LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0 - Page 500

JDRCRASH · #**9981** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 5:31 PM**

Yes i am still alive... and I just did a major update on page 1, and plan to do yet another one tonight.

In other news (or maybe this is old?), Astani's website has some additional information on the project he plans at 12th and Grand.

He's now calling it "G12": http://www.astanienterprises.com/projects/development/12grand.html

The site:

The building:

I have to say, the left side of the building in the rendering intrigues me.

LA/OCman · #**9982** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 6:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch

that's a wonderful idea! it would be so flattering. I'm touched & honored. So I've changed my mind. I hope Related not only cancels plans for grand ave but promises to keep the tinker toy parking structure & even expand it. Lovely.

I'm a bit irked that KCRW didn't bother to broadcast this evening's discussion at disney hall. They instead replayed some yawnfest from a previous broadcast. No wonder I often don't bother tuning in to that station.

blackcat23, you omitted the most telling bit of the article on the mack urban proj.....it involves only around 6 acres, which isn't much at all. When I first saw that article today...& the description of what sounds like a very ambitious housing devlpt, I immediately thought it was going to occupy a large amt of land. So unless the 6 acre figure is wrong, then the owner must be planning more of a piecemeal type of devlpt.

btw, I had to breeze by dt today & the thing that stood out to me is how scruffy the fwys are that lead to & from it. Litter everywhere on the embankments & landscaping all over the place that's dying from lack of water. Not a good sight for ppl whose sense of dt & LA is based on not just a few things, but many things.

I did notice a large piece of drilling type equipment on the section of the GH palmer da vinci proj that sits closest to the pasadena fwy & could see the other section of that apt proj, along temple St, rising but still not much past ground level. His projs, due to many of them being right next to high visibility fwys, are among the most noticeable in dt.

Good news Citywatch on the freeways:

http://thesource.metro.net/2013/10/02/me...0-i-710-to-enhance-safety-for-motorists/

blackcat23 · #**9983** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 6:02 PM**

Thanks for maintaining Page 1, JD. Looks good!

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**9984** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 6:38 PM**

I agree the north one.... not really that awesome in my opinion.

Also, Amazing news from Urban Mack. They seem to understand what smart planning is. Ive always hated the larger block buildings in the new downtown and i hope that these will be smaller footprints with varied styles. GREAT to hear that they will have alleys and that its highrise. Cant wait. next year is going to be ridiculously fun in downtown LA development.

Kingofthehill · #**9985** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 7:03 PM**

Another 7-story, stumpy box. Great. I would hope that the building would at least be the same height as the South Group stuff across the street. Why developers in this city are so unimaginative is beyond me. Good news for that area, though.

Unrelated: I got a ticket exactly one week ago for parking on an empty Hope Street (directly across from this future building - ran to Hygge to get some bread). The ticket said that I was "more than 5ft outside of the parking space". Complete and utter bS.

inSaeculaSaeculorum · #**9986** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 7:33 PM**

I like it. It could be a nice building. But I agree it needs to be at least another 7 stories taller.

LosAngelesDreamin · #**9987** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 7:41 PM**

I think downtown needs an ordinance that requires developers to build at least 10 stories to at least match the heights of majority buildings downtown like the historic core. 7 stories is just too "suburban trying to be urban" something i would see in Chula Vista.. A "city" wanting to attract the urbanites but keep its anti density suburban feel

WonderlandPark · #**9988** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 7:53 PM**

When Aqua was built, people for a few years "came in their panties" for a few years...no difference here. Both are great towers and their execution of wavy facades is quite different.

I've been to both and like both a great deal. My (slight) edge goes to the Gehry.
I would take EITHER tower in DTLA and the beat the pants off the Stern design.

