LOS ANGELES | Central City Project Rundown 5.0

[Docjalby]

Wow. People keep referring to a opinion piece from 11 years ago on what DTLA should do and think it is relevant today. It's idiotic to think paper written when DTLA had 20,000 non-skid row residents actually is accurate in thinking it relates to a DTLA that will have 75,000 residents in three years. A paper written last year wouldn't even be accurate.

I especially love it how he says there are parking lots that can never be developed in the historic core because of parking requirements, and yet every one of those parking lots has a project planned or is up for sale.

And to be specific so I don't get my words conflated with tons of other things, I think turning a surface parking lot into a high rise parking lot with ground level retail on a block where are the fully used surface parking lots are being made into residential towers is appropriate and needed.

[CaliforniaSoul]

So while I haven't lived in LA for some time now, I do still like to read about all the things that are going on in Downtown LA. While doing some research for my own blog I came across this page http://jtwimsatt.com/webcam/ which has a video about the recent concrete pour at 801 S Olive and, you guessed it, includes renderings of the new design of the building. I think this design is quite an improvement over what was previously proposed even though that parking podium is obviously less than ideal. Anyway, happy to see so much going on in DTLA!

[Quixote]

^ Thanks for bringing that to our attention!

Yes, it is a marked improvement.

[MultiK]

I wouldn't say it's a marked improvement. I quite liked the old renders, seemed more modern in an intangible sense.

Perhaps I'm asking for too much.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by eclipse

How about these?


http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews....661-07ad7a826e67/55285f7f9eda9.image.png


http://www.trbimg.com/img-54f7981d/turbi...-marriott-tower-jpg-20150304/450/450x450

Just the one has a "spire," and it looks tacked on...

[Docjalby]

Macy's sign. by Josh Albrektson, on Flickr

Last day to see this sign. It is supposed to come down today at 11 AM.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by Bikemike

Your thinking is so outdated it hurts to read you comments. It doesn't matter how much parking you build, because as long as streets aren't widened, you'll end up shooting yourself in the foot. You can build 75,000 more parking spaces but try filling all the streets in DTLA with 75,000 more cars trying to get to all that parking.

Don't you see that there is a law of diminishing return when it comes to auto-centric planning? This isn't rocket science. Focusing too intently on car-centric mobility automatically limits how vibrant a city can be. At this point, more and more people are recognizing the obvious. LA has just about reached capacity as far as how auto-centrically it can build. There's no more space to widen roads, and there's no room for more cars without sacrificing land use intensity and vibrancy. The only way to densify more sensibly is to build alternatives to the car in the form of transit, which LA is doing.

Take the advice of DistrictDirt and 202 and do yourself a favor and educate yourself on People, Parking, and Cities by Donald Shoup. You aren't breaking any new ground here.

This is it exactly. Can I sign up for your newsletter? That Shoup piece is held in very high regard and worth reading.

[alki]

Originally Posted by Docjalby

Last day to see this sign. It is supposed to come down today at 11 AM.

Oh the horror..........not.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by alki

Oh the horror..........not.

I know - I'm tempted to go pour one out for it but I'd probably get a hobo trying to catch it in his hat.

[Jun]

Originally Posted by Quixote

Much better than the last design, I hated those ugly extrusions, now if we could just work at getting rid of these huge parking podiums.

[Mojeda101]

Love the new design. It's only a matter of time before we see it get a neighbor nextdoor and another directly behind it.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

Love the new design. It's only a matter of time before we see it get a neighbor nextdoor and another directly behind it.

I also mostly like the new design more (I didn't like the extrusions in the earlier version). A nice side benefit is that at least this now breaks up that sea of parking lots. Walking in the area will have a very different feel, even with with the remaining lots. I think that entire block only had one building (the Stillwell) until now.

If we can get three separate developments on the remaining lots, this is how a block should be done, rather than the epic 7 story across the street.

[WestCoastSupertall]

Work seems to be progressing on the observation deck at US Bank. OUE has the lobby draped with huge tarps with the company logo, and it appears that they have a visitor entrance cut into the right front of the building. It was too dark last night to snap some photos.

[Beverly Hills Nimby]

Well, at least we know if we had a Western facing unit in 888 Olive, the views wouldn't be blocked by the adjacent 5 story CVS.

[colemonkee]

The top is a little bit janky on the redesigned 801 Olive, and it appears like they've lost the glowing podium treatment - which I liked - but other than that, this is a reasonably decent design. Nothing to write home about, but not offensive.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by brudy

I also mostly like the new design more (I didn't like the extrusions in the earlier version). A nice side benefit is that at least this now breaks up that sea of parking lots. Walking in the area will have a very different feel, even with with the remaining lots. I think that entire block only had one building (the Stillwell) until now.

If we can get three separate developments on the remaining lots, this is how a block should be done, rather than the epic 7 story across the street.

The Stillwell and the South Park Lofts building (Which i lived at for 4 years) were the only two in that entire block. I agree, that this is how a block should be developed.. piece by piece, rather than a monotonous 7 story behemoth.

Im hoping we get a slender, tallish tower between the SPL and Stillwell and two towers on the lots facing 9th street.

[213]

11:00 -- right on time...



Photo: Me

[caligrad]

Originally Posted by Quixote

^ Thanks for bringing that to our attention!

Yes, it is a marked improvement.

OH THANK GOD ! not knowing what this was going to look like was really irking my nerves. Not ground breaking by a long shot but a major improvement over the last 2 proposals. Simple. classy. modern. will cover more airspace so will have a bigger impact on the skyline. I likes

[caligrad]

Originally Posted by Docjalby

Here is my garbage response:
People keep saying how San Francisco and New York do things and if we eliminate parking that would be amazing because we would be just like them.

You are comparing the first and second densely populated cities with Los Angeles which was intentionally built as a low density city. Google Prop U. San Francisco has 17,000 people per square mile and is the size of DTLA as a whole. New York has 27,000 per square mile. Los Angeles has a density of 8,200 people per square mile with a much worse public transportation system than either of these two cities.

So is Disney Hall really comparable to Louis Davis Hall in San Francisco?? That's one of the most hilarious things I have ever heard. Louis Davis Hall has about 300-400,000 people within walking distance. Disney has about 40,000 in walking distance. And when it was built that number was about 20,000 in walking distance.

As I keep linking, look at the development map and see how many fully used surface lots are being turned into residential projects. Even the ones that don't have a project planned are up for sale, including the ones the this Shoup says will never be developed.

You can't tell me that this multistory parking lot, which I look at from my window, will not be used.

But hey, maybe if we don't build it, the 500,000 people who commute into DTLA each day will magically all move down here and solve all problems.

Wow you kept your word on a garbage response, even though I wasn't directly responding to you but just in general.

I'm actually guessing it is suppose to be sarcastic response....because I never mentioned or compared LA to any other city. I try to avoid city vs. city situations. Not good for the thread. I never compared Disney hall to any other music halls either so I'm confused to how your response had anything to do with me actually?? Kinda like "I don't know what to say so let me pull anything out of my A$$ to respond" trick...

kind of a douche move actually..... Like those people who always post pictures of celebrities on social media as if they hang out with them regularly but they look out of place.... or when they asked a celebrity to marry them and got turned down but no one cares or asked..... or a "doctor" breaking every hippa law violation by posting one of their young clients on social media and claimed it was because you want to use it to pick up chicks......right I thought douche driven people and responses were extinct by now. guess I was wrong

[caligrad]

In other news. I'm really enjoying the designs that LA in general is getting lately. Truly will have a dense modern skyline in no time. clean and current. Now if we can just expand the metro rails into all the untouched areas of the county. I will be happy.