talking about projs or ideas that may never come into existence, or won't come into existences for yrs & yrs & yrs to come, is fine & all. But it's also setting ppl up for disappointment. In a way it's like talking about what we'll do when we win the $500 million lotto. So while big dreams about new parks or new stadiums, or huge new transit systems, or major reworking of sidewalks or widths of streets, or bike projs, or changing ppl's behavior when it comes to cars & fwys, make for great conversation, I don't know if that isn't like ppl talking about how they'll spend $500 million after winning the big lotto.
I feel that way even more cuz of trends that never seem to change, no matter what.
notice how this chart shows that the preference for dtla among ppl who lease space for businesses still lags. What's worse is that other parts of LA & SoCa have at least seen their office bldgs fill up over the past 10 yrs, getting the hoods they're located in to the single digits. I was speaking to a friend & her husband, who are both involved in investment funds, a few wks ago & they told me that office space in dtla hasn't been in single digits since the late 1980s. That's over 20 yrs ago!!
however, this info on housing, from today's paper, shows a trend that may be a good sign for dt, lasting beyond just the next few yrs....
Quote:
Homeownership goes in and out of favor, UCLA professor Stuart Gabriel said, and now it's in decline. "The pendulum swings back and forth a bit," Gabriel said. "Homeownership is not dead, it's just in a period of adjustment."
Least popular are homes in remote "exurbs" far from cities, he said. With gasoline prices at sustained highs, many people want to be closer to their jobs in urban centers where the most affordable housing is often apartments.
Demographics and generational trends are also working in favor of apartments. Many renters in their 20s and 30s are delaying marriage and childbearing, he said, and cherish the mobility to move where their careers take them.
Permits to build nearly 1,000 apartments were issued in May in the city of Los Angeles, the most since November 2008, the Construction Industry Research Board said.
One of the biggest projects approved that month was Chinatown Gateway, a $93-million complex under construction at the busy intersection of Broadway and Cesar Chavez Avenue. Renters are expected to be "young professionals and urban digerati," said Mark Tennison, who heads development for apartment landlord Equity Residential.
Downtown Los Angeles saw a boom in residential development during the last decade that left the neighborhood oversupplied with condominiums and apartments, but the excess units are being absorbed fast enough to justify new construction, developers said.
Nearly all Equity Residential units are leased in its downtown buildings, including Pegasus in the financial district and Mozaic at Union Station, Tennison said. Turnover of units has slowed in the company's 8,300 units in Los Angeles County.
"We're not losing people to purchasing homes," he said. "I think they are going to stay longer than they did in the past. They appreciate the flexibility of the downtown lifestyle."
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But even with that hopeful trend, there's another issue....
Quote:
The last surviving original developer of Marina del Rey got a little emotional before turning a shovelful of dirt to mark the beginning of a new apartment complex that will replace the one he built in the early 1960s.
Under an awning decked in red, white and blue, Jerry Epstein recalled last month how financiers were skeptical of the man-made marina in its early days, and only a "very substantial" loan from actor Kirk Douglas gave Epstein enough cash to build Del Rey Shores apartments on Via Marina.
Indeed, although Douglas pitched in as an investor, Epstein said he was hard-pressed to find traditional financing with reasonable terms for his Shores project in Marina del Rey. Lenders are still reluctant to risk funding real estate development after the market crash.
"It doesn't matter that I had over 60 years of experience with banks with never a problem," he said.
The project was only possible with assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which helped him secure a $125-million loan backed by Fannie Mae.
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that explains why, among other plans, projs like even a 5 story, wood framed apt bldg a few blocks from city hall, & across from the Kyoto hotel, that I've hoped would break ground about 2 or 3 yrs ago still is on hold.
So maybe this thread over the next many yrs is going to have to keep ending up with lots of posts that are what ifs, maybes, wishes & dreams, cuz if ppl even with a good track record can't even get funding for their projs, then no way will it be any easier for ppl in general. But that's been obvious for a few yrs with the devlprs of the Grand ave proj &----this goes without saying----the very ambitious, very pricey, parkfifth proj.
As for all the talk about finally redoing pershing sq, including getting rid of its purple tower? that would cost millions of $$. Much of that funding was originally going to be provided by the devlpr of the parkfifth proj. But if very ambitious projs like that----at least by LA standards----were pushing the limits even 5 yrs ago, what is their chance of success today?! Since devlprs of even smaller projs---with good histories---are finding it tough to get financing, that definitely is affecting other parts of the hood, inc plans to revamp pershing sq.
otoh, some very tall & very $$$ apt or condo projs did make it under the wire in cities like NY & chicago during the past few yrs. There's a condo skyscraper designed by frank gehry that will be completed soon in NY, & I read about a super tall condo/hotel bldg that was built & completed by donald trump in chicago about a yr ago. Meanwhile, big plans for the land at 5th & Olive & on Grand Ave end up as the ---->
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The audience at the refurbished Palace Theatre on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles watches "Sunset Boulevard." 
at the condition of this city. IOW, I don't think they'd be deluded into believing that streets like broadway were OK or not all that bad, or that the condition of dt in general was ok or not that bad. 
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