LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[citywatch]

https://youtu.be/55oLfThN9ZI?t=232

^ That's why this needs to be uc asap...




https://youtu.be/55oLfThN9ZI?t=449

^ that's why this needs to be uc asap....




https://youtu.be/55oLfThN9ZI?t=461

^ that's why this shouldn't have been cancelled...


apartments.com


https://youtu.be/NAt6bIeyRP8?t=156

^If that can be salvaged...per sopas...is their nyc proj no more salvageable too?

China Oceanwide Holdings Ltd., the developer that’s struggled to salvage $3.5 billion of US real estate investments, reached a forbearance agreement with lenders on a site where it planned to build one of lower Manhattan’s tallest towers.

The deal marks a reversal from May, when Oceanwide said it had lost control of the property at 80 South St. after defaulting on a $165 million loan from DW Partners. Under the agreement, Oceanwide will make “extension payments” through October and has an option to extend the standstill for another month.

[caligrad]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

From Urbanize Los Angeles:

Oceanwide aims to restart work on stalled DTLA mega-project in 2023
If the developer can secure funding

SEPTEMBER 01, 2022, 6:30AMSTEVEN SHARP



In January 2019, following months of rumors of a shortfall in financing, construction came to a halt on the more than $1-billion Oceanwide Plaza complex across the street from L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles. But well over three years later, the Chinese real estate developer behind the three-tower high-rise complex is looking to right the ship.

In an "unaudited interim results" report dated August 29, Oceanwide Holdings provided a status report on its Los Angeles project, which would include 504 condominiums, a 184-room Park Hyatt hotel, and approximately 150,000 square feet of retail space on a fully city block bounded by Figueroa, Flower, 11th, and 12th Streets. According to the developer, the physical structures and curtain walls of the three main towers are the only elements of the project to have been completed. Within the buildings, more than 85 percent of the electrical and mechanical work have been completing, and 60 percent of drywall installation has been completed in two of the towers.

After continued delays - which have been attributed to "liquidity issues," a lawsuit filed by Oceanwide Plaza's general contractor, and impacts of the global pandemic - the developer now indicates that it is in active negotiations with investors in pursuit of financing to complete construction and pay off all debts to the project's creditors. However, those efforts have faced headwinds, including rising construction costs, declines in residential leasing and sales profits, and the increased cost of financing as a result of interest rate hikes.

Oceanwide, according to its report, now aims to restart construction on the project in 2023, after which point it is expected to take two years to complete the partially finished towers and install elements including LED signage and landscaped amenity decks. Based on that timeline, the property could open as early as 2025.

The cost of resuming work on the project remains steep. In February, The Real Deal reported that the developer would need to raise $2.3 billion to complete construction of Oceanwide Plaza. To date, the Oceanwide Holdings indicates that it has spent roughly $1.2 billion on the tower complex.


Link: https://la.urbanize.city/post/oceanwide-...-pbEun6KAISe_Gh9wMpL2pKXBjZm4iD0lU7ZzLLE

Can someone please please help me understand.

Why is it going to cost 2.3 BILLION to complete ?? is that including interest payments and fees and etc ???/ IF they already spent 1.2 Billion and the bulk of the heavy lifting is already done, How on earth do they need 2.3 BILLION to finish ?????? that's literally 2 more oceanwide projects and 2 Wilshire Grand towers which on its own only cost 1.2 billion. WTF ????

[scania]

I would think billion is a typo.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by homebucket

If that's what it'll take to complete the project, I'm all for it! Does UCLA have $2.3 billion laying around though...

Well, yes--UCLA's endowment is currently $5.1 billion--but no, they're not going to plow any of that into Oceanwide.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by scania

I would think billion is a typo.

Yea, you could build a near 1WTC caliber skyscraper in LA for 2.3 billion.

They're probably off by some zeros, amazing the lack of proofreading these articles have.

[citywatch]

I like seeing dtla though the lens of a non native, such as this person originally from Armenia....although new projs aren't talked about by her, she gives a good sense of why dt today now comes closer to hitting at LA's weight class. Notice how some of the key things she visits either didn't exist or were in fairly bad shape as recently as 5 to 10 yrs ago, much less over 20 yrs ago. As changes & improvements are made to dt, it becomes a place where the love hate relationship ends up with more love than hate.


