LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[citywatch]

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been & are being poured into homeless programs serving dtla. Up north, I believe the city of SF over the past few yrs...if not per yr....has poured something like almost a billion dollars into their housing programs. Where's all the money going?

For decades, single-room occupancy hotels in downtown Los Angeles made up the only available and affordable housing for the poorest of the poor. But after thousands of these residential buildings, known as SROs, were demolished, a group of community activists and downtown business leaders banded together in 1989 to create the nonprofit Skid Row Housing

Eventually Skid Row Housing Trust would become one of the largest and best-known producers of desperately needed permanent supportive housing on skid row. Yet the organization is now headed for financial ruin, its oldest housing stock deteriorating with no funds for repairs. The trust is existing on an infusion of hundreds of thousands of dollars in support from three philanthropic organizations as it seeks to transfer its nearly 30 properties to other permanent supportive housing developers.

There’s much talk about how difficult it is to cobble together multiple sources of financing to build permanent supportive housing for homeless people who will not be paying market rate rents. What’s infrequently discussed is how challenging it is to keep those buildings maintained once they are occupied.

In the trust’s oldest buildings, rental vouchers didn’t begin to cover the costs of repairs and upkeep. Repairs were deferred to the point where they got worse and created more problems. In some cases, units were damaged by tenants suffering from mental illness who flooded their units with running water or even set them on fire. When some units became open, they were so damaged they couldn’t be occupied until fixed — which the trust’s operators couldn’t afford to do. So the units sat empty, which meant less income from rent to fix repairs. The occupancy rate across all its properties averages about 78%, but the trust’s chief executive said occupancy rate is significantly lower in the buildings that need the most repair.

It’s up to the owners and operators of permanent supportive housing buildings to negotiate increases in rental subsidies to cover maintenance costs before they get out of control. Whether those increases occur or not, owners need to keep a financial reserve and replenish it through fundraising. But as the current chief executive, Joanne Cordero, said, that’s not an easy task.

“This business is hard on a good day, and if you are not relentlessly pursuing funding opportunities and working with the city and county to make sure your rents are as high as possible, you can’t survive it,” said Cordero, who didn’t speculate on what her predecessors did or didn’t do. After the trust’s longtime respected leader, Mike Alvidrez, retired in 2018, a succession of chief executives came and went — which executives of other nonprofit housing firms point to as a weakness.

The trust’s downfall is not a result of its permanent supportive housing model, which relies on housing people first then providing them support services — case managers, therapists and other health professionals. Even if the city and county need to provide some tenants with a higher level of service, the bigger problem here is financial.

this problem is hurting the reputation of Los Angeles, of dtla in particular. $1.3 billion is nothing to sneeze at...

• Video Link

this was yesterday around 6 miles west of dtla....the new metro line under Wilshire blvd extended west from dt had better not allow dirt & crime to get out of hand, as it has over the past yrs, or else billions of dollars will go down the drain.....Along with LA's & dt's reputation being trashed. What's going on up north right now...in the city of the Golden Gate & cable cars....is a big forewarning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJehF0bmGMY

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by pwright1

One of Orange County's most well know restaurateur's is opening his Spanish restaurant Vaca inside the Beaudry sometime early next year. The Beaudry is absolutely beautiful and I was thoroughly impressed.

The beaudry tower is one reason why today's dtla in certain ways is better than it was yrs ago....decades ago. Even when dt was more of the hub of LA, it never was home to a lot of affluent ppl. Wealthier families started leaving the few mansions built on bunker hill as long ago as the 1920s.

Mainstream customers, however, kept stores on broadway or 7th St busy through mainly before the 1950s. But even before the era of fwys, most of those customers had to travel from miles away into dt....originally mainly on the red cars....than at the end of their shopping day, they'd drive out.

A Top Chef mega-star and one of Orange County’s most well-known restaurateurs is coming to Downtown Los Angeles for the first time. Amar Santana, who is currently appearing on the All-Stars series of Top Chef, will open his Spanish restaurant Vaca inside the new Beaudry residential building at 960 W. 7th Street.

Santana has been a certified culinary celebrity for years, appearing on food, competition, and travel shows in some capacity since he first opened Vaca nearly a decade ago. The Spanish restaurant was a big win for Orange County at the time, and put Santana at the center of the South Coast Plaza dining scene — part of a $2 billion empire that spans dozens of restaurants and one of the area’s most influential families, the Segerstroms.

Now Santana will recreate that Spanish magic in Downtown LA, with an opening pegged for early next year, in a space designed and built by Studio UNLTD. Vaca will immediately compete with nearly a dozen new or emerging entrants in the greater LA area that are now cooking Spanish food, the city’s unquestionably hot cuisine of the moment. That includes star chef José Andrés, who already has a collection of restaurants in Downtown near the Walt Disney Concert Hall, with more to come.

The Beaudry, owned and leased by Brookfield Properties, is just the latest so-called “elevated living experience” to hit Downtown LA....Much like the incoming Daniel Boulud project opening inside an upscale development in Beverly Hills, residents will even be able to get bespoke food and drink from Santana’s Vaca Group served inside the 600-foot-tall building.

