LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[Mojeda101]

Heading over to downtown tomorrow to take a look at things myself. Meaning, a massive photo update is inbound and should be up by around 6 pm pacific time. I apgoize for the quality of the pictures. The iPhone 5 can only handle so many megapixels. Might try Figaro out and see how they're doing as well. Lets see if I get offered drugs this trip as well.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

Heading over to downtown tomorrow to take a look at things myself. Meaning, a massive photo update is inbound and should be up by around 6 pm pacific time. I apgoize for the quality of the pictures. The iPhone 5 can only handle so many megapixels. Might try Figaro out and see how they're doing as well. Lets see if I get offered drugs this trip as well.

You've been offered drugs? Clearly I've been going to the wrong parts of downtown.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

You've been offered drugs? Clearly I've been going to the wrong parts of downtown.

I've seen deals on Los Angeles Street near Cole's on a handful of occasions. DTLA isn't quite yuppyville yet.

[ConstructDTLA]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

I've seen deals on Los Angeles Street near Cole's on a handful of occasions. DTLA isn't quite yuppyville yet.

All over the place at night. As well as guys pissing in broad daylight on busy streets.

But guys we don't talk about negative DTLA here. This is the positive, constructive, DTLA Development thread. (Not even sarcastic).

[Mojeda101]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

You've been offered drugs? Clearly I've been going to the wrong parts of downtown.

In my last 3 trips I've been offered all three times. One trip twice! Usually between 5th and 6th. Once in Pershing square, and my last trip I was offered on Grand near the Broad. I thought that area was safer but I guess not. Hopefully that will be a thing of the past in 10 years.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

I've seen deals on Los Angeles Street near Cole's on a handful of occasions. DTLA isn't quite yuppyville yet.

That explains it. I very, very rarely go east of Main, and if so, it's to the Arts District. But hey, as long as offering drugs is all these people are doing, I couldn't care less. A little bit of drug sales never hurt anybody.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

In my last 3 trips I've been offered all three times. One trip twice! Usually between 5th and 6th. Once in Pershing square, and my last trip I was offered on Grand near the Broad. I thought that area was safer but I guess not. Hopefully that will be a thing of the past in 10 years.

????

Holy crap, that's my hood! A little surprising to hear since I never see riff raff around these parts. Even at night it's still a bunch of octogenarians in their Sunday best walking back and forth to the Disney. I thought I was immune to the ills of DTLA at the top of Angel's Flight but I guess not

[StethJeff]

Could this be DTLA?? I sure as hell hope its planted right next to Staples one day.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Palm Springs hotel to be converted into Hard Rock outpost

By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times
7:51 p.m.

In ever-evolving Palm Springs, a downtown inn will be converted to a Hard Rock Hotel as the desert city continues to crank up its appeal for younger, hipper visitors.

By year end, the Hotel Zoso on Indian Canyon Drive will be turned into a 160-room Hard Rock, where guests can borrow electric Fender guitars to noodle on in their rooms or check out a fancy sound mixer to practice their DJ skills.

Hard Rock brand hotels, casinos and restaurants operate across the nation and in several countries. Among them are a Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood and a Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego. Hard Rock is scouting for a hotel in Los Angeles, said Michael Shindler, executive vice president of hotels and casinos for the Florida company.

The Hotel Zoso will undergo a multimillion-dollar renovation to give it the Hard Rock vibe, Shindler said, with an amped-up pool scene and rock-themed bar and restaurant. Music memorabilia, one of Hard Rock's trademarks, will line the walls.

Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs is intended to appeal to "the vacationer who is looking for a little more activity than riding around the Rancho Mirage golf course," Shindler said. He also reached out to gay travelers, who have helped restore the city's luster as a tourist destination.

"We welcome the gay tourist base," he said.

Lines differentiating gay and straight establishments are blurring in Palm Springs, said local real estate broker Mark Spohn of Sperry Van Ness.

