav line

"It's a part of urban living. If you don't like that kind of exciting lighting, like Times Square in New York, you should be perhaps in the suburbs," said Behdad.

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**667** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 6:16 AM**

everyone email them regarding the observation deck. its seriously an opportunity lost.

LAMetroGuy · #**668** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 5:08 PM**

Good news about Wilshire Grand! Saw that video on abc.com of that woman who thought that the towers didn't fit in downtown, she seems pretty clueless!

dktshb · #**669** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 7:10 PM**

Great news for the wilshire grand project but the hotel isn't even scheduled to be demolished until January 2012 at the earliest...

Just-In-Cali · #**670** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 8:17 PM**

That doesnt surprise me. The hotel is still operating and still has events booked, but after that, they still are going to remove all the new fittings and decor from their recently finished renovation, store or auction it off, determine how they will dismantle and dispose of the structure, and also handle the employees that have been basically guarenteed re-employment at the new hotel. So the timeline isnt too far fetched. They werent even going to start planning for any of this until they got the high sign. Illithid Dude is right, most of the financing is already in place and ready to go. With the economy the way it is, thats actually quite tremendous. Lets not forget, even if the office tower is delayed, the hotel will still be a 750' tall tower, tied for third tallest in the city.
Thats pretty damned big for us being in a recession! So I will triple the cheer!

Just-In-Cali · #**671** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 8:33 PM**

And a side note, on the wilshire grand website...
http://wilshiregrandredevelopment.com/
...they have added a video (in the gallery section under videos) that gives and idea of how the lighting scheme will play out. Its basically the same pic we've all seen, but shown with the slowly changing lighting pattern. Rather interesting, and not as bright and over the top as one might expect in this forumers opinion.

Illithid Dude · #**672** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 9:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dktshb

Great news for the wilshire grand project but the hotel isn't even scheduled to be demolished until January 2012 at the earliest...

That is completely wrong. In every article I have read, they have said that they plan to demolish the hotel Winter 2011. Where did you here otherwise?

ElDuderino · #**673** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 11:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just-In-Cali

And a side note, on the wilshire grand website...
http://wilshiregrandredevelopment.com/
...they have added a video (in the gallery section under videos) that gives and idea of how the lighting scheme will play out. Its basically the same pic we've all seen, but shown with the slowly changing lighting pattern. Rather interesting, and not as bright and over the top as one might expect in this forumers opinion.

That's pretty cool. I think its better that it's not over the top, and I have a feeling that in reality the color and picture changes will be even slower.

Chef Boyardee · #**674** Posted **Mar 30, 2011, 11:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just-In-Cali

That doesnt surprise me. The hotel is still operating and still has events booked, but after that, they still are going to remove all the new fittings and decor from their recently finished renovation, store or auction it off, determine how they will dismantle and dispose of the structure, and also handle the employees that have been basically guarenteed re-employment at the new hotel. So the timeline isnt too far fetched. They werent even going to start planning for any of this until they got the high sign. Illithid Dude is right, most of the financing is already in place and ready to go. With the economy the way it is, thats actually quite tremendous. Lets not forget, even if the office tower is delayed, the hotel will still be a 750' tall tower, tied for third tallest in the city.
Thats pretty damned big for us being in a recession! So I will triple the cheer!

Interesting that only a 45 storey building will reach that height. There are 54 and 55 storey towers in downtown that are less than 750 FT.

djlx2v2 · #**675** Posted **Mar 31, 2011, 5:43 AM**

.

Just-In-Cali · #**676** Posted **Mar 31, 2011, 5:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef Boyardee

Interesting that only a 45 storey building will reach that height. There are 54 and 55 storey towers in downtown that are less than 750 FT.

Yeah, we discussed that previously. Basically according to the diagrams posted here and in the wilshire grand thread under supertall proposals, the hotel will sit on a 168'' tall podium that will contain ballrooms, meeting spaces, and retail and entertainment venues. Thats about 10 stories worth of height right there. So it somewhat rounds out, as well as having a fairly prominant crown/parapet. So it may round out to a fairly tall 750'. Wouldnt that also put it in the catagory of the tallest hotel on the west coast? Nothing in Vegas is taller, and no taller hotels are present in any other major city west of Chicago. That would be a kinda cool label to add to the project.

djlx2v2 · #**677** Posted **Mar 31, 2011, 6:53 AM**

.

pesto · #**678** Posted **Mar 31, 2011, 6:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

That is completely wrong. In every article I have read, they have said that they plan to demolish the hotel Winter 2011. Where did you here otherwise?

Isn't January, 2012 and winter of 2011 the same thing?

If the hotel is closed in, say, October and demo starts in December, 2011, then demo will be done by December, 2012. This gives it 25-36 months to build and fit-out to open in 2015.

I understand things may change, but is this what we're basically talking about?

Illithid Dude · #**679** Posted **Mar 31, 2011, 9:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pesto

Isn't January, 2012 and winter of 2011 the same thing?

If the hotel is closed in, say, October and demo starts in December, 2011, then demo will be done by December, 2012. This gives it 25-36 months to build and fit-out to open in 2015.

I understand things may change, but is this what we're basically talking about?

I was just pointing out that his information was wrong, and that the hotel would be starting demolition at an earlier time then he said.

DistrictDirt · #**680** Posted **Mar 31, 2011, 11:51 PM**

I'm still so confused about what the bottom of this thing will look like. In the rendering below, the video-wrapped podium appears to be 4-5 stories high.

But according to the various LA Times articles, the video advertisement section at the base will be 10 stories high. So what gives? I can think of 3 possibilities:

a. The renderings are inaccurate and the video-wrapped podium will be double the height portrayed.

b. The renderings accurately show the podium height, but we can expect 5 stories of video billboards plastered above the podium.

c. That podium portrayed counts as 10 stories since the ceiling heights appear to be double-height.

Using the people in the rendering as reference, the height of each floor in the podium looks really high...maybe 20 feet. So I'm hoping for C.

If that's the case, I think I could make peace with this project. Restricting the advertisements to the podium doesn't look too bad, and would lend the project some visual coherence. (Although I'm still not fooled by the butterflies...if that ad space is for sale, we're going to be looking at shampoo, cheeseburgers, and Dodge Chargers, not nature-inspired vector art.)

So anyone know if the answer is a, b, c, or none of the above?