LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[goom]

Originally Posted by pesto

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.

I agree with you about the upscale shopping, but I still believe that Broadway certainly could use better shopping. Nothing too fancy like Neiman Marcus, but something appealing to locals and tourists, like Apple Stores and various middle-class clothing stores. Maybe even urban best buys and targets.

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by ziggy331

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.

Hoteliers are looking to move into South Park as the area surrounding the convention center is shaping up to become the tourist hub of DTLA. In the long run the hotels north of 7th will cater primarily to the business traveler while those in South Park will cater to conventioneers and other tourists.

[goom]

I would like to see South Park become like Brickell in Miami with several highrise hotels and condos. It's a longshot though.

[bobcat]

NEWSFLASH!

Walmart in DTLA

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has signed a lease to open its first grocery in Los Angeles County and its first store of any kind downtown.

The Bentonville, Ark., retailer is taking about 33,000-square-feet of the ground floor of a senior housing complex at 701 W. Cesar Chavez Ave., just north of the Santa Ana (101) Freeway on the outskirts of Chinatown.

http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2012/feb/24/wal-mart-put-grocery-downtown-l/

More info from curbed:

UPDATE: According to Steven Restivo, Walmart's senior director of community affairs, this will be a Neighborhood Market (which usually run about 42,000 square feet--see example photos above) and will carry "fresh produce, meats and dairy products, frozen foods, dry goods, pharmacy and consumables."

Restivo says Walmart always looks to get into "communities that are underserved in terms of jobs and access to fresh, affordable food," and so the greater Downtown area made sense (he mentioned the Ralphs and the total lack of any other big grocery stores nearby). He also says that Walmart liked the "opportunity to revive a vacant property," and hopes to provide an "economic boost" to the area that will "complement existing businesses."

Renovation on the space is expected to start this summer and the store will probably open sometime in 2013. The store will have about 65 associate jobs, and Restivo stressed that most California Walmart workers are full-time employees.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/02/walmart_opening_grocery_store_in_chinatown.php

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by bobcat

NEWSFLASH!

Walmart in DTLA

http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2012/feb/24/wal-mart-put-grocery-downtown-l/

More info from curbed:


http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/02/walmart_opening_grocery_store_in_chinatown.php

It's not really downtown. More downtown adjacent. Chinatown, technically.

[ChelseaFC]

Banco Popular building to become urban lofts/apartments



http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/02/ol...opular_building_to_be_apartmentified.php

[pesto]

Originally Posted by goom

I agree with you about the upscale shopping, but I still believe that Broadway certainly could use better shopping. Nothing too fancy like Neiman Marcus, but something appealing to locals and tourists, like Apple Stores and various middle-class clothing stores. Maybe even urban best buys and targets.

Agree on that. That is a reasonable target for the next decade. As population and income increase, the stores will come.

[alki]

Originally Posted by citywatch

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

I don't understand this announcement. Are they turning this little bldg into a 60 room hotel...........or are they planning to build a new hotel on the site? A new hotel makes more sense.

[alki]

Originally Posted by pesto

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.

That's true now but it doesn't have to be true going forward. Frankly, I think SM and BH are pretty solid........it would be hard to unseat them as premier shopping areas but CC and the BC.......not so much. I think both would be vulnerable to a revitalized DT.

I think for upscale retail to consider DT the redone Target shopping center will have to be a success and Macy's will have to do a significant redo and become more successful..........even as new restaurants and boutiques continue to open. DT has to prove its a viable retail market. Once that happens more upscale retail will consider it as a location.

And let me tell you its still not easy for DT locations.........there is still a negative perception. A few years back, Neiman Marcus announced they were planning to open their first metro Seattle store. DT Seattle wanted them badly.......however, they went to DT Bellevue instead. And Nordstrom's recently closed its DT Indianapolis store that it opened ten years back. As successful as DT Indianapolis has become it couldn't carry a Nordstrom's.

For some time, DTLA may have to do with an upscale Target and a revitalized Macy's........and a lot of hot, trendy boutiques that might have gone to Melrose and La Brea in the past........with an Apple's thrown into the mix for good measure. Nothing wrong with that at all IMO.

