LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[alki]

New UMAMIcatessen Downtown



http://la.eater.com/archives/2012/02/16/the_very_first_look_inside_umamicatessen_downtown.php

[BrandonJXN]

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/developmen...eefbfaa-59d0-11e1-8447-0019bb2963f4.html

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Good luck with your "vibrant downtown life" if you do that. Force people to walk the streets of downtown with the homeless, and see how quickly your downtown population dissipates.

But that's exactly what people sign up for when they move down here: walking. And yes, sometimes you'll even rub shoulders with a bum or two (gasp!). Downtown is not for everyone- no one pretending it is. But for those people that are willing to live car-free or car-light, or those of us that value walkability over other factors when choosing a neighborhood, its a paradise.

Its not like everyone down here lives car-free (although many do). But those that do have cars either use them for their daily commutes to other parts of the city, or leave them parked and use them on the weekend (that's what we do.) The notion that downtown LA residents use their cars for trips within downtown to avoid running into homeless people is completely absurd. There are plenty of more appropriate neighborhoods to live in if one wants to ensure that one never runs into a homeless person, or if one wants to make every last trip via their car rather than a bike or their own two feet.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

But that's exactly what people sign up for when they move down here: walking. And yes, sometimes you'll even rub shoulders with a bum or two (gasp!). Downtown is not for everyone- no one pretending it is. But for those people that are willing to live car-free or car-light, or those of us that value walkability over other factors when choosing a neighborhood, its a paradise.

Its not like everyone down here lives car-free (although many do). But those that do have cars either use them for their daily commutes to other parts of the city, or leave them parked and use them on the weekend (that's what we do.) The notion that downtown LA residents use their cars for trips within downtown to avoid running into homeless people is completely absurd. There are plenty of more appropriate neighborhoods to live in if one wants to ensure that one never runs into a homeless person, or if one wants to make every last trip via their car rather than a bike or their own two feet.

isnt it great when people that dont live in Downtown LA tell us how we live our lives? lol

Its absurd to say that downtown residents drive from one point to another in downtown. i dont know anyone that does that. everyone walks, takes metro or dash for trips confined to downtown cause its simple.

[202_Cyclist]

LosAngelesSportsFan:

Its absurd to say that downtown residents drive from one point to another in downtown. i dont know anyone that does that. everyone walks, takes metro or dash for trips confined to downtown cause its simple.

Don't forget the planned streetcar as well. More parking, however, undermines transit ridership (as well as bicycle/pedestrian trips). It is pretty absurd for LA County to spend billions of dollars on investments like the Regional Connector and the westside subway and then completley undermine this investment by making driving to downtown easier.

Although it sounds like downtown is attracting more affluent residents, subterranean parking costs between $30,000 - $50,000 per space. This will price some people out of downtown who'd otherwise be able to afford to live there.

I encourage everyone following this discussion to read "People, Parking, and Cities" by Donald Shoup to see how parking distorts Los Angeles and other cities.

People, Parking, and Cities
http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/People,Parking,Cities.pdf

[pesto]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

isnt it great when people that dont live in Downtown LA tell us how we live our lives? lol

Its absurd to say that downtown residents drive from one point to another in downtown. i dont know anyone that does that. everyone walks, takes metro or dash for trips confined to downtown cause its simple.

But you see, it's quite the opposite. I don't tell anyone they can't walk, take transit, drive, pay for parking or whatever. Let a thousand flowers bloom. If downtown provides for all of these activities isn't it going to be even more popular than if parking is inconvenient?

btw, have you ever seen rush-hour in NY or SF? Have you seen the traffic in SoHo or Midtown on weekends? Backed up for miles on the bridges and tunnels. The idea that there are no cars (with paying customers in them) in these cities in overstated.

As for living without a car, that's just not reasonable in LA at the moment. Last time I was there I went with my son and his friends to First Friday in Venice, to theater in south SM, to Van Nuys to visit family and to the SGV (along with several places where transit worked well). You can make transit work, but it's not easy and you're greatly limiting your range of movement.

But then I see some horrible comment like "people don't know what is good for them" or "people won't voluntarily do x, y or z". This may be fine in a dictatorship, but here people will just move to Pasadena or Texas or wherever.

[202_Cyclist]

pesto:

This may be fine in a dictatorship, but here people will just move to Pasadena or Texas or wherever.

Pasadena had one of the first performance parking districts in the US, where parking is priced according to demand at a specific time. Much of the revenue this generates has gone back into streetscape improvements. This pricing strategy for scarce on-street parking encourages some people to take transit, some people to carpool, and others, for whom a vehicle is important, will pay the market-based price for parking.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by pesto

But you see, it's quite the opposite. I don't tell anyone they can't walk, take transit, drive, pay for parking or whatever. Let a thousand flowers bloom. If downtown provides for all of these activities isn't it going to be even more popular than if parking is inconvenient?

btw, have you ever seen rush-hour in NY or SF? Have you seen the traffic in SoHo or Midtown on weekends? Backed up for miles on the bridges and tunnels. The idea that there are no cars (with paying customers in them) in these cities in overstated.