• Video Link


LA, because of hoods like dtla & throughout west LA & the OC...& the weather...is like a combo of NYC & miami bch, paris & marseilles or cannes, london & seville or malaga, tokyo & honolulu.

this person says exactly what her husband figured out a long time ago...

https://youtu.be/i4EB880rt-s?t=147

[citywatch]

And while we understand that the viaduct may be a symbol or omen of something larger than the steel and concrete structure itself, it’s also a bridge. L.A. Police now say things have calmed down a bit. Thousands of people are walking, rolling and driving across it every day, and most of them aren’t doing burnouts, climbing the arches or partaking in other risky behaviors for some social media clout.

Bob Gurr zipped along the bridge on his personal scooter, stopping to take photos as the setting sun lit up the clouds over downtown L.A.'s skyline. “[I was] born here 91 years ago. I've watched the city change all these years, lived through the ‘30s, World War II. Now look what we've gotten in Los Angeles!”

Diehard Disney fans know Gurr, or at least his work. He was an early Imagineer at Disneyland, credited with designing dozens of ride vehicles, including Autopia, the Matterhorn bobsleds and the monorail. He made sure to pitch us his Instagram (“I have 35,000 followers!”).

As a designer, Gurr had a lot of insights about the viaduct, which he called “a fabulous spot.” “This bridge has way more art in its civil engineering than I've ever seen. You have to go down underneath it. You have to be here at this time at night and look at the way the light goes over these arches and all the detail… We liked the old one, but boy, this bridge! The whole world is going to take note how you can use concrete and zinc-coated steel — and it's fantastic art.”


laist.com

.

[Quixote]

Replace the plastic bollards and bumpers with k-rail please.

[Blesha13]

Love this time of year. 6 years ago today when Wilshire Grand Center became the tallest in LA and LA’s birthday is tomorrow.

[citywatch]

I'm guessing this is construction fencing around the street & plaza area of LA Live....so maybe the resurfacing of the street will soon begin. If the fencing looked less utilitarian, then it probably would be for walling off the area for a special event. But I also always remember when the parking lot of what's now the unfinished oceanwide proj had a construction barricade built around it only to see nothing happen...then the barricade got taken down.


• Video Link

[citywatch]

Youtuber jsocal shows dtla...grand central mkt & angel's flight....& another person shows venice bch on very hot days that are the opposite of what I would have predicted.

https://youtu.be/_sE2YuwY2pA?t=300

https://youtu.be/vQYiuBdEgrg

https://youtu.be/l5-YeNV32OI

Not too many yrs ago, this pass through between spring st & broadway...the Spring St Arcade...was full of swapmeets. Now it's closer to the way it was over 50 or 60 yrs ago. I'm sure the pandemic has made life even tougher for the restaurants in the revamped arcade. Sections of dt like this are why it's important to keep things as safe & clean as possible....& to bring in more 24/7/365 ppl as possible too...both residents & day trippers or tourists.


• Video Link

[caligrad]

Spent some time at exposition park yesterday. Love the museums. Hate the chaotic layout. Is there a reason why it's like that?

Parking. CHAOTIC. Luckily i found parking on expo and Vermont but my god. The LINES of cars trying to get in, some for the museums, some for a special event (I assumed a game), by the time we walked back to the museums, all of the lots were full and people were screaming and honking their horns at staff and each other.

Some museums face exposition Blvd., some face fig, some face the coliseum, each has its own thing going on in regard to guest services.... there needs to be one central building/booth for all museums for all needs because the current layout of making you walk to the far side of each one to get a ticket or any info is atrocious and the fact that it was 107 degrees of course brought the Karen out of me .

Hate to say this but Exposition park is going to have to figure out the parking situation asap.

*End Rant*

The Lucas museum looks amazing HAHAHA the cladding looks to have arrived, it was sitting on the roof.... And very very white.....This thing will be easily pointed out from all over the county with the bright white color.