[alki]

Brigham, re. the La Cañada freeway park cap that you show on your blog, do you know how much it cost to build and how many blocks is it? In addition, was it necessary to build a significant ventilation system to get rid of car fumes? Seattle is building a freeway tunnel under its DT and ventilating fumes was a big issue.

I always invisioned building parks over the 101[?] between DT and the MacArthur side of DT and building retail along the existing overpasses that opens to both the street as well as to the park side. I thought development of the retail could offset the cost of building the parks.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by pesto

]
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.

A couple things:

Firstly, high End Shopping is NOT centered on the Westside. Melrose is one of the biggest high-end shopping streets in the city, and it is right next to Hollywood. Faifax is quickly becoming high end, and it is in Mid City.

Secondly, downtown L.A. is not right at the bottom of LA in per capita income, not at all. Why does everyone always ignore that it has a per capita income of $83,000 dollars? That is more then Beverly Hills!

Thirdly, people seem to forget that there is high end shopping downtown. We have Skingraft, and Brigade, a couple places among Spring, the new place in the arts district, and the new Micheal Antonio store (which, truthfully, is more upper-medium end). This doesn't even include the Sparkle Factory opening up on Broadway, which is high-end jewelry.

So, with this said, I don't get why people are complaining DT needs more high-end shopping. DT already has high end shopping, and is constantly getting more.

Though, I do admit, I'd like to see a mens version of Brigade.....

[colemonkee]

While reading through the Downtown News Development Guide, I noticed a project that should be starting construction relatively soon that has slipped under our radar recently...


Image Source: Cypress Equity Investments

1340 S. Figueroa - New Projects

Construction is set to start in April on a $95 million project that will bring a pair of seven-story apartment buildings to South Park by the end of 2013. The project, which will create a total of 247 units, comes from developer Century West Partners, a partnership between Chicago-based Fifield Companies and Los Angeles-based Michael Sorochinsky of Cypress Equity Investments. Last September, the company paid $16 million for two parking lots at 1340-1360 S. Figueroa St. and 1355-1365 S. Flower St. Previous plans for the site by another developer called for a 43-story tower designed by Daniel Libeskind. It never came close to breaking ground.

Article source: LA Downtown News

[Downtown Bolivar]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Banco Popular building to become urban lofts/apartments



http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/02/ol...opular_building_to_be_apartmentified.php

That building is fantastic. Is it currently empty?

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by alki

I don't understand this announcement. Are they turning this little bldg into a 60 room hotel...........or are they planning to build a new hotel on the site? A new hotel makes more sense.

alki, the article on the proj was posted to latimes.com 2 days ago & it details how the interior of the bldg is quite a mess. It's so bad the owners imply they'll have to pretty much gut everything on the inside, leaving only the shell remaining. whether they do that or not, I wonder if it's more risky for them to convert it into a hotel instead of apts? then again, I remember a time before the bottega louie restaurant opened that I thought its owners were being too ambitious. but I would think the demand for boutique type hotels already will be greatly covered when the old UA theater bldg on broadway a few blocks away becomes a hotel.

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Secondly, downtown L.A. is not right at the bottom of LA in per capita income, not at all. Why does everyone always ignore that it has a per capita income of $83,000 dollars? That is more then Beverly Hills!

It's not just the income but also the number of ppl in the upper bracket who live or spend time in the hood. The size of dtla's population, regardless of income, is still comparatively small. Even if much of the hood is improved & becomes home for ppl with $$$, the areas around DT still will be appealing mainly to poorer ppl. I think the main boundaries of dt----good, bad or middling----contains only about 1500 acres, so that alone isn't too large. How much land makes up the nicer hoods around where you currently live, around Samo? we're talking square miles, not acres!

If you ever visit a city like NYC or tokyo, or smaller cities like SF or seattle, & see the large numbers of ppl pouring through the $$ stores of those cities, esp a large dept store like bloomingdales, you'll see just how many ppl are required to make a hood competitive.

