LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[NIMBY Slayer]

Originally Posted by LAisthePlace

Normally I'm a fan of adaptive reuse and shifting from a previous use to housing, but in this case I really hope it stays a hotel.

While Downtown is now prolific with rooftop bars there are few that compete with a night out on the rooftop of the Standard.

It's been in countless movies (Under The Silver Lake, Get Him To the Greek, Fracture, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and shows (Bones, Entourage) and it'd be a shame if that relatively public space became a private amenity for apartments.

Plenty of surface parking lots still to build on in Downtown, so hoping this one stays hotel.

Off topic, but I love the movie Under The Silver Lake. It's very LA. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

Plus the scene where he crashes the party on the Standard rooftop is great.

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by LAisthePlace

Normally I'm a fan of adaptive reuse and shifting from a previous use to housing, but in this case I really hope it stays a hotel.

I really can't see that building continuing to be anything other than a hotel. Much less expensive to renovate as a hotel than to try to adapt for another use. Hotels seem to be performing well downtown as well so no incentive not to stick with that use.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

So apparently The Standard is closing next month. I have many many memories of the rooftop pool (saw many a cool house dj there). The building itself is a very good mid century modern building and I hope it'll be scooped up by another hotel group soon.

The article mentions that hotel occupancy rates in LA supposedly have returned to pre pandemic levels. If so, is the Standard in dt closing and the other one in hollywood already closed due to what?

but look at the proposed apt proj at the corner of 4th & Hill, above a metro station. The taco house #1 stand was listed as permitted to be torn down almost a yr ago...but it's still standing. The proj is to even include some subsidized housing. that's a guaranteed sro. There's enough demand for apts in dt that the proj's delay can't be blamed on low occupancy rates.

How about the oceanwide proj?

this shows two other bldgs converted into hotels over the past 2 yrs....hard to believe that properties as important as these or the tower theater were abandoned or in very bad shape for decades....

their revival is not a minute too soon. However, when some ppl suggested the macys store be torn down to make way for a new proj, do they realize how many sites in dtla are in way more desperate need of new fill in devlpt? Look at all the properties around the herald exam and proper & hoxton hotel projs.


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[craigs]

Originally Posted by citywatch

The article mentions that hotel occupancy rates in LA supposedly have returned to pre pandemic levels. If so, is the Standard in dt closing and the other one in hollywood already closed due to what?

As I understand it, neither of the Standard hotels reopened after they closed for COVID in 2020.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by pwright1

Taken December 15, 2021. Pico Fig Hotel is a nice addition.

Pw, after this new storm you should be able to get an even better pic. Snow level will lower after the cold front moves through. At least 2 feet of snow should fall above 7,000 feet, and level could get down to 5000 later. Maybe you can find a clear period between the storms. Good luck.

[pwright1]

^^^ Thanks. I'll try to get up there the first sunny day.

[pwright1]

Work is almost complete at the old Desmond department store at 616 S. Broadway. Now offices and a Skechers on the ground floor whichi opened in October.

[colemonkee]

Wow, that looks amazing!

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

https://laist.com/news/the-standards-last-remaining-l-a-location-is-closing

So apparently The Standard is closing next month. I have many many memories of the rooftop pool (saw many a cool house dj there). The building itself is a very good mid century modern building and I hope it'll be scooped up by another hotel group soon.

The Standard began as an LA-based hotel chain, and now it will no longer have a presence here.

Anyone have thoughts on (or desires for) what national boutique hotel chain could inherit its legacy?

[Blesha13]

Unpopular opinion, but I’d love to see a 1300’ tower on the NW corner of 6th and Hope. Having a tower sandwiched by the US Bank Tower and Wilshire Grand while driving from the 101 near Melrose and Normandie will “balance” out the skyline.

[Mojeda101]

So i was in San Francisco for the past week and my god what a great urban experience. Endless urban canyons in all directions. Fantastic city.

I feel like DTLA will never be able to properly replicate the formula that SF, NYC and Chicago have when it comes to their urban core density but it has it's own unique charm that gives it it's own identity.

[DownTown Giant]

I think the parking lot behind the Standard is part of the same property. If so, it would be cool to build a tower behind there in the exact style that the the Standard in designed in. Maybe three times the height (39) stories. I always liked in San Francisco, the Stanard Oil (no relation) circa 1960, and how about 14 years later they built a taller replica. Maybe the addition is residential and some office, and the existing standard is redone as a hotel, but not hipster, crazy. Maybe a family venue ?

[Easy]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

So i was in San Francisco for the past week and my god what a great urban experience. Endless urban canyons in all directions. Fantastic city.

I feel like DTLA will never be able to properly replicate the formula that SF, NYC and Chicago have when it comes to their urban core density but it has it's own unique charm that gives it it's own identity.

I get it and I tend to agree. I think that we just have to accept that no city really replicates another. There are some ideal criteria that DTLA will never be able to match because blocks are too long and streets are too wide. But maybe with street and sidewalk pedestrian improvements, it can have a balance between cars and pedestrians that other cities can't match.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

So i was in San Francisco for the past week and my god what a great urban experience. Endless urban canyons in all directions. Fantastic city.

I feel like DTLA will never be able to properly replicate the formula that SF, NYC and Chicago have when it comes to their urban core density but it has it's own unique charm that gives it it's own identity.

Yeah San Francisco is just so much more filled in. There are very few surface parking lots. Downtown LA still has way too many surface parking lots and parking garages. Additionally, the new structures they are building with bulky parking podiums doesn't help. We have a pretty good stock of beautiful old structures though. If broadway and the historic core were the focus of a lot more love and investment and if pershing square was ever transformed back to a real and pretty park again this part of Downtown would be in a much better place. It may never be like SF but it still can be a nice vibrant urban place.

[craigs]

I moved to LA in June. I lived in San Francisco proper for a cumulative 24 years--about half my lifetime. I've also lived in Boston. There are so many reasons--age, the tides of history, geographical constriction, economics, seismology--why, relative to LA, SF currently has a better pedestrian and transit orientation, possesses a finer grain of urbanism, is more dense, etc. And Angelenos can and should learn lessons from SF and other older, more traditionally urban cities going forward where and when appropriate.

Ultimately, however, I think it's important to acknowledge the practical and positive limits of such comparisons--LA is a unique, vibrant, and important global metropolis, the culmination of 120+ years of its own unique history, and we should embrace what makes this city special as we endeavor to improve it.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

So i was in San Francisco for the past week and my god what a great urban experience. Endless urban canyons in all directions. Fantastic city.

I feel like DTLA will never be able to properly replicate the formula that SF, NYC and Chicago have when it comes to their urban core density but it has it's own unique charm that gives it it's own identity.

Never say never. DTLA has made great strides. It will become one of the greats, certainly by the Olympics, especially if this everlasting pandemic is tamed. More street level activity, fewer barren parking podiums and parking lots, more 10-20 story infill with affordable units and micro apartments, fewer homeless people because they have housing, less street crime, etc. The central districts of L.A. out to Koreatown and maybe beyond to Miracle Mile Wilshire around the tar pits and museums, and up into Hollywood/W. Hollywood/Fairfax are already as dense or almost as dense as S.F., although the urban fabric isn't quite there yet but it will be. Koreatown is a tiger. And yes to making Pershing Square beautiful. San Fran is not perfect. I lived there for a time and have family there. Tons of homeless, and my car window was bashed out and stuff was stolen. Surprised they didn't cut out the catalytic coverter.

L.A. will never be San Fran but being L.A. is very good indeed, and should get better. Both cities are fortunate to be so close. Like siblings, there is a rivalry, but it is mostly healthy, and the cities benefit eachother. Plus tourists tend to visit both cities when they visit CA, so there is economic benefit to both.

Happier New Year everybody! Let the "Roaring Twenties" 2 begin. New Years wishes--covid is tamed, world peace, Oceanwide gets completed, the tourists return, Times Mirror breaks ground, and that interesting tower with the infinity pools near Pershing Sq. starts up. Instant landmark.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by dktshb

Yeah San Francisco is just so much more filled in. There are very few surface parking lots. Downtown LA still has way too many surface parking lots and parking garages. Additionally, the new structures they are building with bulky parking podiums doesn't help. We have a pretty good stock of beautiful old structures though. If broadway and the historic core were the focus of a lot more love and investment and if pershing square was ever transformed back to a real and pretty park again this part of Downtown would be in a much better place. It may never be like SF but it still can be a nice vibrant urban place.

After living in Chicago for 5 years, I can say for sure that Chicago is probably the most impressive city I've ever been in. The hugeness of the buildings and the chaos of the loop can easily overwhelm you. I'll never forget the very first time I walked around the loop and saw the Sears Tower and Merchandise Mart. But it is not perfect at all and LA trying to emulate Chicago is tricky due to them being designed in different eras.

DTLA, unlike a lot of cities has a lot of early 20th century buildings still in tact. Aside from the Bunker Hill Redevelopment, DTLA escaped the dreaded 'urban renewal' extravaganza of the 50s and 60s relatively unscathed (ignoring the freeways for this conversation).

Also: Los Angeles has acres of parking lots to build ground up development on. Chicago has the terrible habit of destroying it's older building stock for new development. I can say that from personal experience because the building I worked in during my duration in Chicago (a very haunted, block long building built in the early 1920s that was some sort of manufacturing facility in a former life) was recently destroyed to make way for some townhomes).

DTLA over the last decade is a totally new place and it still hasn't become what it really can be. But it's nice to appreciate where it's at now.

[sentinel]

I'm fascinated by LA and love the city quite a bit. To expand and evolve so quickly over a 120-130 year period is impressive for any city. I'm genuinely thrilled that the downtown core of LA has also been growing, renovating and thriving, just in the past 10-12 years alone.

[milquetoast]

Originally Posted by craigs

The fact that the area declined for a few decades
actually ended up saving a lot of really great buildings ...

Good Point!

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

L.A. will never be San Fran but being L.A. is very good indeed, and should get better.

colemonkee may not want these posts to stick around, but I recall someone several yrs ago describing that town to the north as being a, quote....two day city...unquote. That comment was made yrs ago too, when dtla & areas like hollywood were in pretty bad shape. So it was easier to prefer one to the other.

I recall a similar reaction being made by a newscaster in LA discussing calif over 20 yrs ago too.

I would have lost patience with LA awhile ago if I were the same age I am today...& this were the 1990s, first decade of the 2000s....& knew how long it would take into the future for things to finally happen.

LA has long seemed to punch below its weight because too many of its hoods were never built in a way that was easy to warm up to. If more of LA were like santa barbara....or, of course, beverly hills....instead of pico union or some other overly gritty area, it would have been rated differently through the decades.

regardless, LA is its own entity....it's sui generis. After being amazed by the lower density, non super tall city of London, the idea of a skyscraperfied US town no longer grabs me as much as it did in the past.


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