Operators of the Hard Rock Hotel also hope to make it a stop for people taking part in the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, one of the country's largest concert events.

Hard Rock is licensing its brand to the hotel owners to operate the inn as a Hard Rock franchise, Shindler said. Public records show the owners as the Prieto Marquis family and Zoso Aphm.

The Hotel Zoso opened in 2005, according to data provider LoopNet. Operating an independent hotel without the benefits of branding and scale that big chains have is challenging, industry observers say.

"It can work to be one of a kind, but you have to hit on all cylinders to make it work," hotel consultant Bruce Baltin of PKF Consulting said.

"The city of Palm Springs is becoming more of a semi-urban resort destination," Baltin said. "A Hard Rock will add to the energy of it."

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

????

Holy crap, that's my hood! A little surprising to hear since I never see riff raff around these parts. Even at night it's still a bunch of octogenarians in their Sunday best walking back and forth to the Disney. I thought I was immune to the ills of DTLA at the top of Angel's Flight but I guess not

Well, every once in a while you get an outlier. I live in one of the safest neighborhoods in L.A., but earlier this year there was a string of robberies, and ten years ago there was a stabbing. As the saying goes, shit happens.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Interesting little tidbit in this article... Hard Rock is looking to open a hotel in Los Angeles... Downtown would be a prime candidate... Perhaps the Car Wash on Fig / Olympic?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-property-report-20130211,0,7468880.story

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Interesting little tidbit in this article... Hard Rock is looking to open a hotel in Los Angeles... Downtown would be a prime candidate... Perhaps the Car Wash on Fig / Olympic?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-property-report-20130211,0,7468880.story

Might want to look two posts above you...

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

ha, how did i miss that?

[Muji]

I couldn't resist making these. Here's a before and after shot of the Spring Street parklet in front of LA Cafe. It's impressive to see just how many other things you could cram into a parking space, and I think it's clear to see how much more beautiful the street looks as a result. There's another picture and a quick writeup on my blog as well.

Source: http://urbandiachrony.wordpress.com/2013...-of-spring-street-january-february-2013/

[Wally West]

Does anyone know when did this fugly sign appear on the building? Despite all the improvements that are happening in downtown, shit like this is the reason is what keeps me from being overly optimistic of DTLA being considered a world class downtown.

And I apologize for the crappy quality of the picture.

[WonderlandPark]

^^ I saw that saturday

[blackcat23]

Why should we be so worried about someone putting their name on a building? It doesn't affect anyone's quality of life.

[Gram3000]

Its not like they were top quality architecture in the first place, just two non descriptive brown buildings around the perimeter of DTLA. I honestly think someone should buy the World Trade Center, and all those low rise areas between Bunker Hill & Promenade Towers & WDCH and build high density development to further extend the skyline north, Also reconigure Figueroa, Flower & Hope to be more ped friendly. Sorry for the rant, just never understood this area of DT.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by blackcat23

Why should we be so worried about someone putting their name on a building? It doesn't affect anyone's quality of life.

Exactly right. It is the first twenty feet of the building-- how the building interacts at the street level, whether there are curb-cuts, if the building has ground-floor retail that should be important. What happens with the top twenty feet of the building is largely insignificant.

[Wally West]

Originally Posted by blackcat23

Why should we be so worried about someone putting their name on a building? It doesn't affect anyone's quality of life.

It isn't the fact that someone put a name on a sign. It just that the sign looks pretty ugly and cheap looking and it's pretty prominent on the 110 S freeway which allows it to give most people a bad impression of downtown.

[Wally West]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Exactly right. It is the first twenty feet of the building-- how the building interacts at the street level, whether there are curb-cuts, if the building has ground-floor retail that should be important. What happens with the top twenty feet of the building is largely insignificant.

I agree with the first part of your post but disagree with your second. If the latter portion of your post was the case, then why do many people go up in arms whenever buildings attempt to put up signs on the top of buildings? It doesn't completely affect us but it just reflects poorly on the city of LA.