Originally Posted by colemonkee

While reading through the Downtown News Development Guide, I noticed a project that should be starting construction relatively soon that has slipped under our radar recently...

Construction is set to start in April on a $95 million project that will bring a pair of seven-story apartment buildings to South Park by the end of 2013.

that was the only proj that seems to have a somewhat firm timeline, & even that one no one can be absolutely sure of. I was hoping the Astani proj on Grand ave between 7th & 8th sts would be another one, but it's listed as only possibly breaking ground in 2012 . Even the revived fed court house proj probably will be under construction later rather than sooner since a new architect needs to be chosen to redo plans for it.

so most of the work that's currently either underway or will be underway in the immediate future is more similar to projs like the banco popular, where existing bldgs are cleaned up & reopened. Of course, that's no less important to the hood, but it's still more exciting when totally new devlpt is underway, esp if it's replacing a gap or deadzone.

In terms of totally new devlpt that's really large, there's only the wilshire grand hotel proj, which won't become visible until next yr. Or somewhat smaller projs like the hotel that's supposed to start rising across from LA live by mid yr. Everything else that's totally new & either now or soon to be under construction-----like the proj on wilshire across from the 1100 bldg, chinatown gateway on broadway, or the proj you mention across from the convention ctr on Fig----will be shorter wood framed devlpt.

[colemonkee]

Downtown Bolivar, there are a couple of retail tenants on the ground floor, but aside from that it's mostly empty. But it hasn't been empty that long. Up until pretty recently, the Community Redevelopment Agency occupied the upper floors.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by citywatch

It's not just the income but also the number of ppl in the upper bracket who live or spend time in the hood. The size of dtla's population, regardless of income, is still comparatively small. Even if much of the hood is improved & becomes home for ppl with $$$, the areas around DT still will be appealing mainly to poorer ppl. I think the main boundaries of dt----good, bad or middling----contains only about 1500 acres, so that alone isn't too large. How much land makes up the nicer hoods around where you currently live, around Samo? we're talking square miles, not acres!

Yes, it may be true that there is more land filled with wealthy people in my area then there is downtown, but the land in my area is mostly SFH. Downtown is much, much, denser. If Downtown had a population of around 20,000 in 2000, and now has a population of around 55,000, that means there are 35,000 people who have moved into all the new, expensive, condos. There are 35,000 people who can hypothetically be shoppers at new, expensive stores.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

While reading through the Downtown News Development Guide, I noticed a project that should be starting construction relatively soon that has slipped under our radar recently...

Thanks. I saw that too. Another one that had recently slipped under our radar - or at least mine - is the huge Palmer development "Lorenzo" on Flower and 23rd(?) which is evidently already under construction. Probably not everyone's favorite, but it will be an astounding 950+ apartments and is both transit adjacent and walking distance to USC. It should be a great start to activating a really dead portion of Flower even if it won't have much retail.

Edit: Just me I guess. The Lorenzo being under construction was discussed a few pages back.

[Vangelist]

Do we want downtown to stay economically diverse and affordable to artists? Or "upscale" and comparable to the most notorious parts of the inequity-drenched westside?

On a personal note I think i'm going to have to leave downtown for a while (will probably sublet my place if I'm hopefully allowed to), due to expenses and the financial state of the film projects I'm working on (I have to save $). For what I'm paying for a studio apartment on Spring Street, I could be getting a one bedroom in Los Feliz. This doesn't even account for the expensive factor of downtown parking!

[Vangelist]

Four of my friends also just moved out of downtown in the past 3 months, due to the impending gentrification many here seem to be cheerleading.

The musician/composer moved to Echo Park, the documentary filmmaker to Long Beach, the photographer back to Florida.

The fourth had to leave the city altogether due to a health crisis. But it's a sobering fact: downtown is not going to stay accessible to the very crowd that helped kickstart this revival, but few outside the arts community seems to care about that. Despite naming medicore new restaurants "artisan house"

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Ive been meaning to update everyone on the embassy hotel...

They have installed a bridge on the roof connected the two legs of the building and have made other improvements on the roof. its weird how there isnt much info on this project.