LOS ANGELES | Central City Project Rundown 5.0

[brudy]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Work on the Broadway trade center has started! Old awnings being taken down as I type. (they actually started that last friday) very excited for this

Oh man, that's awesome news. And just to recap I think it was Flavius who posted the rooftop bar permits last week? This is going to be great.

[ConstructDTLA]

Wilshire Grand Saturday night

Wilshire Grand Tower by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

[Beverly Hills Nimby]

Originally Posted by retina

Now if we can just get Apple to make that announcement we're all waiting for....

It's not necessarily Apple, I think its the Beats by Dre is going to have offices in BTC.

[ThomJames]

H

Originally Posted by brudy

The developers can't skip on parking because of zoning regs. They have little choice. But look at all the conversions in the core that don't have parking, both rental (like the Chester Williams) and condo (like Rowan). Neither have their own parking and both are full. So while people might need/want parking, it's not keeping them from buying or renting (like in any other city) at these properties. This is life in most cities. You walk to your car.

I'd wager that developers would love to get rid of parking since it adds so much to the cost and time of construction. This is also keeping lease rates higher.

That argument doesn't really hold weight. There have been many examples of developers who have built a lot more parking than regs require. If you're going to buy a $500k-$2mil condo you really don't want to walk to your car. The buildings you site are all historic buildings, so of course the parking situation is different. Most new high rises I have seen in NY have quite a bit of parking.

After all, if a developer can't sell/ lease parking to its tenants/ buyers, they can always sell the parking to others.

The plan at 8th and Grand with CVS, as well as the new L&R garage across from Metropolis shows there is obviously sizable demand for parking

[LA/OCman]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Work on the Broadway trade center has started! Old awnings being taken down as I type. (they actually started that last friday) very excited for this

This is great news. Let's hope they buy the Merritt building across the street and renovate it. The Broadway Trade Center is so huge and has such great bones that it will impact the area for blocks in the near future. The NYers, the Canadians and the Chinese are really changing DTLA. It is getting interesting now.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by Beverly Hills Nimby

It's not necessarily Apple, I think its the Beats by Dre is going to have offices in BTC.

That would actually make a lot of sense.

Either way, the Broadway Trade Center renovation is a huge game changer for the area, as it is probably the biggest deadzone on Broadway. Incredibly excited for this to be completed.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by ThomJames

H

That argument doesn't really hold weight. There have been many examples of developers who have built a lot more parking than regs require. If you're going to buy a $500k-$2mil condo you really don't want to walk to your car. The buildings you site are all historic buildings, so of course the parking situation is different. Most new high rises I have seen in NY have quite a bit of parking.

After all, if a developer can't sell/ lease parking to its tenants/ buyers, they can always sell the parking to others.

The plan at 8th and Grand with CVS, as well as the new L&R garage across from Metropolis shows there is obviously sizable demand for parking

My point about historic buildings is that people will buy and rent them even without parking. Overbuilding parking is a holdout to old suburban thinking. As a counterpoint, plenty of developers have also traded car parking for bike stalls.

The parking glut over near 8th and 9th and metropolis will be interesting. I'm going to Whole Foods, I don't need another garage, they have their own. The bloc has parking, Metropolis has its parking, Fig Central has parking. We'll see if all that actually gets utilized. Yes we obviously need garages, but the point about building so much residential parking in a transit-rich environment is that increases rents and prices. Maybe they wouldn't be 500k-2M if spots didn't cost 50k per to build. In any case, anybody buying a 2m condo is in a tiny market however many standard deviations from the norm - not a normal use case. The mega rich will do what the megarich always do - whatever they want. The last thing I'd want is for downtown to become the New Manhattan in terms of affordability.

[retina]

Originally Posted by Beverly Hills Nimby

It's not necessarily Apple, I think its the Beats by Dre is going to have offices in BTC.

Sounds like Beats by Dre signed a long-term lease at they Culver City HQ. Doubt they would need additional offices in the LA area.

http://losangelescommercialre.com/2015/02/18/beats-by-dre-hq-in-culver-city-sells-for-110m/

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by brudy

My point about historic buildings is that people will buy and rent them even without parking. Overbuilding parking is a holdout to old suburban thinking. As a counterpoint, plenty of developers have also traded car parking for bike stalls.

The parking glut over near 8th and 9th and metropolis will be interesting. I'm going to Whole Foods, I don't need another garage, they have their own. The bloc has parking, Metropolis has its parking, Fig Central has parking. We'll see if all that actually gets utilized. Yes we obviously need garages, but the point about building so much residential parking in a transit-rich environment is that increases rents and prices. Maybe they wouldn't be 500k-2M if spots didn't cost 50k per to build. In any case, anybody buying a 2m condo is in a tiny market however many standard deviations from the norm - not a normal use case. The mega rich will do what the megarich always do - whatever they want. The last thing I'd want is for downtown to become the New Manhattan in terms of affordability.

