LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[202_Cyclist]

Illithid Dude:

Probably too early to say this, but by the end of the year, DTLA will be booming like its 2005.

My bold prediction for 2012 is that economic growth is going to be much stronger than anyone expected. Construction activity is picking up in metro areas nationwide. Manufacturing is rebounding. Auto sales at the end of last year were pretty strong. Last year, the US was a net energy exporter for the first time in sixty years. The rate of job growth is increasing.

There can still be external shocks (China's economy falters, high oil prices, European problems) but I think the prediction above that 2012 may be like the boom of 2005 is not outlandish at all.

[BrandonJXN]

I predict that there will be at least 1 40 story building proposed near LA Live. A W perhaps?

[RuFFy]

I'd like to see that once talked about hard rock hotel too.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

I predict that there will be at least 1 40 story building proposed near LA Live. A W perhaps?

I'd rather see a W over near Fidi, more torwards the historic core. Perhaps on that vacant lot where the Metro portal is next to Pershing Square?

And, of course, my dream would be for Park Fifth to be resurrected I can't understand why the 40 story tower couldn't go forward as apartments/hotel, with the 70 story tower being built at a later date. Imagine, two 40 story towers going up around Pershing Square.... That would be amazing.

South Park can keep the Hard Rock, though. That is the perfect type of sort of flashy, gaudy hotel for the area.

And isn't there still a rumor that L.A. Central will be brought back?

Lastly, concerning the deep Historic Core (Broadway, Spring, and Main,) I'd love to see some 150 foot buildings go up in that area, fill in some parking lots. 150 feet, you might ask? Well, let me tell you why. First off, it is cheaper then making a 500 foot building, and thus, more feasible. Secondly, I feel very strongly about maintaining the historic high limit of the historic core, so that it may maintain its character. Don't get me wrong, I love high-rises, but there is plenty of other places in DTLA to build them. Plus, I could totally see the historic core being filled up with innovative modern architecture, like so many European neighborhoods of dense, low-rise buildings are.

EDIT: Oh, and the old AT&T Tower! How could I forget? That is the one thing that is making downtown office vacancy rates so high. Another good choice for an apartment conversion, or maybe even a hotel conversion. W does have a penchant for adaptive reuse. If they didn't want to build a brand-new building for a hotel, then perhaps the AT&T tower would be perfect for them.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by alki

You think doing a google search substitutes for a comprehensive analysis of a city and their attitudes about urban living.

alki, I was motivated out of curiosity about whether bldgs or newer devlpt in seattle was consistently or somehow always better than in LA. To be truthful, I'm not bowled over by most american cities, so I feel if LA doesn't compare favorably with most of them, then this part of the country must be in pretty sad shape.

as for debates or posts that compare LA with other cities, they don't bother me cuz I feel defensive about the city. I'm bothered cuz I think one doesn't have to know anything about any other city to know there are things about LA that need lots of improvement. As I said before, I recall being by various hoods in LA well before I knew, or cared about, what other cities were like. I think most ppl are like that too. IOW, they don't come to LA & say "I don't like this town cuz there's more parking space here than in SF or NYC!"

That's one reason why I think the critic who criticized the concert hall on bunker hill for having too much parking was deluded. He claimed that the reason few ppl were hanging around after a concert, compared with what happens at the hall in SF, was cuz most ppl drove to Disney Hall. That's a silly assumption to me, cuz I know whenever I'm in dtla, I almost ALWAYS feel uneasy about being there, or hesitant about sticking around, not cuz of big underground parking lots, but cuz too much of the hood still is not much better than this....


maps.google.com


However, the one good criticism that ppl can make about parking structures or parking requirements is if they cause a proj to be too $$$ & therefore harder to pencil out & be built. But I still remember reading that owners of certain old office bldgs on Spring or broadway were having a hard time getting funding to convert them to lofts, regardless of city codes. So the reason didn't have anything to do with what the city demanded but due to banks not wanting to give loans if there wasn't enough parking space for future tenants or condo owners. So in that case it wasn't even the city that was putting a freeze on adding more new housing or other new devlpt to dtla.

[BrandonJXN]

How many times are you going to post images from Google?

[LosAngelesDreamin]

Originally Posted by RuFFy

I'd like to see that once talked about hard rock hotel too.

A Hard Rock Cafe would be nice also =]

[colemonkee]

Driving on the 110 this morning I noticed a crane in the general vicinity of Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Looked to be south of 23rd. Anyone know what's going on here? Could this be the start of Palmer's proposed residential TOD?

[RuFFy]

Looks like the mystery department store is going to be a Ross.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by RuFFy

Looks like the mystery department store is going to be a Ross.

Booooo. That sucks. First of all, it does nothing to benefit Broadway. Second of all, and this might come off as... impolite, but I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of the new, young, hip downtown population will never set foot in the Ross. Ugh. At least we are getting nice, high end stores on 7th and in the Historic Core. My hope is that at least Ross cleans up the facade. That would make it worthwhile.

EDIT: This store isn't going into the building where we thought the department store was going to go. Does this mean there might be a second Broadway Department store in the works?

EDIT AGAIN: It's interesting, I just realized. Broadway is developing as a more lower-end, though still fine, and mainstream retail corridor. 7th Street is developing as a high-end retail corridor. This as just as it was in pre-war DTLA.