[LAisthePlace]

Originally Posted by caligrad

Spent some time at exposition park yesterday. Love the museums. Hate the chaotic layout. Is there a reason why it's like that?

Parking. CHAOTIC. Luckily i found parking on expo and Vermont but my god. The LINES of cars trying to get in, some for the museums, some for a special event (I assumed a game), by the time we walked back to the museums, all of the lots were full and people were screaming and honking their horns at staff and each other.

Some museums face exposition Blvd., some face fig, some face the coliseum, each has its own thing going on in regard to guest services.... there needs to be one central building/booth for all museums for all needs because the current layout of making you walk to the far side of each one to get a ticket or any info is atrocious and the fact that it was 107 degrees of course brought the Karen out of me .

Hate to say this but Exposition park is going to have to figure out the parking situation asap.

*End Rant*

The Lucas museum looks amazing HAHAHA the cladding looks to have arrived, it was sitting on the roof.... And very very white.....This thing will be easily pointed out from all over the county with the bright white color.

Just my opinion, but I don't think we should try to solve the parking situation as exposition park. Central Park in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago, etc have basically zero parking. Understand that is unrealistic in Los Angeles currently, but this park has two convenient metro stops and great bus connectivity and quite a bit of existing parking.

I don't mind new underground parking like at the new Lucas Museum, but I like how in the master plan that much of the surface parking evolves into an actual park.

Do love the idea of a centralized visitors center and can't wait to see the Lucas Museum finished up.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by citywatch

I'm guessing this is construction fencing around the street & plaza area of LA Live....so maybe the resurfacing of the street will soon begin. If the fencing looked less utilitarian, then it probably would be for walling off the area for a special event. But I also always remember when the parking lot of what's now the unfinished oceanwide proj had a construction barricade built around it only to see nothing happen...then the barricade got taken down.


• Video Link

It was for the emmys according to security. I asked today when I walked by

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by caligrad

Spent some time at exposition park yesterday. Love the museums. Hate the chaotic layout. Is there a reason why it's like that?

Parking. CHAOTIC. Luckily i found parking on expo and Vermont but my god. The LINES of cars trying to get in, some for the museums, some for a special event (I assumed a game), by the time we walked back to the museums, all of the lots were full and people were screaming and honking their horns at staff and each other.

Some museums face exposition Blvd., some face fig, some face the coliseum, each has its own thing going on in regard to guest services.... there needs to be one central building/booth for all museums for all needs because the current layout of making you walk to the far side of each one to get a ticket or any info is atrocious and the fact that it was 107 degrees of course brought the Karen out of me .

Hate to say this but Exposition park is going to have to figure out the parking situation asap.

*End Rant*

The Lucas museum looks amazing HAHAHA the cladding looks to have arrived, it was sitting on the roof.... And very very white.....This thing will be easily pointed out from all over the county with the bright white color.

There are big plans to redo the park and immediate area after Lucas is done

[craigs]

I think there was a game, and also it's the last major holiday of the summer so lots of people are taking 'staycations' in town. Exposition Park has lots of attractions for families.

Remember, too, that Exposition Park is actually owned by the state, not the city or county. The park even has its own law enforcement agency, which is managed by the California Highway Patrol.

I suspect that parking issues at Exposition Park in LA are not at the top of the state's agenda. They should just let the county take it over.

[caligrad]

^^^ Dear god that explains so much. But. Lets be honest, will handing it over to the county really make a diff?

Originally Posted by LAisthePlace

Just my opinion, but I don't think we should try to solve the parking situation as exposition park. Central Park in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago, etc have basically zero parking. Understand that is unrealistic in Los Angeles currently, but this park has two convenient metro stops and great bus connectivity and quite a bit of existing parking.

I don't mind new underground parking like at the new Lucas Museum, but I like how in the master plan that much of the surface parking evolves into an actual park.

Do love the idea of a centralized visitors center and can't wait to see the Lucas Museum finished up.

