LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0 - Page 16

colemonkee · #**301** Posted **Feb 13, 2011, 12:51 AM**

2700 Figueroa

Also from today, flanked by 2 fast food signs. Again taken with my phone, from inside the car with the window up, hence the ghostly reflection of my dashboard and steering wheel in the sky.

Illithid Dude · #**302** Posted **Feb 13, 2011, 2:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

2700 Figueroa

Also from today, flanked by 2 fast food signs. Again taken with my phone, from inside the car with the window up, hence the ghostly reflection of my dashboard and steering wheel in the sky.

Doesn't actually look that bad, surprisingly enough. Looks like a very traditional done Spanish style complex, which I like. Not one of those horrendous faux-Mediteranian complexed that you often see go up.

colemonkee · #**303** Posted **Feb 13, 2011, 6:38 PM**

^ It's not bad but it's not good either. It really lacks any relief in it's facade for most of the way up, which is kind of a way to cheap out. But it's not done, so I'll reserve final judgement until it's finished. The style is very contextual for it's location, going along with the AAA Headquarters Building across the street and the Spanish tile-roofed church immediately north (not the one on the corner of Fig and Adams). So it does fit in with it's neighbors, it just looks cheaper as it lacks a lot of their level of detail.

You really can't tell a lot of that from the photo, which is fully my fault. One of these days I'll get some shots of it with my real camera. When we can see more of the details.

citywatch · #**304** Posted **Feb 13, 2011, 9:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by robhut

Can you tell me some examples, cause I just to live and travel around Europe and to be honest, I cannot think of many places that can rival the luxury of Beverly Hills, except a couple of neighborhoods in London and Paris. Plus when europeans travel to the U.S.A are actually mesmerized about our wealthy neighborhoods.

I was referring to mainly the public areas in european cities, the hoods where ppl gather & walk around in. I wasn't talking about how ppl in europe live or what their houses or apts are like.

I was in Bev hills a few months ago, in the business/shopping area north of wilshire, & it was nice cuz a person can walk around for several blocks without running into deadzones or anything that's fugly. If more of LA can become like that, esp most of DT----but which as I said before is no big deal to europeans accustomed to their traditional, street friendly old world hoods---we will be primo.

citywatch · #**305** Posted **Feb 13, 2011, 9:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Apologies for the quality, taken from my phone.

that pic looks pretty good to me, colemonkee. If you hadn't mentioned it I'd never have thought it was taken with anything other than a regular camera. Pics like yours that show updates & new changes to the hood are a major reason I drop by here regularly, so please keep em coming.

citywatch · #**306** Posted **Feb 13, 2011, 10:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just-In-Cali

My point is, as much as we would love to believe the "if you build it, they will come" mentality, the fact is, 17 some million people are spread across thousands of square miles without an extensive public transport to reach them, hence, they will drive. I know how my friends from the burbs are. They dont wanna go through a huge "search and seek" everytime they go somewhere, so having dedicated parking at the facility is not a bad thing.

it's like all the ppl who try to be green friendly & nice to the environment but who insist on driving large vehicles, or who spend way too much time circling around a parking lot trying to find a parking space that is as close as possible to a store's front door. I know too many ppl in LA who behave that very way. And they & many others still think of DT as a scary hood in the middle of other scary hoods, & who therefore have to be really coaxed & prodded to visit DT.

Ppl have to remember that the reputation of dt has been bad for over 50 yrs & that breaking down ppl's resistance to the hood will take every trick in the book. So worrying about too much parking under the museum is important only if it makes such projs too $$ to build, or if it doesn't mean that nearby deadzone parking lots finally will be closed permanently & replaced with something decent.

as for parking requirements for new housing projs, I've read that funders won't give money to a proj if they think it doesn't contain enough parking space for tenants & their guests. So it's not just the city but it's also banks & other lending institutions that force devlprs to include X number of spaces for parking.

colemonkee · #**307** Posted **Feb 13, 2011, 11:46 PM**

In other news, Pho Citi, a small 24-hour chain of pho restaurants, is moving into the old Trifecta Lounge space in the Kawada Hotel at the corner of 2nd and Hill. Let's hope that location is actually 24/7, like their other locations. It will do wonders to activate that area. As for the food, I've never had it, but it will be nice to have another option in the area.

http://www.phociti.com

JDRCRASH · #**308** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 1:29 AM**

Finally something downtown is under construction...

Thanx for the photos, Colemonkee!

LAofAnaheim · #**309** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 4:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

Finally something downtown is under construction...

Thanx for the photos, Colemonkee!

Well...it's not downtown. It's University Park, which is south of downtown. The downtown borders are generally considered the I-10, I-110, East LA interchange and the LA river. (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=128040&page=6)

Plus, that project (2700 Figueroa) has been under construction since last year. It's nothing new. The only major construction in proper downtown is the YWCA building at Olympic/Hill. Outside of that...there's nothing happening in the downtown core.

JDRCRASH · #**310** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 6:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

Well...it's not downtown. It's University Park, which is south of downtown. The downtown borders are generally considered the I-10, I-110, East LA interchange and the LA river. (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=128040&page=6)

Plus, that project (2700 Figueroa) has been under construction since last year. It's nothing new. The only major construction in proper downtown is the YWCA building at Olympic/Hill. Outside of that...there's nothing happening in the downtown core.

Wait, so then would City West be considered a part of downtown?

colemonkee · #**311** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 6:12 AM**

^ So the New Genesis Apartments aren't downtown? I'll let them know. Along with Portofino, which is right next door. They'll be disappointed, but they'll get over it eventually.