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Booooo. That sucks. First of all, it does nothing to benefit Broadway. Second of all, and this might come off as... impolite, but I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of the new, young, hip downtown population will never set foot in the Ross. Ugh. At least we are getting nice, high end stores on 7th and in the Historic Core. My hope is that at least Ross cleans up the facade. That would make it worthwhile.

Its certainly a reality check. We all have big aspirations of Broadway in the future, but at the present time we're still looking at discount-level retail. Wonder what the owners of the future Umamicatessen, Figaro restaurant, and Ace hotel will think of this development.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

EDIT: Oh, and the old AT&T Tower! How could I forget? That is the one thing that is making downtown office vacancy rates so high. Another good choice for an apartment conversion, or maybe even a hotel conversion. W does have a penchant for adaptive reuse. If they didn't want to build a brand-new building for a hotel, then perhaps the AT&T tower would be perfect for them.

Are you referring to this building?

http://www.firstpost.com/topic/organizat...in-downto-image-09NQ9Gxe1i1tX-406-1.html

Not that I've been keeping up with it, but I assume it's still a telephone exchange switching station? I wouldn't doubt that the microwave tower isn't being used anymore, but is it vacant or something?

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Are you referring to this building?

http://www.firstpost.com/topic/organizat...in-downto-image-09NQ9Gxe1i1tX-406-1.html

Not that I've been keeping up with it, but I assume it's still a telephone exchange switching station? I wouldn't doubt that the microwave tower isn't being used anymore, but is it vacant or something?

No. I'm referring to this building:



It used to house AT&T, but since AT&T moved to the building in South Park, this building has been vacant. And ripe for development.



And this is the building Ross is moving in to. At least they said in the press release they are going to clean it up and restore it back to the original look.

[JDRCRASH]

^ I thought 611 Place (the tower you posted) was being converted into residential units?

[SD_Phil]

I have no problems with a Ross especially if they give that building at least a good scrub down. It's better to have that building in use than vacant. It isn't new construction so the Ross wouldn't be all that hard to vacate should the area outgrow it.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

^ I thought 611 Place (the tower you posted) was being converted into residential units?

Not currently. There was a plan to do so from like 2005, but as far as I know it was just talk.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

No. I'm referring to this building:

Ah OK. Funny, I actually forgot that this used to house AT&T. I actually remember when it used to be the Crocker Bank building. My sister worked in this building in the early 1990s for about a year.

Yeah, it's been vacant for a very long time now, it seems. I also thought that at one point, there were plans to turn this into a residential tower.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Second of all, and this might come off as... impolite, but I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of the new, young, hip downtown population will never set foot in the Ross. Ugh.

I'm more bothered that a lower end store like Ross will merely make all the really bad swapmeets on broadway, & their customers, feel even more at home. That, in turn, will make the slumlords who feed off the swapmeets, who then feed off desperate shoppers, dig in even deeper.

It's the surrounding slum condition of broadway that hurts the street more than whether most of its stores are discounters or not. Actually, I think if the slumlords were forced into cleaning up their bldgs, & the swapmeets were forced into either putting some $$ into their facades or moving out, all types of ppl might shop at ross. I've been in stores like that & you'd be surprised at the variety of income groups it attracts, inc younger ppl on a college student budget.

and since three hundred must love my pics from google maps so much, I'll post my own shot of the bldg where the ross is supposed to be located, shown on the right next to the cafe jerez. I posted it several months ago in an effort to display all the low points of broadway from 2nd St all the way south to 9th St. this pic shows the bldg from another angle:


maps.google.com

^ I still think broadway will show more hope & potential when most of it is as vacant as that bldg currently is. It's tougher to turn around an area when too many competing interests & silly forms of NIMBYism continue to put dibs on it----such as owners of swapmeets & their customers crying "foul" if they believe they're being pushed out to another part of town.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Yeah, it's been vacant for a very long time now, it seems. I also thought that at one point, there were plans to turn this into a residential tower.

it's sad that vacancies have remained so high for so long. Illithid assumes that bldg at 611 6th st is one reason there's still too much empty space in the hood. But what's really ridiculous is that the rate has remained quite high in spite of several other former office bldgs being converted to condos or apts over the past 10 yrs.

I remember believing a long time ago that once things like the red line were built, & the hood was improved in other ways, that more of the unused space in office bldgs would fill up. So far, that hasn't quite panned out . Even more disappointing since that will certainly slow down the time table of when the 2nd tower of the wilshire grand proj breaks ground.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by citywatch

it's sad that vacancies have remained so high for so long. Illithid assumes that bldg at 611 6th st is one reason there's still too much empty space in the hood. But what's really ridiculous is that the rate has remained quite high in spite of several other former office bldgs being converted to condos or apts over the past 10 yrs.

I remember believing a long time ago that once things like the red line were built, & the hood was improved in other ways, that more of the unused space in office bldgs would fill up. So far, that hasn't quite panned out . Even more disappointing since that will certainly slow down the time table of when the 2nd tower of the wilshire grand proj breaks ground.

Well from what I understand, downtown is still recovering from it's office building boom in the 70's, 80's, and early 90's.

Yeah, I don't expect Wilshire Grand Tower II to be completed by 2015 (though I think that date is CERTAINLY reasonable for Tower I given the demand in the hotel market). I'm thinking more like 2018-2020. Which would be pretty convenient, as the Regional Connector might be up and running by then.