LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[BrandonJXN]

I love the lobby restoration of the US Bank Tower. I'm sure it glows beautifully in the morning during the start of the morning workday.

Interesting how over the last 15 years or so, quite a few of DTLA's signature buildings has gone through some sort of lobby/plaza restoration. Aon, US Bank, Union Bank, Citibank (is it still called that?...the LA Law Building), Wells Fargo Plaza, maybe one or two others. I would love for the whole of California Plaza (from 1 and 2 California Plaza all the way to the Colburn School) be restored into a much more inviting and contemporary 'walk' that better connects Cal Plaza to the Disney Concert Hall as well as the eventual Angel's Knoll development.

[citywatch]

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[ocman]

Originally Posted by citywatch

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I was worried for a while that this wasn’t going to happen and they couldn’t raise the money for this. Luckily they finally went forward last year and hopefully should be done in time for the Olympics, Expo grounds renovation and the Lucas Museum/park at the same time. Expo Park will be on fire that visitors could do 3-6 different attractions there. One of the rarities of touring this sprawling city.

[Quixote]

Just returned from a trip to London and Paris, two of the top three greatest cities in the world IMO.

Aside from the architecture, history, and cultural offerings (which are pretty much unmatched), what makes these and other cities special is how everything comes together. LA does feel “watered down” with spotty centers of activity, wide streets, narrow sidewalks, new developments that don’t interact with the street well, etc.

If we can build an attractive, dense 4.5-square-mile core in the DT freeway loop with contiguous urbanism, that would make LA one of the most attractive cities in the world. Nice architecture and buried power lines are ideal, but I think just having well-maintained sidewalks, painted crosswalks, trees, road diets and complete streets, etc. yields a greater return.

Just look at how much people love Tokyo. It’s a city of mostly mundane architecture and lots of power lines. Yet it’s dense, lively, clean, and safe… making more interesting than more polished-looking CBDs.

[202_Cyclist]

Is Bakersfield the other top three great cities?

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Quixote

Yet it’s dense, lively, clean, and safe… making more interesting than more polished-looking CBDs.

when a city or hood has a lot of both, that blows me away.

I recall a well known actor on a TV talk show several yrs ago...at least 20 yrs ago...saying that Xmas displays in Bev Hills weren't nearly as impressive as the ones in his home town of london were. I didn't really understand what he meant until I recently saw vids like this...

https://youtu.be/5YkMgKlTsho

^ But if those sidewalks weren't as busy as they are, the wow factor of that city would drop a lot. Even a compton or sylmar will seem way better if their sidewalks are busy. The weather in LA...dtla,...& crowded fwys....also make the comparatively quiet sidewalks in dtla more exasperating. But all things being equal, a city should at least be nice to look at. Santa Barbara, SaMo or Pasadena aren't packed & bustling the way that bigger cities are, but they still have a nice quality. Or bigger isn't always better, but a nicer looking environment is. Which is why I don't take things like decorative water fountains, etc, in dtla lightly.

I read an article about 4 yrs ago from a writer based in the UK, & she described how a lot of the classic old bldgs in LA along streets like broadway or Spring were vacant or in bad shape. Although they're not as uniformly rundown today as they were just a few yrs...decades ago....there's still room for improvement. I won't even mention issues of homelessness, vandalism & crime being way more of an issue in dtla than they are in London.

But LA is its own animal, sui generis. So it needs to take care of the basics & not always try to compete based on the idea that the grass is greener on the other side of the hill. This youtuber captures why the LA area, if not dtla alone, has a lot of 'green grass' & is its own animal. Or it's as good as or better than plenty of other major cities in the US & world are.

https://www.youtube.com/@JSOCAL1

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Quixote

Just returned from a trip to London and Paris, two of the top three greatest cities in the world IMO.

Aside from the architecture, history, and cultural offerings (which are pretty much unmatched), what makes these and other cities special is how everything comes together. LA does feel “watered down” with spotty centers of activity, wide streets, narrow sidewalks, new developments that don’t interact with the street well, etc.

If we can build an attractive, dense 4.5-square-mile core in the DT freeway loop with contiguous urbanism, that would make LA one of the most attractive cities in the world. Nice architecture and buried power lines are ideal, but I think just having well-maintained sidewalks, painted crosswalks, trees, road diets and complete streets, etc. yields a greater return.

Just look at how much people love Tokyo. It’s a city of mostly mundane architecture and lots of power lines. Yet it’s dense, lively, clean, and safe… making more interesting than more polished-looking CBDs.

