LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[BrandonJXN]

If we do meet, we should meet when the Expo Line opens. Whenever that'll be.

[Illithid Dude]

Brigham Yen posted these to his blog:

Updated Renders of the new hotel in AEG Town.









I don't mind it. Looks like white painted concrete (though if it is stucco I would be very, very sad), which could be better, but the actual aesthetics aren't bad. And it interacts with the sidewalk really well, with super wide sidewalks and a cafe. Also, you have to realize, that these are sort of down-strata hotels. They are normally built cheaply, and look very ugly. With that in mind, I'd say we lucked out. Breaking ground early this year.

[RST500]

How many stories?

[all of the trash]

Originally Posted by RST500

How many stories?

Can you not count?

God that tower looks ugly. I really hope it isn't stucco. I remember going through the same thing when the renders for 717 olympic came out how i thought the material was so awful. Then when i saw the completed building in person it wasn't so bad and had a decent presence. still, wish developers in L.A. aimed a bit higher architecturally for a so-called 'world class city'. even if its down market you could probably lop off the height a but and use better material.

[dktshb]

^ It is still a definite improvement over the last rendering tho.

[Quixote]

Crossing my fingers that it won't be clad in stucco. Williams & Dame has produced some solid looking projects here (Elleven, Luma, and Evo) and in Portland.

[Trojan]

The view of DTLA from Metro HQ. Won't get sick of that.

[BrandonJXN]

I agree with all of the trash that architects should aim higher in terms of the designs around DTLA but this tower isn't bad at all.

In other new rendering news, the Wilshire Grand website has a new rendering of the towers.


www.wilshiregrand.com

[Trojan]

The Purple Line Extension and this will go perfectly together.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

I agree with all of the trash that architects should aim higher in terms of the designs around DTLA but this tower isn't bad at all.

In other new rendering news, the Wilshire Grand website has a new rendering of the towers.


www.wilshiregrand.com

so sexy

[Kingofthehill]

[photoLith]

^
What's the significance of that? It's not a before and after.

[colemonkee]

photoLith, the Clifton's Cafeteria building is not a "before" of the picture above it, but it is a "before" picture of sorts. That building is located a few blocks away from the building pictured above it, and holds a historic cafeteria style restaurant that will be restored and reopened. The building was recently purchased by Andrew Meieran, who owns the Edison, and he has plans to restore and reprogram the entire building with some very cool stuff, some of which I'm not supposed to mention until it's officially announced. But it will be very cool, and I for one cannot wait for some of those aspects to open. The original facade will be restored as part of the project - you can see part of it behind that metal screen above the front door.

[Kingofthehill]

The top photo is of the attractive night lighting of the still recently-opened Seven Grand bar and Más Malo restaurant - a whiskey bar and upscale Mexican restaurant, respectively - at the small building on 515 W. 7th St. Both are relatively new additions to the burgeoning 7th St. restaurant row.

The second photo is of the progress (or lack thereof) of the facade improvement at Clifton's, a long-time, standby institution and cafeteria on Broadway. Clifton's recently got new owners, of whom vowed to remove the Modernist facade that currently obscures the older, brick facade. You can see the previous facade peeking through the mesh-like Modernist addition. Hope that helped!

[pesto]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Brigham Yen posted these to his blog:

Updated Renders of the new hotel in AEG Town.









I don't mind it. Looks like white painted concrete (though if it is stucco I would be very, very sad), which could be better, but the actual aesthetics aren't bad. And it interacts with the sidewalk really well, with super wide sidewalks and a cafe. Also, you have to realize, that these are sort of down-strata hotels. They are normally built cheaply, and look very ugly. With that in mind, I'd say we lucked out. Breaking ground early this year.

Agree with this. It's a Marriott and this is about as good as it gets. I call it a win.

[Kingofthehill]

Btw, on the topic of Clifton's, did anybody know Clifton's operated a Polynesian-themed restaurant on 618 Olive (an address that, as far as I know, no longer exists, and is currently a parking lot)?

The photos are all from ethereal_reality in the Noirish LA thread:

[alki]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

Now that's hot. Thanks for sharing.

[alki]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

The top photo is of the attractive night lighting of the still recently-opened Seven Grand bar and Más Malo restaurant - a whiskey bar and upscale Mexican restaurant, respectively - at the small building on 515 W. 7th St. Both are relatively new additions to the burgeoning 7th St. restaurant row.

The second photo is of the progress (or lack thereof) of the facade improvement at Clifton's, a long-time, standby institution and cafeteria on Broadway. Clifton's recently got new owners, of whom vowed to remove the Modernist facade that currently obscures the older, brick facade. You can see the previous facade peeking through the mesh-like Modernist addition. Hope that helped!

Oops! Thought the top photo was the building after the faux facade had been taken off. Forget my prior comment.

[alki]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Crossing my fingers that it won't be clad in stucco. Williams & Dame has produced some solid looking projects here (Elleven, Luma, and Evo) and in Portland.

I doubt it will be stucco. It looks like white paneling to me.

BTW I see nothing wrong with smooth stucco as a building form. Its actually fairly expensive to do. Its the textured crap that bothers me. Its cheap looking and too frequently painted pink.

[alki]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Too bad, you could have waited it out, then rode the current Hollywood wave all the way to the bank. By the way, the craftsman house turned out really really great. If only all other developers thought like you did, concerning aesthetics and such...

It was a really bad time in LA all the way around.....between 1992-95. You're lucky you missed it. During the uprising, I had to beg, borrow and steal to get security to give me extra guards for my buildings. I was running back and forth between buildings even during the curfew to make sure they weren't getting torched. BTW my partner and I had a new building under construction as well and she was watching that one with her husband. For the next two years, most nites, you heard gun shots throughout LA. People would run red lites and the cops would be sitting in their car and do nothing. Three times, I got caught in gun fights between cops and robbers.........twice in Los Feliz and once in Hollywood.........I had to duck down in my car.......I had a convertible......and drive blind. During the uprising, I got caught between rioters and burning buildings.....had to drive up onto the sidewalk to get away. Finally, my partner tried to screw me.......figuratively......and that was all she wrote. I knew it was time for me to leave LA.

Actually, I posted the wrong house.........I did do the Tustin House but it was one of my first houses and it wasn't one of my best. The one below is my second best house........its right next door to the Tustin House.........I wish I had a color photo to show you guys. It was a real cool house......some back story.........the house was badly deteriorated and the window box you see on the front had fallen off a decade before I got the house. When it fell, the little old lady up the street grabbed it in the hopst someone would come along and restore the house. When I bought the house, she gave me the window box and I had it replicated and put back up on the house: