LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

What is it? Is it a highrise?

And speaking of highrises, didn't you have some insider knowledge of Zen? How's that going?

No, mid-rise like everything else right now.

[travanx]

These little places here and there getting bought and renovated are definitely good for the city. These developers are normally thoughtfully planning these buildouts for accommodating low income housing. Meaning they want more bike spaces over parking spaces. They don't want to put AC in, and instead try to use cheaper powered ventilation to keep costs down for the residents. I have a feeling within 2-3 years of any of these low income developments will come the better restaurants, trendy lofts and everything else associated with it.

Also we happened to walk by Umami Sunday night, around 6pm, and the place was packed and very alive. That corner on Broadway had such a different feeling. I can't wait to see it the next Monday night, as that is when Downtown seems to be so dead lately.

And earlier to those that think I am bitter for some reason. I am not. I am just paying attention to everything going on around here. Maybe it's just how my building is being run that is causing people to move out. I am seeing a lot more broken glass and windows around here. More people getting into fights on the sidewalks. A lot more police cars, ambulances and helicopters around LA Live. I haven't seen an LAPD alert posted in our building until recently. I never said its dangerous as in murders. But there is other stuff going on. Trying to give my opinion from someone living down here that is very eager to walk around the city at all times of the day/night.

Fromhttp://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/neighborhood/downtown/crime/#six-months
"Six-month summary
533 VIOLENT
CRIMES
1,610 PROPERTY
CRIMES
103.3 CRIMES
PER 10,000 PEOPLE
Six-month summaries are based on the latest six months where data are available from all departments, Aug. 1, 2011 to Jan. 29, 2012
Over the last six months, the rate of 103.3 crimes per 10,000 people is higher than in nearby Lincoln Heights, Chinatown and Echo Park and lower than Boyle Heights, University Park, Central-Alameda, Pico-Union, Westlake and Historic South-Central.
A daytime population estimate of 207,440 from SCAG is used to calculate per-capita totals because the Census Bureau's residential estimates underrepresent the population at risk of crime."

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by travanx

Fromhttp://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/neighborhood/downtown/crime/#six-months
"Six-month summary
533 VIOLENT
CRIMES
1,610 PROPERTY
CRIMES
103.3 CRIMES
PER 10,000 PEOPLE
Six-month summaries are based on the latest six months where data are available from all departments, Aug. 1, 2011 to Jan. 29, 2012
Over the last six months, the rate of 103.3 crimes per 10,000 people is higher than in nearby Lincoln Heights, Chinatown and Echo Park and lower than Boyle Heights, University Park, Central-Alameda, Pico-Union, Westlake and Historic South-Central.
A daytime population estimate of 207,440 from SCAG is used to calculate per-capita totals because the Census Bureau's residential estimates underrepresent the population at risk of crime."

Yes, but don't forget, this takes into account Skid Row, which no one is going to argue is a safe place.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Downtown LA is pretty safe throughout most of where new residents are moving into. I don't think anyone would feel danger walking around Bunker Hill, FiDi, northern South Park, and some parts of the Historic Core like Spring St which has so many pedestrians on the street now.

But yes, Skid Row is concentrated poverty (like Dawn dish soap) and so it's not surprising that the crime there is probably ridiculously high for its size. That's why it's so important to break that shit up and dilute it. Spread out across the region. But don't tell that to the ACLU!!

[DistrictDirt]

I never felt threatened or in danger living in Downtown, but it did start to annoy me that the neighborhood- and specifically the building we were in, attracted such a rowdy, uncouth, and frankly unneighborly crowd. Lots of late night parties, trash left in the stairwells, and even negligent pet owners leaving their dogs mess in the hall or elevator. One of my neighbors recounted a story that happened to them recently. Their adjacent neighbor was having a party one weekend, and still had the volume of their music high at 2 in the morning. When my friend complained to them, they rolled their eyes and replied "This is a young building."- as if that completely excuses it. I raged over that comment when I heard the story, and it didn't even happen to me directly.

I don't know if the problem is that downtown living is so new to LA that people haven't worked out how to act yet, or if the issue is that Downtown is just really skewing young right now, or maybe its just that I'm getting old All I know is that I'm looking forward to the neighborhood maturing just a little bit.

Originally Posted by travanx

These little places here and there getting bought and renovated are definitely good for the city. These developers are normally thoughtfully planning these buildouts for accommodating low income housing. Meaning they want more bike spaces over parking spaces. They don't want to put AC in, and instead try to use cheaper powered ventilation to keep costs down for the residents. I have a feeling within 2-3 years of any of these low income developments will come the better restaurants, trendy lofts and everything else associated with it.

Also we happened to walk by Umami Sunday night, around 6pm, and the place was packed and very alive. That corner on Broadway had such a different feeling. I can't wait to see it the next Monday night, as that is when Downtown seems to be so dead lately.

And earlier to those that think I am bitter for some reason. I am not. I am just paying attention to everything going on around here. Maybe it's just how my building is being run that is causing people to move out. I am seeing a lot more broken glass and windows around here. More people getting into fights on the sidewalks. A lot more police cars, ambulances and helicopters around LA Live. I haven't seen an LAPD alert posted in our building until recently. I never said its dangerous as in murders. But there is other stuff going on. Trying to give my opinion from someone living down here that is very eager to walk around the city at all times of the day/night.

Fromhttp://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/neighborhood/downtown/crime/#six-months
"Six-month summary
533 VIOLENT
CRIMES
1,610 PROPERTY
CRIMES
103.3 CRIMES
PER 10,000 PEOPLE
Six-month summaries are based on the latest six months where data are available from all departments, Aug. 1, 2011 to Jan. 29, 2012
Over the last six months, the rate of 103.3 crimes per 10,000 people is higher than in nearby Lincoln Heights, Chinatown and Echo Park and lower than Boyle Heights, University Park, Central-Alameda, Pico-Union, Westlake and Historic South-Central.
A daytime population estimate of 207,440 from SCAG is used to calculate per-capita totals because the Census Bureau's residential estimates underrepresent the population at risk of crime."

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ I think it is generally a younger and more "avant garde" (i.e., hipster) crowd that is attracted to Spring Street right now because of the gritty nature. If you live on Bunker Hill, say the Museum Tower or Grand Promenade Tower, perhaps it'll be of another completely different demographic (and maybe quieter too). Even Hikari and Sakura Crossing may have a different and more quieter experience from what I have heard from those who live there.

What we need more of are traditional style condos and apartments like those in Downtown San Diego which attract families and "older" professionals. If you go to San Diego's DT, there is nary a hipster around. However, I think there is something cool about Spring Street right now, it's just that we need more of OTHER demographics to help balance things out.

Downtown LA is still a very new residential community and will definitely be going through some growing pains in the next decade. Eventually, there will be a better balance when the attraction reaches an even broader range of people and demographics.

[alki]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

I don't know if the problem is that downtown living is so new to LA that people haven't worked out how to act yet, or if the issue is that Downtown is just really skewing young right now, or maybe its just that I'm getting old All I know is that I'm looking forward to the neighborhood maturing just a little bit.

It has to do with age but it also has to do with drugs. LA is a big drug town. Two of my bldgs skewed younger and lower middle to middle. The key is mgmt. I managed my own buildings which meant I was ever vigilante and would pop over to a building on Sat nite before or after date. Plus, I was pretty familiar with drugs since I had friends who had gotten hooked on meth and heroin.

What would blow me away is how quickly a tenant [and bldg] would turn if you didn't pay attention. I had this one guy.....nice guy from the Midwest......had lived in my bldg for 3 years....always paid his rent on time......had a great job with one of the studios. One day, the managers called and told me to come over.....X was in trouble. Within 3-4 mos, he had gotten hooked on heroin and his apt was a mess. I told him to clean it up. Shortly after, he defaulted on his rent and I had to evict him. The day the sheriffs came, I was there..........he said he was sorry. It was very sad........later, I learned things got much worse for him and his family came out and took him home. Similar stories were repeated over and over again.

LA is a hard town.......things move at hyper speed. It makes managing bldgs harder esp if the crowd is younger. Its easier to rehab or put up a new blding than to manage it. People like Travanx are important........telling it like they see it. When a neighborhood is turning, you need people watching 24/7.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by alki

It has to do with age but it also has to do with drugs. LA is a big drug town. Two of my bldgs skewed younger and lower middle to middle. The key is mgmt. I managed my own buildings which meant I was ever vigilante and would pop over to a building on Sat nite before or after date. Plus, I was pretty familiar with drugs since I had friends who had gotten hooked on meth and heroin.

What would blow me away is how quickly a tenant [and bldg] would turn if you didn't pay attention. I had this one guy.....nice guy from the Midwest......had lived in my bldg for 3 years....always paid his rent on time......had a great job with one of the studios. One day, the managers called and told me to come over.....X was in trouble. Within 3-4 mos, he had gotten hooked on heroin and his apt was a mess. I told him to clean it up. Shortly after, he defaulted on his rent and I had to evict him. The day the sheriffs came, I was there..........he said he was sorry. It was very sad........later, I learned things got much worse for him and his family came out and took him home. Similar stories were repeated over and over again.

LA is a hard town.......things move at hyper speed. It makes managing bldgs harder esp if the crowd is younger. Its easier to rehab or put up a new blding than to manage it. People like Travanx are important........telling it like they see it. When a neighborhood is turning, you need people watching 24/7.

This is about what I said a day ago, only for once, I was a lot more subtle. You are going to try to attract artsy types into cheap SRO units and not allow drugs? Sounds more like a comedy routine than a plan for improving a neighborhood. How many drug free parties do you think there will be there? And, of course, dealers tend to congregate where the customers are.

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by pesto

This is about what I said a day ago, only for once, I was a lot more subtle. You are going to try to attract artsy types into cheap SRO units and not allow drugs? Sounds more like a comedy routine than a plan for improving a neighborhood. How many drug free parties do you think there will be there? And, of course, dealers tend to congregate where the customers are.

I can't say I agree with this. You're talking about 2 different crowds. Hipsters/artist types tend to get drugs through their network of friends (e.g. "I know a guy who knows a guy, etc.") Not the same at all as dealers slinging crack and dope to the skid row crowd on the street. Different classes of society, different drugs, different dealers.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

For those of you who have been on this SSP LA forum long enough, the whole thing regarding the County Buildings being torn down to make way for a much bigger and accessible Grand Ave Park was my obsession and how I got into Downtown LA development (ie. the DCBID, etc.).

Now it looks like there might actually be a chance this could happen!

Please check it out and if you have any thoughts, please share them!


Link: Relocate County Buildings into Federal Courthouse to Expand Grand Ave Park



Photo by me

[Kingofthehill]

I hope they preserve that lovely, late-Deco entrance!

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

^ I think it is generally a younger and more "avant garde" (i.e., hipster) crowd that is attracted to Spring Street right now because of the gritty nature. If you live on Bunker Hill, say the Museum Tower or Grand Promenade Tower, perhaps it'll be of another completely different demographic (and maybe quieter too). Even Hikari and Sakura Crossing may have a different and more quieter experience from what I have heard from those who live there.

What we need more of are traditional style condos and apartments like those in Downtown San Diego which attract families and "older" professionals. If you go to San Diego's DT, there is nary a hipster around. However, I think there is something cool about Spring Street right now, it's just that we need more of OTHER demographics to help balance things out.

Downtown LA is still a very new residential community and will definitely be going through some growing pains in the next decade. Eventually, there will be a better balance when the attraction reaches an even broader range of people and demographics.

You're dead on. The demographics on Bunker Hill are completely the opposite of Spring Street (thankfully). My neighbors all seem to be either professionals or students. It's definitely quiet. None of the strung out hipsters that populate the SB Grand Lobby are anywhere to be found. No homeless either.

It definitely feels like we're cheating when we tell people that we live in DTLA. All of the benefits and none if any of the drawbacks.

[LA/OCman]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

You're dead on. The demographics on Bunker Hill are completely the opposite of Spring Street (thankfully). My neighbors all seem to be either professionals or students. It's definitely quiet. None of the strung out hipsters that populate the SB Grand Lobby are anywhere to be found. No homeless either.

It definitely feels like we're cheating when we tell people that we live in DTLA. All of the benefits and none if any of the drawbacks.

Well, the main drawback in my opinon is the absence of the coolness, beauty and history of living in a historic masterpiece. You can't get that on Bunker Hill! The prewar buildings with brick walls, terra cotta exteriors, marble staircases, iron banasters, clock towers, ornate exterior details are many of the pluses of living in the Historic Core or the Arts District. As with anywhere...there are positives and negatives in each neighborhood.

There are very few places in Southern California to experience historic buildings with a true feel of a real neighborhood. I prefer the HC and when outsiders visit from OC they are blown away by what we have here. I guess living in historic condo lofts reduces the problems of mismanagement. That will change when the economy justifies more home ownership and these developers go back to their original concepts....fewer apartments and more "for sale" units.

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

^ I think it is generally a younger and more "avant garde" (i.e., hipster) crowd that is attracted to Spring Street right now because of the gritty nature. If you live on Bunker Hill, say the Museum Tower or Grand Promenade Tower, perhaps it'll be of another completely different demographic (and maybe quieter too). Even Hikari and Sakura Crossing may have a different and more quieter experience from what I have heard from those who live there.

Brigham I think you nailed it. Something else I just thought about- the fact that SB Tower is rental. 99% of renters are fine (hey, I've been renting my whole life, and I feel like I"m an upstanding tenant) but you always have that 1% that feels like "this is temporary, I can treat the building and my neighbors like shit). My point being, when everyone has a stake in the building, they tend to behave better. So I'm guessing that the Rowan and Dorado - also on Spring St, attracts a different crowd.

Lastly- this is totally rumor, but I heard through the grapevine that Barry Shy instructed SB Tower management to not be as selective as normal with the applications, so they could fill up the building quickly. I heard that there have been a lot of evictions from people who had no business living there in the first place that stopped paying rent. Crazy.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

Lastly- this is totally rumor, but I heard through the grapevine that Barry Shy instructed SB Tower management to not be as selective as normal with the applications, so they could fill up the building quickly. I heard that there have been a lot of evictions from people who had no business living there in the first place that stopped paying rent. Crazy.

Barry Shy is a plague upon downtown. All his buildings are crazy ugly and crazy cheap. His adaptive reuses look like shit, and he destroyed the beautiful mid-century architecture of his Shy Barry Tower, or whatever he calls it. I know he was proposing a 40 story tower across from Pacific Electric Lofts, and frankly, I'm scared to see what that tower looks like.

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Barry Shy is a plague upon downtown. All his buildings are crazy ugly and crazy cheap. His adaptive reuses look like shit, and he destroyed the beautiful mid-century architecture of his Shy Barry Tower, or whatever he calls it. I know he was proposing a 40 story tower across from Pacific Electric Lofts, and frankly, I'm scared to see what that tower looks like.

He definitely did much better with the units in SB Tower than his other buildings- they actually look very nice inside- not just compared to his other buildings but to all the rental buildings on Spring Street. But 'cheap' is an understatement. They used the thinnest coat of paint I've ever seen. If you accidentally lean on a wall, guaranteed it will mar the paint leave a mark. And lots of units are having problems with leaks- leaks that drip rusty water from the steel beams that run along the ceiling, loosening the foam insulation and knocking it onto the floor. We left the building for other reasons, but it feels good to have gotten out of a place that's done so cheaply, yet is so expensive and w/ management that nickels-and-dimes you so heavily for everything.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

DistrictDirt - Do you think eventually a larger company like Equity Residential would come and buy some of Shy Barry's properties and give them an upgrade?

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

DistrictDirt - Do you think eventually a larger company like Equity Residential would come and buy some of Shy Barry's properties and give them an upgrade?

I would love to see that happen. That part of Spring St is the heart of downtown gentrification. Spring/6th is like Houston/Broadway in SoHo 20 years ago. As it gets nicer and nicer, the SB buildings will be thrown into increasingly stark relief if they're not improved. But would Barry Shy ever sell? I guess everyone has their price.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

I would love to see that happen. That part of Spring St is the heart of downtown gentrification. Spring/6th is like Houston/Broadway in SoHo 20 years ago. As it gets nicer and nicer, the SB buildings will be thrown into increasingly stark relief if they're not improved. But would Barry Shy ever sell? I guess everyone has their price.

Barry Shy especially has his price. It's been proven that all he cares about is money, and if someone offered him a shit ton of dough (excuse the language) then I am sure he would take it.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

I have heard thru the grapevine that he is not doing as well as we think financially from his rental properties. Makes sense when DD said he's trying to lease them out to ANYONE and EVERYONE to get cash flow in. This would be a perfect opportunity for a large company like Equity Residential to swoop in and snatch up these SB properties. They purchased Pegasus from KOR and did a very nice job revamping it in the lobby and on the roof. I know they're not PERFECT (who is?), but they're probably way better than SB management.