Exactly right. Its the little things that we are lacking, or rather are absolutely horrible at (it drives me nuts) as well as the gaps in activity between nodes. For example, imagine how awesome the first to third street corridor will be from the arts district all the way to Grand Ave once the LA Times buildings, the Subway station building, the Colburn expansion and the last phase of the Grand Ave project are built. Same with gaps in South Park and the historic core

[citywatch]

I like fast forwarding through walking vids of dtla like this to get an ongoing sense of the hood. I notice lights...not just the ones in the old bank dist....are strung above 5th St connecting the alexandria hotel with the bldg where the Last Bookstore is. I recall the Alexandria, before it had been remodeled maybe 15 yrs ago (?) had a red tile wall above its ground level, which was a renovation from the early 1960s (?) that ruined the bldg's design dating from the early 1900s.

The spring st arcade, although not too many ppl are around when the youtuber walks through, is cleaner & nicer today than it was several yrs ago, dating back to maybe the 1950s, 1960s?...when it became more & more of an indoor swapmeet.

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^ Main St & 5th around Spring St were largely sketchy & abandoned not all that long ago. It has taken decades for it to revive from over 60 to 70 yrs ago, & I sure don't want to see such sections of dt return to the bad old days. LA city hall & others in dt had better not take anything for granted.

.

[nmkef]

Colburn School plan is going before DLANC this month: https://dlanc.com/wp-content/uploads/202...hool-Expansion_DLANC-Package-reduced.pdf

Is it just me, or did they entirely nix the public plaza adjacent to the building? Now it looks like a graded thru-street + parking lot with some menial foilage.

Sad, but it kind of looks like they just abandoned plans to develop that portion of the lot entirely and are leaving it as-is. Maybe future development, maybe it was harder to remove that street than anticipated...? Or just budget...



Compare to renderings from last year: https://la.urbanize.city/post/colburn-school-files-plans-expansion-project-dtla

[craigs]

From LA Reddit, the new AC/Moxy hotels look to be ready for their closeup:

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Exactly right. Its the little things that we are lacking, or rather are absolutely horrible at (it drives me nuts) as well as the gaps in activity between nodes. For example, imagine how awesome the first to third street corridor will be from the arts district all the way to Grand Ave once the LA Times buildings, the Subway station building, the Colburn expansion and the last phase of the Grand Ave project are built. Same with gaps in South Park and the historic core

If nothing else, all of DTLA's sidewalks would benefit substantially by just throughly power washing them. One of the things that struck me while living in Chicago was how clean the whole of the city generally is. The loop shines in the spring with plant life and wide sidewalks. LA is dirty. It really needs to get it's act together. Especially in time for the World Cup and Olympics which are fast approaching.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by nmkef

Colburn School plan is going before DLANC this month: https://dlanc.com/wp-content/uploads/202...hool-Expansion_DLANC-Package-reduced.pdf

Is it just me, or did they entirely nix the public plaza adjacent to the building? Now it looks like a graded thru-street + parking lot with some menial foilage.

Sad, but it kind of looks like they just abandoned plans to develop that portion of the lot entirely and are leaving it as-is. Maybe future development, maybe it was harder to remove that street than anticipated...? Or just budget...



Compare to renderings from last year: https://la.urbanize.city/post/colburn-school-files-plans-expansion-project-dtla

They watered down the watered down version into this? Completely unacceptable, especially for this location. Looks like trash that would be built in Valencia

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by nmkef

Colburn School plan is going before DLANC this month: https://dlanc.com/wp-content/uploads/202...hool-Expansion_DLANC-Package-reduced.pdf

Is it just me, or did they entirely nix the public plaza adjacent to the building? Now it looks like a graded thru-street + parking lot with some menial foilage.

Sad, but it kind of looks like they just abandoned plans to develop that portion of the lot entirely and are leaving it as-is. Maybe future development, maybe it was harder to remove that street than anticipated...? Or just budget...



Compare to renderings from last year: https://la.urbanize.city/post/colburn-school-files-plans-expansion-project-dtla

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

If nothing else, all of DTLA's sidewalks would benefit substantially by just throughly power washing them. One of the things that struck me while living in Chicago was how clean the whole of the city generally is. The loop shines in the spring with plant life and wide sidewalks. LA is dirty. It really needs to get it's act together. Especially in time for the World Cup and Olympics which are fast approaching.

Absolutely. It would be a massive improvement if the city would just fix and fill every tree well by cutting out concrete to make the well a decent size, add a flowering tree, flowers and small, iron fencing. Very basic

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by nmkef

Colburn School plan is going before DLANC this month: https://dlanc.com/wp-content/uploads/202...hool-Expansion_DLANC-Package-reduced.pdf

Is it just me, or did they entirely nix the public plaza adjacent to the building? Now it looks like a graded thru-street + parking lot with some menial foilage.

Sad, but it kind of looks like they just abandoned plans to develop that portion of the lot entirely and are leaving it as-is. Maybe future development, maybe it was harder to remove that street than anticipated...? Or just budget...