To clarify. I didn't mean add more parking. I actually think there needs to be a new system for events. Impossible i know but the lot next to the LAFC stadium was practically empty while the parking next to the museums were PACKED and full of soccer fans. Or. What I'm trying to say is the soccer fans need to be forced to use the parking around the soccer stadium rather than use the parking that i always assumed was for the museum. But I assume sports fans do this since i saw a sign that said "park here, $50" Haha so I assume/know the museum parking is a fraction of that cost. Yeah, there are metro stops there but tell me how to get there on a train from San Pedro? or without taking a 3-hour bus ride in 108 degree weather lol. I know we live in a fantasy that LAs metro system is amazing but let's be real, we aren't there yet.

I also wouldn't compare Exposition Park to Central Park or millennium park by a long shot. Those are actual parks IMO. Those 2 are in the same lane, expo isn't even on the same freeway lol. Now, if you were to bulldoze everything south of the coliseum from MLK to Slauson and made a park, then i can remotely put them in the same category but lets be real, the last thing i thought about was the park space there. 2 uninviting pocket parks (south lawn) and a "rose Garden".

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

There are big plans to redo the park and immediate area after Lucas is done

Thats good to hear. It needs an extensive makeover and quickly.

And again, to everybody, don't get me wrong, I love exposition park, The heat just made me notice a few flaws that irritated my inner Karen.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

It was for the emmys according to security. I asked today when I walked by

Should have known better....not too different from learning that equity residential, after getting a demo permit for the corner of 4th St & Hill, decided to cancel their apt tower.

As for when I've been on the fwys around dtla, & the closer I get to it, this looks typical...


• Video Link


Then I take an off ramp into dt itself & the streets & sidewalks aren’t nearly as crowded. I always wonder how many ppl on the clogged roads leading to dt wouldn’t be on them if they lived closer to…or in…dt itself? Or how many are bypassing dt headed to another part of socal? how many ppl sit in traffic because they can’t afford to be closer to dtla, don’t want to live around there…but could afford to if they did….or are on a trip that normally doesn’t require they drive past dtla?


• Video Link

But over the past two and a half years, the Bay Area’s claim to California’s mass transit throne has been deeply eroded, if not undone. L.A. now has more people riding buses, light rails and trains than the Bay Area. And even when accounting for the Bay Area’s far smaller population, L.A.’s per-capita transit ridership temporarily surpassed its Northern California neighbor for the first time in at least two decades.

How big was the turnaround? In 2019, transit riders in six Bay Area counties took 43 million more trips than L.A. County, which is over a third larger by population. But in 2021, Los Angeles racked up over 83 million more transit trips than the Bay Area – a staggering threefold reversal, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis of federal data for the two regions’ largest transit agencies.

As of June 2022, Los Angeles County has recovered 71% of its ridership compared to 55% in the Bay Area.

The collapse in transit focused around downtown San Francisco is so dramatic that Los Angeles’ web of subways and light rails, which is smaller and notoriously lacks an LAX airport connection, is now regularly moving more people than BART for the first time since the Federal Transit Administration started collecting monthly ridership data 20 years ago.

The worst month for public transit ridership since the federal government started keeping score was April 2020. That’s when Caltrain chugged up the Peninsula with 97% fewer passengers, many of them embracing a work-from-home lifestyle of baking sourdough bread and binge-watching Netflix. But in Los Angeles, during the worst of the pandemic lockdowns, over 30% of riders continued to brave the bus.

L.A.’s three largest bus operators, dominated by L.A. Metro, have a ridership recovery of 74%, which is among the highest rates in the country, outpacing New York City buses and peer bus agencies in the Bay Area. L.A. Metro’s latest budget is predicting a full return to pre-pandemic bus boardings by spring of 2023.

Los Angeles County has some of the poorest public transit riders among metro areas in the country – many of them recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

“I think that there are people who don’t want to be seen waiting for a bus,” said Friedman. “So maybe we do need to look at more trolleys and more systems that feel more comfortable for people.”

Los Angeles also is placing big bets on rail backed by a colossal $120 billion sales tax measure passed in 2016 and a deadline of the 2028 Summer Olympics. The city is making headway on projects pitched as transformative, including a long-promised airport connector and a subway extension into Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles.