[scania]

Originally Posted by LA21st

I don't get these comments. People say the city doesnt do anything about homeless, IT DOES SOMETHING. And there's comments like this.

Do you just want to complain or what? There's housing projects in the upper eastside of Manhattan for fucks sake. The homeless housing has to be built SOMEWHERE.

Concentration of poverty? Do you know how expensive it is to live in downtown LA?

Exactly...and honestly, once you crossover the freeway, A LOT of people don't really consider that DTLA.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by SC_00_05

Just what downtown needs, more concentration of poverty and homeless services...good Lord.

First of all, that building has been housing the homeless for the last couple of years, so this isn't "more" of anything, it is the status quo. Second, that's Westlake, not downtown. Third, the city is currently leasing rooms from hotel operators like that of the Mayfair for something like $4,500 per room per month--so buying these properties makes financial sense for the city. And finally, where do you propose we house the homeless if not in buildings like the Mayfair?

[LA21st]

They dont have ANY solutions. They just want to complain and it's likely politcally motivated.

These people are all over LA reddit, just bitching no matter what. They probably don't even live in LA, just complaining from some boring red state. I bet those same people are furious Venice Beach cleaned up homeless, because now they can't go all over social media about tents there.

Hell, there's people on this forum like that.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by LA21st

They dont have ANY solutions. They just want to complain and it's likely politcally motivated.

These people are all over LA reddit, just bitching no matter what. They probably don't even live in LA, just complaining from some boring red state. I bet those same people are furious Venice Beach cleaned up homeless, because now they can't go all over social media about tents there.

Hell, there's people on this forum like that.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: when I moved to LA and started regularly participating in the LA construction subforum here, I was shocked at the uniquely and relentlessly negative tone here. I think it drives away a lot of would-be participants, but this subforum's moderation seems to nurture and protect the relentless negativity.

[LA21st]

They do. And that's why I respond in the same tone.
Because if you don't, they think it's acceptable.

I do it on reddit too and shut them down, quick.

I don't think Chicago's sub forum here would allow people to shit on Chicago for it's crime issues. Not a chance in hell.

[craigs]

New operator signs on for the Trinity Hotel at 851 S Grand Avenue in DTLA

Plans to reopen the 109-year-old building have been stalled for nearly a decade

Five years after the last signs of action, a new operator will attempt to reopen the historic Trinity Auditorium in Downtown Los Angeles as a hotel.

On May 9, LuxUrban Hotels, Inc. announced that has signed a 15-year master lease agreement to operate the Trinity Hotel, which is located at 851 S. Grand Avenue. The hotel, which will operate under the "LuxUrban Ultra" brand features 179 guest rooms in a nine-story completed in 1914. LuxUrban's news release indicates that the hotel is ready to open.

“Downtown Los Angeles offers a wide array of cultural, entertainment, and business activities and the region’s improving hospitality market reflects the abundance of opportunities that this bustling commercial and residential hub provides," said LuxUrban chairman and chief executive officer Brian Ferdinand in a statement.

The Trinity Auditorium, alternatively known as the Embassy Hotel, was the location of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's debut in 1919. In subsequent years, it has been used as an annex and housing complex by USC, until coming into the ownership of the Chetrit family in the late 1990s.

For more than a decade, the Chetrits have sought to convert the property into a hotel. That effort initially stalled in 2014 due to a conflict between the property owner and the labor union Unite Here Local 11, which successfully blocked the family from obtaining alcohol permits for both the Trinity Auditorium. While the project was eventually able to move forward through permitting, it has remained closed to the public.

The conflict also extended to the Trinity's sister project, the Hotel Clark near Pershing Square - an establishment which the Chetrits have also sought to reopen for decades. Most recently, the Clark was slated to open its doors in September 2019. However, that date came and went without welcoming guests.

[craigs]

What an awesome rooftop!

[scania]

Originally Posted by craigs

I've said it before and I'll say it again: when I moved to LA and started regularly participating in the LA construction subforum here, I was shocked at the uniquely and relentlessly negative tone here. I think it drives away a lot of would-be participants, but this subforum's moderation seems to nurture and protect the relentless negativity.

Moderators here seem to have an envy towards LA. They clearly don't live here and haven't experience the life of LA. But I get it takes money to live and enjoy some of the things LA has to offer. It's not a city where people enjoy their weekends at Wal Mart. Ha

[colemonkee]

I'm a moderator, and have been for the better part of ten years. I live in mid-city. I've lived in LA for 28 years, 10 of those downtown from 2005 to 2015, and was an HOA president of a building downtown for 7 of those years. I've been in the room on many, many occasions with City officials and some of the key development players that show up from time to time in reporting posted on these threads, sometimes on opposite sides of a mediation table. I know LA very well, and love it, warts and all.

My personal moderation style is not as heavy-handed as some of the other city mods, as I trust people to be mature, and respectfully discuss the good and the bad. I will step in and delete posts, warn, suspend, or ban forumers if they break forum rules, and have banned several users permanently throughout the years. I also have a 60-hour-per week job, so do not police things 24/7. I do encourage anyone who would like to be a moderator to raise your hand and I can put you in touch with the forum admins. I welcome any and all help.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

I also have a 60-hour-per week job, so do not police things 24/7.