Looks like it. If you look at the diagrams from page 60 and on, 2nd street has been retained as is. And according to the document, only one small public plaza will be included at the bottom of the hill, at 2nd and Hill (along with a diagram on page 69 and 84). In short, the larger public plaza at the top of the hill, at 2nd and Olive, has been scrapped. I'm guessing it's probably for budgetary reasons.

Proposed Project
The Applicant proposes to construct a 6-story (112.6 feet), approximately 78,347 square-foot performing arts educational building (“Educational Building”) consisting of 1,077-seat concert hall, a dance performance studio/flex space accommodating up to 111 spaces, four dance rehearsal studios, rooftop garden and porch, pre-function lobby spaces, exterior gathering spaces, and backstage performance support facilities, and a 6,946 square-foot public plaza located on the northeast corner of the intersection of 2nd and Hill Street.

...

Landscaping and Open Space
The Project will provide a total of 6,946 square feet of publicly accessible open space, of which 2,795 square feet (40%) is proposed to be landscaped, through the construction of a public plaza with access from Hill Street and 2nd Street. An additional 12,673 square feet of private open space will be provided through the Level 4 rooftop garden and porch (±13% landscaped).

On the bright side:

Vehicular Access, Parking, and Loading
Pursuant to BHSP Section 10.A.3.b.iii, there is no minimum parking requirement for nonresidential projects within 1,500 feet of a fixed rail transit station. The Project Site is located approximately 250 feet southwest of the Metro Civic Center/Grand Park Station, which
provides regional access to the Metro D Line (connecting Union Station to the Wilshire/Western Station) and the Metro B Line (connecting Union Station to the North Hollywood Station). Given the Project’s location and proximity to the LA Metro station, onsite parking will not be provided. Faculty, students, and patrons attending events will continue to park in off-site structures located adjacent to the Project site or use public transportation. Accordingly, the absence of new on-site parking is not anticipated to adversely impact the Project or the surrounding community. Furthermore, an enclosed parking analysis conducted in December 2021, found that there are approximately 9,500 existing public off-street parking spaces in the vicinity of the Project Site. The study projects that many of these spaces could be available for sharing with the Project, particularly on nights and weekends when employees from the County, U.S. Federal Courthouse, and nearby businesses are not present. Based on the findings, the absence of on-site parking is not anticipated to adversely impact the Project or the surrounding community.

[38 Geary]

Maybe this deal didn't go through? $100k doesn't sound like much though.

Small Bunker Hill Parking Lot to Become Open Space
The Colburn is buying another property at 2nd and Olive.
MAY 21, 2019, 9:55AM STEVEN SHARP

It looks like the Colburn School isn't quite done with acquiring property on Bunker Hill.

Last year, the performing arts academy announced plans for a 200,000-square-foot expansion on a property bounded by Olive, Hill, and 2nd Streets. The project, to be designed by Frank Gehry, will feature a 1,100-seat concert hall, a 700-seat studio theater, office space, and other facilities.

Now, according to a memo to the CRA/LA Oversight Committee, the Colburn School intends to purchase 4,800-square-foot parking lot at the opposite corner of 2nd and Olive Streets in order to fold the property into its expansion plans. The school envisions vacating the airspace above the site to reuse it as open space for its campus, which also includes a music conservatory at the corner of 1st Street and Grand Avenue.

The sales price of the parking lot is listed as $100,000.

https://la.urbanize.city/post/small-bunker-hill-parking-lot-become-open-space

EDIT:

Yeah, looks like the deal did go through, but I'm guessing this was just part of the additional cost cutting.

Gehry's updated design for the project has been pared back from the more ambitious structure unveiled to the public in 2020. According to the Los Angeles Times, the original budget for the Center's concert hall was cut in half, resulting in the single structure rather than two performance venues with seating for 1,100 and 700 patrons. Likewise, plans for a shimmering glass facade have given way to an exterior which could consist of stainless steel, or if the budget allows, titanium with a pink tint.

https://la.urbanize.city/post/colburn-school-unveils-new-look-frank-gehry-designed-expansion

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by nmkef

Maybe future development, maybe it was harder to remove that street than anticipated...? Or just budget...[/IMG]

disappointing...but it would be worse if it were due to a reduced budget or opposition from local nimybyites. Instead it apparently is an engineering issue, although it's also possible that reconstructing the area to meet engineering safety codes would cost so much, the school decided to drop plans of creating a plaza area along Olive St.