As for living without a car, that's just not reasonable in LA at the moment. Last time I was there I went with my son and his friends to First Friday in Venice, to theater in south SM, to Van Nuys to visit family and to the SGV (along with several places where transit worked well). You can make transit work, but it's not easy and you're greatly limiting your range of movement.

But then I see some horrible comment like "people don't know what is good for them" or "people won't voluntarily do x, y or z". This may be fine in a dictatorship, but here people will just move to Pasadena or Texas or wherever.

no ones saying cars are evil. i have one cause i need one for work and weekends. its necessary for me. but for the city and county to demand 2 spots per building in downtown is just not right. let the market decide right? there is so much parking downtown, its ridiculous.

[travanx]

There is also traffic on most of the streets during rush hour as well. I take my GF to work at 6pm towards Boyle Heights. Main St. coming from 11th is pretty packed most days. And even worse when something is happening, which lately is almost everyday.

Now why doesn't she take the subway? Because that area's stop is pretty dangerous and I don't even always feel safe taking the subway. After watching a whole car get into a brawl I do think twice about certain subway stops.

I have noticed more people walking around on Flower when the sun goes down which makes the feel down here much better. I hope to someday see more people walking around and more businesses open later, just like how the area around LA Cafe is always active. We only have a few more months here before we will most likely be moving out. Its sad to think about it, but we may be back in the future.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/developmen...eefbfaa-59d0-11e1-8447-0019bb2963f4.html

along with the projs listed in that story, here's something else that can be mentioned....


Downtown L.A. building set to go from drug den to luxury inn

A former insurance salesman and his partners plan to transform a boarded-up apartment house they bought last year near Staples Center into a hotel with as many as 60 rooms.


Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times
February 23, 2012

A century-old brick apartment house and former drug den near Staples Center is slated to be reborn as a luxurious inn as demand for hotel rooms grows in downtown Los Angeles. The boarded-up building is a conspicuous ruin in a neighborhood decidedly on the upswing, alongside a trio of top-drawer condominium towers built in the real estate boom of the 2000s. The condo developers tried to buy the three-story derelict at the time but were unsuccessful.

"The problem was figuring out who owned it," said Homer Williams, one of the developers of the 19-story Luma residential high-rise next door.

City officials later hoped to raze the building at 1130 S. Hope St. to make a public park, but also had difficulty figuring out who held its title as competing parties claimed control. The picture was complicated by more than a dozen liens from contractors, developers, lawyers and others who did work involving the building.

Enter Kevin Burke, a retired life insurance salesman from Manhattan Beach who managed to work through the title disputes and negotiate a complex $2.1-million transaction last year that got him the keys. The acquisition was the first big hurdle in an ambitious plan Burke put together with three of his friends: The group wants to build a boutique hotel with a creative sensibility where they would enjoy hanging out with worldly guests.

It would cost an additional $25 million or so to make a proper hotel, he said, and architects are working on visions of how it might look. The developers hope to preserve the exterior brick walls while gutting and rebuilding the rest of the structure into an inn with 45 to 60 rooms, depending on how high they are allowed to build.

The partners have never developed a hotel but have the money lined up to get to work, Burke said. He acknowledges the development might not be a profitable business venture in the end, though.

"We want to create a space that can feed creativity and has energy attached to it," said [English musician Antony] Genn, who is involved in the London art scene. "Hopefully it will have a symbiotic relationship with downtown L.A. and not feel like something you picked up somewhere else and plopped there."

Plans call for sponsoring an artist-in-residence program, he said. "It could be a young street artist from Mexico or Manchester, or a filmmaker or a musician."

Demand for downtown rooms is on the rise, hospitality industry analyst Bruce Baltin of PKF Consulting said. Hotel occupancy and room rates there have been growing at a faster pace than the national average. "The lift from L.A. Live is doing this, and the convention calendar is getting stronger," Baltin said. "We believe there is a real need for additional rooms, especially in proximity to the convention center."

[travanx]

And this is what I mean about building in Downtown still not making any sense. This project already has a big roadblock in front of it. We are seeing developers getting in way over their heads recently for all of the unknown issues that pop up.

Originally Posted by citywatch

The partners have never developed a hotel but have the money lined up to get to work, Burke said. He acknowledges the development might not be a profitable business venture in the end, though.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by travanx

And this is what I mean about building in Downtown still not making any sense. This project already has a big roadblock in front of it. We are seeing developers getting in way over their heads recently for all of the unknown issues that pop up.

This project makes sense to me. There is a lack of hotel space downtown. These people are trying to fill that gap. I hardly think that, since they have little experience, they show that development in downtown as a whole makes no sense. Anyways, I applaud these two for trying to do something to make downtown a better place.