Dude, you work too much...
Get some rest sometimes.

[colemonkee]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Dude, you work too much...
Get some rest sometimes.

My wife tells me that all the time. And she's right, 100% of the time.

[scania]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

My wife tells me that all the time. And she's right, 100% of the time.

Try and at least have time for you to be able to enjoy life with your family.

[craigs]

Lakers colors on Library Tower, from Reddit:

[craigs]

And a shot of the nascent Arts District skyline, also from Reddit.
The skyline will never be the same again!

[citywatch]

• Video Link

Getty images

That’s why a pair of approvals in City Hall last week were seriously monumental: The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 in favor of plans that will guide greatly expanded residential development in Hollywood and Downtown.

That’s big, but the Downtown plan, also known as DTLA 2040, is even bigger. A building boom that started at the turn of the millennium has already seen the area grow from around 18,000 residents to more than 75,000 today. DTLA 2040, meanwhile, prepares for the creation of some 100,000 housing units and the addition of 175,000 residents to an area where office vacancies have thrown the area into an identity crisis. State guidelines require Los Angeles to add 455,000 housing units, including 185,000 affordable residences, by 2029. Downtown’s central location, access to transit and the necessity to build vertically when so much of L.A. sprawls horizontally make it ideal for future high-density residential development.

“Even though it represents just one percent of the city’s total land area, through this plan it will accommodate 20 percent of the city’s total projected household growth,” Brittany Arceneaux, a senior city planner, told the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee on April 24.

“An inclusionary housing component will allow workers to have access to genuinely affordable housing in downtown L.A. is a BFD, because it’s real and it’s not theoretical,” de Leon told the council. The Fashion District, Skid Row and Chinatown also stand to benefit from the new plan, which includes provisions for preserving businesses and allowing low-income residents to live near their jobs. So will developers, who will not only have more property on which to build, but streamlined permitting where before rules could vary from block to block across downtown.

Downtown is both the historic heart of Los Angeles and home to its newest landmarks and tallest buildings. It’s also a mix of extreme wealth and abject poverty, and a collection of distinct neighborhoods that have little in common except for being positioned between the freeway ring and the L.A. River—there’s not a lot of overlap between the Arts District, Bunker Hill, South Park or Little Tokyo, to name a few.

Yet DTLA has a big advantage in that NIBYism, scourge of development in more affluent areas of the city, is almost nonexistent. Propose a seven-story housing complex in most L.A. neighborhoods and there will be pitchforks and torches over traffic and lost parking; suggest a 50-story skyscraper in Downtown and the community is more apt to shrug, so long as there’s a decent coffee shop on the ground floor.

BTW, lots of publicity right now about a shopkeeper in the SE part of dtla, not far from the somewhat new Hoxton & Proper hotels on broadway, brutally beaten yesterday in a robbery....which occurred in the afternoon. His store is in the 1100 block of Main St. At first I assumed it was nearer to skid row, further north. But it's actually located where new apt bldgs have gone up or are going up, such as the Broadway palace apts across from the Ace hotel. I notice the vacancy rate in that proj is higher now than it has been in past yrs. If LA city hall doesn't get a handle on things, billions of dollars of investment in various categories, inc the MTA's transit lines, will go down the drain.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by craigs

I've said it before and I'll say it again: when I moved to LA and started regularly participating in the LA construction subforum here, I was shocked at the uniquely and relentlessly negative tone here. I think it drives away a lot of would-be participants, but this subforum's moderation seems to nurture and protect the relentless negativity.

I don't usually respond to these types of posts but I think that the expression "don't feed the trolls" is a good one to follow. IMO there is only one persistent troll and I have had that person's posts blocked for a decade as 90% of their posts are not about DTLA development I only see the back and forth and quotes and I see a lot of that. I guess that some disagree with my approach and feel the need to feed trolls.

In general I find the large majority of posts here to be off topic. Lots of troll posts, responses to troll posts, random LA YouTube videos, and skyline shots. Posts about downtown development are often lost in the mix, if they are even there at all. I try not to contribute to the mess, so this is all that I'll have to say.

[Dale]

Library Tower is a classic. IMO, looks even better up close.

[BrandonJXN]

I never post regarding the 'state of the forum' but this thread has been meh for quite a while. The general tone is rarely positive and tends to sway wayyyyy off topic but generally returns to the starting line at the intersection of 4th and Hill. If you smell what The Rock is cooking.

Quite a few of those that have been on this forum for roughly 20 (!) years can say that this little thread has become a part of our daily life. I can speak for myself that having that SSP meet at Lost Souls in like (2005-2006ish?) was a highlight for me because it was the first time I was around people who had similar dreams and ideas about the betterment of DTLA (as well as those who love architecture/skyscrapers). Fast forward 20 years later and I still remember that day fondly.

This thread probably won't return to those halcyon days but it's almost exhausting seeing more negative than positive.