^ however, if ppl ever try to find a curbside parking space in a lot of low income hoods around central LA, they'll think everyone owns a car there. But if buses are a lifeline for a lot of transit users in LA, then maybe more of that instead of rail should get the $$ & attention. I prefer the look & idea of heavy rail or lrt, but the needs of the MTA's major users come first.

The Downtown Los Angeles hospitality market continued its year-and-a-half-long surge during the year’s second quarter, according to the Los Angeles Downtown Center Business Improvement District’s just released second quarter market report. Downtown L.A.’s hospitality occupancy level increased to 69%, a 60% increase over the second quarter last year, representing the sixth consecutive quarter of occupancy growth. The submarket’s revenue per available room rose more than 135% from this time last year, recovering nearly 90% of its pandemic-driven drop.

This growth follows that of downtown’s residential market, where occupancy and lease rates have already surpassed pre-Covid highs. The office sector is showing signs of life, with a few major leases but is still struggling with high vacancy rates.

[iboardsnow13]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Sure, here you go. It's been all over. Restaurant is called Niku X and will open in a couple months

https://hospitalitydesign.com/news/f-b/niku-x-los-angeles/

Thanks!

[citywatch]

This....

https://youtu.be/fM0Itd5pmxU?t=160

...was going to be the following. I recall the 1st phrase of this devlpr's proj at 4th St & Main many yrs ago was a struggle for the owner. I believe tom gilmore, whose bldgs sit across the street from that 1st phase, even offered to help jump start the proj. And that was just a wood framed one too.



bisnow.com


This is from 9 yrs ago....I'm sure cost factors are even worse today...

Certain architects, urban planners and developers worry that parking lot sites that could accommodate high-rises instead are being filled by five- to seven-story, wood-framed apartment complexes encased in plaster.

Several key factors are driving the trend. The first is basic economics: Type-three buildings — those made with wood frames — are significantly cheaper to build on a per-square-foot basis than steel-framed high-rises. In Los Angeles, buildings that exceed 75 feet are required to implement type-one construction, which relies on sturdier steel and concrete engineering to withstand earthquakes. So, developers are mostly designing projects to stay under the plateau, resulting in six- and seven-floor structures.

The higher cost of type one construction means that steel-framed residential buildings don’t pencil out financially unless they’re allowed to go tall.

Type-three low-rises cost about $200 per rentable square foot to build. Steel-frame high-rises, depending on the size and design, cost anywhere from $80 to $300 more per square foot, according to multiple developers with experience in both construction types. That means a 150,000-square-foot wood-frame complex would cost $30 million to build. The same building made with steel would cost up to $75 million.
.
The key question for developers is whether projected rents and having more units justify the costs of building a high-rise. For companies like Holland Partners, the answer, so far, has been no. The Vancouver, Wash.-based developer has built three projects with 488 units in City West. They include the seven-floor, 210-apartment 1111 Wilshire, which opened this year. The project was originally entitled as a 398-unit high-rise, but was downscaled after the economy soured.

Tom Warren, the company’s chief operating officer in Southern California, said Holland would consider doing a Downtown high-rise, but only in the right location. “In my view, high-rise is the right product type when we’re building in the most desirable locations, where there’s not sufficient land available and there’s a reason to be right there,” Warren said.

But don’t tell that to Historic Core developers Izek Shomof and Barry Shy. The real estate veterans, who have separately focused on turning old office buildings into modern apartments, are preparing new high-rises. Shy has plans for three structures: at Sixth and Spring streets; at Olympic Boulevard and Broadway; and at Ninth and Hill streets.

In addition to cost considerations, high-rises bring a more time consuming and expensive city approvals process, even on sites where the zoning allows them. Conversely, type-three projects are relatively easy to permit and they fit within the 6 to 1 density envelope. The added cost and the extra time it takes to navigate the city approvals process for a high-rise scares away some developers, said land use consultant Craig Lawson.

^ actually, barry shy is a perfect example of a devlpr who has taller bldgs in the works for yrs but isn't able to go forward on them. Now with equity residential...a much larger devlpr out of the midwest & who already owns several apt bldgs in dtla...dropping plans for an apt tower at 4th St & Hill St, the money for financing larger projs must be very tight. Then there's oceanwide on Fig...a proj that stalled even before the pandemic hit.