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Posted Oct 22, 2016, 3:41 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 6,718
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SCG8364
The now USC Tower stood isolated from the DTLA skyline for decades
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Even worse, what was originally the occidental bldg was surrounded by a mostly blighted area. I always felt so sorry for that bldg....& that part of dtla.
for some reason that bldg to me has always seemed or looked taller than city hall...maybe because of the occidental/at&t/usc tower's greater width. But it's all a matter of perspective. for instance, san francisco's city hall is taller than the US capitol bldg in DC. I'd swear it was the other way around.
for what's now the USC tower, I'm just happy that the past finally is now the past.
Quote:
CityDig: The Loneliest Skyscraper in Los Angeles
lamag.com
March 4, 2014 Nathan Masters
Why does the AT&T Center stand aloof from the rest of L.A.’s downtown skyline? Shortly before it opened in 1965 as the Occidental Center Tower, the Times compared it to a “Sequoia in a stand of lodgepole pine”—and little has changed since. Most of the city’s tallest buildings crowd around Bunker Hill, but a mile away at 12th and Hill, not a single high-rise challenges the AT&T Center’s 32-story, 452-foot command of the sky.
When the Occidental Life Insurance Company broke ground on its new headquarters in 1961, true skyscrapers had been legal in Los Angeles for only five years, and no one knew where they would ultimately congregate. The southern fringes of downtown seemed as likely a place as any. For Occidental and architects William Pereira and Gin Wong, the new tower was a bet that relatively cheap land and easy freeway access would lure development to downtown’s south.
Built in Pereira’s characteristically futuristic style, the Occidental Center Tower was city’s second tallest building upon its completion in 1965, second only to City Hall. It featured a rooftop helipad where, it was thought, helicopters would whisk executives to the terminals at LAX. On the 32nd floor, a fine-dining restaurant—appropriately named The Tower—offered sweeping city views for a price, while an observation deck two stories below was free and open to the public. From either vantage point, it was obvious by the end of the ‘60s that Occidental and Pereira had misplaced their bet, as a cluster of steel skyscraper frames climbed skyward, a half-dozen blocks to the north on Bunker Hill.
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Quote:
DTLA retains shiny appeal in the face of oversupply — for now
Demand increased 10% over the past four quarters, despite climbing vacancy and slowed rent growth: report
Credit: CoStar
October 18, 2016
By Cathaleen Chen
If the first half of 2016 painted an ominous picture for the Downtown multifamily market, the third quarter didn’t offer much of a respite, despite a dip in vacancy. Ever-growing supply still nudged rent growth downward and created a renters’ market.
But the sunny days for owners aren’t all gone: Net absorption reached 1,500 units over the past four quarters, a year-over-year increase of about 10 percent, according to the latest CoStar report. That’s more than double the submarket’s five-year annual absorption average of about 600 units, indicating a sustained interest in the burgeoning neighborhood. So far this year, net absorption has grown by over 7 percent. To avoid the dreaded “O-word” — oversupply — absorption will have to keep at its current lofty pace, according to the CoStar report.
Even though unprecedented delivery in the past few years has created signposts pointing to a weakening apartment market, demand is still strong, according to Steve Basham, a senior market analyst at CoStar Group.
“Vacancy will be volatile, but this is purely supply-driven,” he said.
(Credit: CoStar)
In the third quarter, vacancy decreased to 8.4 percent from about 11 percent in Q2, according to Basham. However, he said this was due to the lack of deliveries in the past three months. Vacancy is anticipated to creep up and remain volatile in the next few years as new construction finishes.
“You’ll see vacancy continue to fluctuate. In fact, it’ll probably go up soon, but there’s no downturn yet,” Basham said. “It’s absolutely encouraging that there’s strong enough demand in one quarter that vacancy dropped.”
Meanwhile, rent growth is stalling at 3.3 percent year-over-year, ranking at the bottom of the L.A. submarkets. Average rents are edging toward $2,500 per unit, or about 35 percent higher than the metro average. Still, the decelerating rate is giving renters an advantage over landlords.
“Renters now have the ability to shop around for the best concessions and incentives, and that’s not going to slow down anytime soon,” Basham said.
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