The dedication and improvement requirements are physically impractical due to the site’s topography and in order to maintain the existing 2nd Street Tunnel and supporting retaining wall infrastructure along the 2nd Street ROW [right of way]. Should further dedications and improvements be required, they would require significant excavation of the slopes and the existing retaining wall along 2nd Street as identified above. Removal of these features has the potential introduce instability in the soil and lateral support adjacent to the 2nd Street Tunnel. In consultation with the Bureau of Engineering (BOE), the Applicant was advised not to disturb the 2nd Street Tunnel or the larger 2nd Street ROW and to maintain its supporting structures, including surrounding streets and retaining walls that support tunnel surcharge. Therefore, the proposed Project is designed to integrate, improve, or replace the existing retaining wall. Downtown Street Standards (pp. 24-25).

Waiver of Dedication & Improvements (WDI) Findings The Colburn School Campus Expansion | 130 S. Olive Street Page 6 of 6 with BOE guidance to safety maintain the structural support and lateral surcharge of the 2nd
Street ROW and Tunnel. In order to maintain the 2nd Street ROW, Tunnel, and supporting infrastructure, it is physically impractical to require further dedications and improvements along the 2nd Street ROW.

I still wonder why the school can't at least close down 2nd St north of the tunnel? That's not a major street but is more like a detour for ppl who want to go above the hill instead of below it. They & the city should have at least altered the plans where the top layer of asphalt of the street would be removed & replaced with something better looking. What's really almost like an alleyway road easily could become ped only. If there's any street in dtla that should be shut down, that's the one.

The school also owns the small parking lot south of upper 2nd street & above the top lip of the tunnel, but no mention of their doing anything to that dead zone. But the doc says that current driveways from upper 2nd St to that lot will be eliminated. Right now, the main part of the school west of Olive will be more segregated from the expansion to its east.

Whatever the case, the revision comes off like a....

[citywatch]

dtla is dirty partly because of the weather....not a lot of rain to wash things away & the often sunny days also make it easier for homeless encampments. But it's also due to a mindset among too many ppl at places like LA city hall, a political attitude of 'to hell with it'. That's one reason why city officials managing the dwp bldg, & way before even the current drought, decided to switch off the geyser fountains. But now even the moat is left dry, creating another concrete wasteland in dtla

If it weren't for LA's climate, the city would be sunk---socially, culturally & economically...things like these plants planned for the colburn school expansion wouldn't be possible. Maintaining open areas, roof decks with potted plants & swimming pool layouts on top of highrise bldgs would be way more difficult or even impossible...or futile...if the weather were harsher.





cities like this, however, have managed to persevere & even thrive through the ages in spite of things like 'cold white shi....'

https://youtu.be/jOZhymFu39Q

[headcheckjj]

Do you have a higher res version of that tree list, @Citywatch? Or even the source link?

Thanks

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by headcheckjj

Do you have a higher res version of that tree list, @Citywatch? Or even the source link?

Thanks

Pages 88-89.

https://dlanc.com/wp-content/uploads/202...hool-Expansion_DLANC-Package-reduced.pdf

[citywatch]

^ I like to think that application, dated 10-12-23, will somehow be changed & improved. Or that the Colburn hasn't released all their plans yet. But given how much red tape LA city govnt makes property owners & devlprs go through, I kind of doubt that. But the school can't seriously want to keep their small surface parking lot directly north of the Angelus apt bldgs unchanged.

some more both good news & bad news. However, since rental rates have gotten so inflated over the past 10 yrs, maybe this is a long overdue correction. I wonder how much rental rates can be reduced before apt owners find themselves in the red?

The downtown Los Angeles apartment market saw a dramatic reversal in performance last year. Vacancy, now at 10.3%, is up from 5.8% in the first quarter of 2022. The increase was primarily supply driven, with the area seeing just under 1,800 additional net new units added last year. Demand in 2022 was positive, but soft. Net absorption, the difference between move-ins versus move-outs, was just over 300 units in 2022, well below the 2,700 units absorbed here in 2021.

The Standard Downtown Los Angeles hotel, shuttered officially since January 2022, is slated to reopen on April 1 as The Delphi hotel. The new hospitality venture will be operated by Fairfax, Virginia-based Crestline Hotels & Resorts.

It is unclear what work beyond cosmetic updates needs to be done in the property, which first closed during the initial pandemic lockdowns and didn't reopen. There are no permits for major upgrades to the property on file with the LA Department of Building and Safety.

The hotel will have food and beverage options on the roof, second floor and in the lobby, according to CoStar.

The owners, a subsidiary of Spanish real estate investment firm Ferrado Group, bought the hotel in 2008 for $92M. The sale price works out to roughly $444K per room in the now-207-room hotel. The average sale price per room in Los Angeles County midyear 2022 was approximately $190K, according to a survey from Atlas Hospitality Group.

Downtown hotels have a 12-month occupancy of 66.9%, according to CoStar data. While below pre-pandemic levels, occupancy is up from 57.4% a year ago.