My Pics

http://www.pixelmap.com/Chicago-IL-11.html
Aqua, Chicago

http://www.pixelmap.com/nyc-bw-02.html
8 Spruce, New York

brudy · #**9989** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 8:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesDreamin

I think downtown needs an ordinance that requires developers to build at least 10 stories to at least match the heights of majority buildings downtown like the historic core. 7 stories is just too "suburban trying to be urban" something i would see in Chula Vista.. A "city" wanting to attract the urbanites but keep its anti density suburban feel

That's the thought behind Huizar's city council motion to push for taller development in certain areas of downtown. Here's a link to Blackcat's most excellent blog post on the subject: http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com/2013/09/la-city-council-looks-to-facilitate.html

DistrictDirt · #**9990** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 10:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Also, Amazing news from Urban Mack. They seem to understand what smart planning urban design is.

I know its a nit-pick, but there is a big difference.

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**9991** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 10:46 PM**

No worries, youre right.

Also, Astanis building is actually 8 stories so i would think that its going to be metal / concrete / steel and not wood. Design actually looks pretty good to me, but i agree, i would like it to be a bit taller

DJM19 · #**9992** Posted **Oct 3, 2013, 11:25 PM**

I think the design is adequate. They just need to take the back half of the building and stack it on top of the front half. The solution to so many buildings. If you are going to be a monolith, do it vertically.

citywatch · #**9993** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 3:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA/OCman

Good news Citywatch on the freeways:

http://thesource.metro.net/2013/10/02/me...0-i-710-to-enhance-safety-for-motorists/

thanks for that link, la/ocman. The condition of many of the fwys that serve dtla is so slummy right now, that the city does give off a feeling of desperation & failure. that quality is something that's easy to forget or overlook unless one actually is on location, looking at things closely & directly.

I sometimes think ppl are too hard when they rate LA very poorly....as what's shown in that survey I posted a few days ago....where LA is stuck on the bottom, right down there with basket cases like detroit & oakland. But then on so many occasions when I'm actually IN the hoods of LA, inc dt, I feel like a big bucket of cold water has just been poured on me. iow, the reality of LA can be very, very sobering.

So, no, the big problem....the big

or

.....isn't due to new bldgs being too short, or having too much enclosed parking, or a lack of sidewalk access, or architecture that's too gimmicky. We should be so lucky if those were the big failings of LA.

some ppl's way of judging LA reminds me of a doctor who's giving an exam to a person who's just been in a severe car accident....& has a concussion, broken limbs, & oozing bloody wounds....& concludes the patient needs to eat lunch, get more nap time & try to sing on key.

inSaeculaSaeculorum · #**9994** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 3:47 AM**

citywatch, you're like someone who goes to a messageboard about football coaching and complains that all the forumers talk too much about offensive sets, defensive strategies and roster management and not enough about how ugly the football uniforms are.

alki · #**9995** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 5:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by brudy

Examples of attempts at cutting edge architecture that you think failed? Not arguing, just wondering which ones you think failed?

Pershing Square.

Mojeda101 · #**9996** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 5:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by alki

Pershing Square.

HAAS building at 7th and Broadway.

alki · #**9997** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 5:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The North One

I don't get why everyone on Skyscraperpage love to *gush* over how much they love this tower, it's nothing special and Aqua already did the whole moving wave façade shtick (and a lot better might I add). All of Gehry's work is the same tin-foil garbage he keeps reprocessing over and over again.

I agree. I think Gehry's work has become cookie cutter and dated. I think one of his best bldgs was in Prague but that was built over 10 years ago.

alki · #**9998** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 5:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

HAAS building at 7th and Broadway.

Yeah, I don't remember it but looking at photos......that looks to be another example.

alki · #**9999** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 5:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

The building:

I have to say, the left side of the building in the rendering intrigues me.

I really like this bldg.........and to me it doesn't matter how tall it is esp since its on the fringe of DTLA. I guess I have bad taste.

Talking about bad taste.........I might as well put this out there.........I am not a big fan of the WDCH. [runs from the tomatoes getting flung his way]

There. I. Said. It.

alki · #**10000** Posted **Oct 4, 2013, 6:01 AM**

deleted