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**312** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 7:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

In other news, Pho Citi, a small 24-hour chain of pho restaurants, is moving into the old Trifecta Lounge space in the Kawada Hotel at the corner of 2nd and Hill. Let's hope that location is actually 24/7, like their other locations. It will do wonders to activate that area. As for the food, I've never had it, but it will be nice to have another option in the area.

http://www.phociti.com

pho citi is actually good. another dead spot gone!

i was walking around today, and i think Spring between 2nd and 3rd needs to be bombed. its the most depressing block and the only portion of spring that hasnt been redone. i would live to see 4 or 5 10 - 15 story building there, with different architectural styles. a boutique hotel, a couple market rate apartment towers, and a condo tower or two.

JDRCRASH · #**313** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 7:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

i was walking around today, and i think Spring between 2nd and 3rd needs to be bombed. its the most depressing block and the only portion of spring that hasnt been redone. i would live to see 4 or 5 10 - 15 story building there, with different architectural styles. a boutique hotel, a couple market rate apartment towers, and a condo tower or two.

Well the HUGE parking structures ruin the area. I don't like how one of them, 220 Spring St, has its floors "hidden" by a facade, as if nobody can see it. Seriously it looks like a freakin prison.

At least there is one nice building on the NW corner of 3rd and Spring.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**314** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 5:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

In other news, Pho Citi, a small 24-hour chain of pho restaurants, is moving into the old Trifecta Lounge space in the Kawada Hotel at the corner of 2nd and Hill. Let's hope that location is actually 24/7, like their other locations. It will do wonders to activate that area. As for the food, I've never had it, but it will be nice to have another option in the area.

http://www.phociti.com

Yay!!! I am so happy to hear about this. I have to have pho at least once a week and it would be so hard for me to live downtown without more Asian food options. We need more Cantonese style restaurants like JJ Cafe (http://www.yelp.com/biz/jj-hong-kong-cafe-monterey-park) on Garvey in Monterey Park. I can see a JJ Cafe style restaurant on Broadway in the future...

dachacon · #**315** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 6:07 PM**

Hey so i heard Equinox Fitness is looking to move downtown...some broker at MPG said probably at Two Cal, taking half of the lobby areas and the 2nd floor that Deliotte currently uses.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**316** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 7:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dachacon

Hey so i heard Equinox Fitness is looking to move downtown...some broker at MPG said probably at Two Cal, taking half of the lobby areas and the 2nd floor that Deliotte currently uses.

Yes, they have been wanting to enter into the DTLA market for awhile. They initially were planning to go into the Grand Ave Project across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

If what you said materializes, they won't be far from their original desired location. And it'll be better for DTLA as we get a new gym SOONER, taking an underutilized space (Two Cal lobby) and then opens the space that WAS planned for Equinox at the future Grand Ave Project for something else (hopefully some good retailers). Win-win-win.

Sodha · #**317** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 9:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ So the New Genesis Apartments aren't downtown? I'll let them know. Along with Portofino, which is right next door. They'll be disappointed, but they'll get over it eventually.

Hmmm....New Genesis is on Main street between 4th and 5th street. That is DOWNTOWN. What made you think differently?

Sodha · #**318** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 9:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

Wait, so then would City West be considered a part of downtown?

It's not downtown. It's City West. Just like Pico Union, Westlake, Lincoln Heights, etc.. those are not downtown.

colemonkee · #**319** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 10:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sodha

Hmmm....New Genesis is on Main street between 4th and 5th street. That is DOWNTOWN. What made you think differently?

I was being facetious. I'm very well aware of the location, having lived 2 1/2 blocks away for the last 5 1/2 years. And I reject the notion that places like City West or Chinatown or USC aren't part of downtown simply because they are outside the arbitrary freeway boundaries. And pretty well-respected - and oft-quoted - publications like the Downtown News and BlogDowntown agree, as they regularly report on those areas as part of "downtown."

BrandonJXN · #**320** Posted **Feb 14, 2011, 11:05 PM**

Look what's about to break ground. Abiet a couple hundred feet shorter than originally proposed.

From Curbed:

Quote:

If more residents move to City West--the area that some locals disparagingly consider to be the New Jersey of downtown--will the area finally get some respect? Perhaps. Either way, more housing is coming. Building permits were recently filed for 1111 Wilshire, and construction on the 7-story apartment building is expected to start in April, according to Tom Warren, COO of Holland Development, part of Vancouver, Washington-based Holland Partners. With the exception of developer Geoffrey Palmer's ubiquitous Tuscans, 1111 Wilshire will be one of the first new downtown residential buildings to break ground since the housing bust began.
So let's find out more. City West is good for mature grown-ups, first off.>>>>

Originally entitled back in 2007, the 11-story, 398-condo development---located diagonally across the street from the Glo project---also developed by Holland Partners, has been downsized to a 7-story, 210-unit apartment building. Nadel Architects is still doing the design.

With equity partners and a lender, demolition and prep work will start at the beginning of March, and construction will start in April, according to Holland. The building will offer ground floor retail, one floor of amenities, and five stories of residential. Parking will be underground, and on the retail level.

And what about City West's boring reputation? Well, Warren sees the neighborhood's geographic liability--it's cut off from the rest of the downtown due to the freeway--as a plus. When you live in City West, "you don't have people stumbling home all night," he said. (Touche, party animals of the Historic Core.) People who live in City West are "serious about living in downtown," he adds.

This was the original 1111 Wilshire proposed back in 2007.

http://www.davidgrayarchitects.com/WT.html