[Kingofthehill]

Good to hear! I had always wondered what would become of that building. It should be a worthwhile addition to that still-sleepy section of South Park.

[Illithid Dude]

I was downtown today. The Broad is pretty much on street level now. This has flown under everyone radar, so it's nice to see such great progress being made. I think soon, people will start to take notice.

[alki]

[QUOTE=Illithid Dude;5600376]If only it was every third person who had a car...

However, I do agree that people inevitably need to drive. The beauty of downtown is that alternate forms of transportation can easily replace driving. For those times when driving is necessary, something like ZipCar can replace owning a car. In fact, I wonder why ZipCar hasn't invaded downtown yet.../QUOTE]

Illithid, you fight the battles that are winnable. LA is a car city......it will be for the forseeable future. What's most important is developing a solid urban experience in DTLA. Then stuff like ZipCar will follow. Like most people on this thread, you are visionary. However, seeing future possibilities or probabilities before others do can be very frustrating.

[goom]

I was on vacation in San Francisco a few days ago. I stayed at a Marriott near union square. After exploring that neighborhood, I realized how much downtown LA could learn from it. Many of the older buildings house upscale stores and even a multi-story shopping mall. I would like to see the old buildings in the historic core and on broadway get cleaned up and house upscale stores, instead of swap meets and flea markets. These buildings are beautiful and are being used in the wrong way. I would also like to see Pershing square redone. They should open it up more with small cafes and outdoor patios. I would like to see the historic core to be similar to fifth avenue in new york and market st in san francisco.

[travanx]

Lack of hotels in Downtown? But I read there is too much parking? It is very easy to get cheap rates down here using Priceline at very nice hotels. I just live a block away from this possible development and still don't see the need whatsoever for a new hotel.

Though some more businesses open later than 6pm on a weekday and actually open on the weekends, I can see a real thriving downtown.

I think its time for me to take a run to take some pictures of the Broad in the next day or so. Been waiting for a certain SLR, Nikon D7000, to be in stock, but until then it will be my trusty camera phone taking pictures. Anything else you guys want pictures of?

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

This project makes sense to me. There is a lack of hotel space downtown. These people are trying to fill that gap. I hardly think that, since they have little experience, they show that development in downtown as a whole makes no sense. Anyways, I applaud these two for trying to do something to make downtown a better place.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

pesto:


Pasadena had one of the first performance parking districts in the US, where parking is priced according to demand at a specific time. Much of the revenue this generates has gone back into streetscape improvements. This pricing strategy for scarce on-street parking encourages some people to take transit, some people to carpool, and others, for whom a vehicle is important, will pay the market-based price for parking.

Now you have put down the axe and returned to western values. Nothing wrong with pricing parking as you wish, if you think this helps local business and taxes. You may be wrong but feel free to experiment with what you think works and let others do as they wish.

[ziggy331]

Originally Posted by travanx

Lack of hotels in Downtown? But I read there is too much parking? It is very easy to get cheap rates down here using Priceline at very nice hotels. I just live a block away from this possible development and still don't see the need whatsoever for a new hotel.

DTLA (and specifically that area of downtown) needs more hotel rooms to help LA compete for conventions. LA trails major cities when it comes to the number of hotel rooms within reasonable walking distance of the convention center. And if Farmers Field get built (which I think it has a pretty good chance), and the convention business takes off as hoped, DTLA will need far more hotels to service that market.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by goom

I was on vacation in San Francisco a few days ago. I stayed at a Marriott near union square. After exploring that neighborhood, I realized how much downtown LA could learn from it. Many of the older buildings house upscale stores and even a multi-story shopping mall. I would like to see the old buildings in the historic core and on broadway get cleaned up and house upscale stores, instead of swap meets and flea markets. These buildings are beautiful and are being used in the wrong way. I would also like to see Pershing square redone. They should open it up more with small cafes and outdoor patios. I would like to see the historic core to be similar to fifth avenue in new york and market st in san francisco.

I guess everybody wants some version of this. But the difference is that the Union Sq. area is the established high-end shopping area for the SF area (including Oakland and San Mateo); only when you get to Palo Alto and Santana Row/Valley Fair do you get any real rivals.

In LA, upscale shopping is centered on the Westside (BH, SM, Century City, Beverly Center) and some suburbs. Downtown LA is right at the bottom of LA in per capita income, so there is no obvious need for putting in new upscale shopping, especially in light of the internet shopping boom.

Tourism, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense. There is a growing number of reasons to visit DT or to live there. But this is not a Neiman crowd. A better hope is a revitalized Macy's and smaller trendy boutiques.

btw, I was in Istanbul a couple of times recently and you see the same pattern there. Taksim is filled with upscale shopping and restaurants. Sultanahmet, several miles away, gets the masses of tourists and is full of small and medium-sized hotels, small restaurants and cafes. A small trendy boutique shopping area is opening on the fringes.