Bingo! Im willing to be that over half of these parking stalls will sit empty for 99% of the time and the renters and buyers will have to pay for it

[SimonLA]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Bingo! Im willing to be that over half of these parking stalls will sit empty for 99% of the time and the renters and buyers will have to pay for it

Can they be repurposed for anything?

Sidenote: Does anyone know if construction started on the Arts District pocket park? The one near Urth Cafe.

[Muji]

Construction did begin on the park at 5th and Hewitt sometime last fall (last seen in one of kelbeen's posts). I can't speak to the current state of its progress, but from what I remember they were aiming for a Summer 2015 completion.

[ConstructDTLA]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Bingo! Im willing to be that over half of these parking stalls will sit empty for 99% of the time and the renters and buyers will have to pay for it

Yep. The surplus of parking in DTLA would blow most ignoramuses minds. We have thousands of spaces that go empty every day, and 10s of thousands every single night.

The classic Angeleno concept of Downtown being hard to park in always angers me. This is the **easiest** (eastside) neighborhood to park in. If garages are to be built, put them where they're needed: Silverlake, Silverlake, Silverlake, Koreatown, Koreatown, Arts District, Hollywood.

[bighomey3000]

Originally Posted by DTLAdenizen

Yep. The surplus of parking in DTLA would blow most ignoramuses minds. We have thousands of spaces that go empty every day, and 10s of thousands every single night.

The classic Angeleno concept of Downtown being hard to park in always angers me. This is the easiest (eastside) neighborhood to park in. If garages are to be built, put them where they're needed: Silverlake, Silverlake, Silverlake, Koreatown, Koreatown, Arts District, Hollywood.

Lol well said.

[Docjalby]

They are building the parking structure at 8th and Grand for the future, not right now. Just look at the blocks touching the 8/grand/9/olive block. We have surface parking lots being replaced by Whole foods with a ton of apartments, a 32 story building, another 32 story building, and a 50 story building. You also have the commercial exchange and empire hotel opening with no parking at all. And 7th street is about to remove all of their street parking in a year. And 2 blocks away the broadway trade center will be redone without any parking.

There definitely will be a need for this parking lot.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Docjalby

They are building the parking structure at 8th and Grand for the future, not right now. Just look at the blocks touching the 8/grand/9/olive block. We have surface parking lots being replaced by Whole foods with a ton of apartments, a 32 story building, another 32 story building, and a 50 story building. You also have the commercial exchange and empire hotel opening with no parking at all. And 7th street is about to remove all of their street parking in a year. And 2 blocks away the broadway trade center will be redone without any parking.

There definitely will be a need for this parking lot.

Every new project has their own parking and there are 9, NINE! massive parking structure in that area. I think 5 would have been sufficient. Also a garage on the corner of 8th and grand is a colossal waste. That's a prominent corner. It's like that parking structure with the Carl's Jr on 7th and Broadway. Stupidity at its best

[SimonLA]

There's no question that there's a glut. The issue is that many developers believe people won't walk two blocks from their car to their destination and then back to retrieve it. I don't think that anti-walking mindset is really pervasive in the city anymore, especially not in DTLA.

[colemonkee]

I've walked a block and a half to and from my car for nearly 10 years now. It takes about a week to get used to it, then it becomes perfectly normal. Most people in downtown get that, and don't worry about it. Yes, it's more convenient to have parking in your building, but most in DTLA are able-bodied people willing to walk the extra block.

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

I've walked a block and a half to and from my car for nearly 10 years now. It takes about a week to get used to it, then it becomes perfectly normal. Most people in downtown get that, and don't worry about it. Yes, it's more convenient to have parking in your building, but most in DTLA are able-bodied people willing to walk the extra block.

I concur with this assessment. I have to walk a couple blocks as well- the deeded parking space that came with our loft is not in Santee Village itself but it in the Maple St garage (next to Star Apartments). It only took me a week or so to adjust to the 5 minute walk, and its really not a big deal anyway considering how little I drive living downtown.

[Mojeda101]

Does anyone know what's the deal with the Singer building? I know they've probably done a ton of interior work and even removed the water tower on the roof but has anyone seen workers actually going in and out? I haven't seen much exterior work either.

[ConstructDTLA]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

Does anyone know what's the deal with the Singer building? I know they've probably done a ton of interior work and even removed the water tower on the roof but has anyone seen workers actually going in and out? I haven't seen much exterior work either.

Looks the same to me as it has for years. Maybe he ran out of money?

Singer Building Restoration 8th + Broadway by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr