LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0 - Page 280

Illithid Dude · #**5581** Posted **Oct 18, 2012, 6:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

And it'll have a name with initials "C.L."

Is this a hint? Is there something I'm missing? Is there some restaurant chain that Downtowners desperately want with the same initials?

LA/OCman · #**5582** Posted **Oct 18, 2012, 5:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrighamYen

Yes I talk to the owner of the restaurant semi-regularly. It'll be open hopefully by mid-Nov. And it'll have a name with initials "C.L."

You are not referring this this restaurant are you? This restaurant "Guild" opens soon...but it has been through more changes...one wonders if the location is jinxed.

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/restaurant...1891-11e2-938d-001a4bcf887a.html?photo=0

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**5583** Posted **Oct 18, 2012, 6:20 PM**

no, hes talking about the restaurant directly across from bottega on Grand. It used to have the Guess adds on the outside wall...

LAofAnaheim · #**5584** Posted **Oct 18, 2012, 11:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch

I enjoyed your pics! Always a welcome part of this thread.

when the devlpr said a few months ago that they'd break ground around this time, if not a bit earlier, I knew it was too good to be true.

Whoever made this observation probably saw a chain fence at 9th/Olive and thought it meant that something was under construction. That's why I always say make sure you see people movers before you assume construction started.

9th/Olive has been chain linked for years. Let's make sure we make credible observations of construction and not just assume a chain link fence means construction has started. I live near here.........nothing has happened for years.

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**5585** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 12:08 AM**

actually, what happened was i sent an email to the developer and they responded that they were set to break ground in late August. Then another forumer accidentally noted that they saw the lot fenced off around that same time and it set off the rumors.

Im in Seattle right now, and this city is great. Downtown LA should strive to implement a lot of what Seattle has done with their downtown. Not many dead lots, no horrible architecture like the palmer shit, great landscaping, street furniture and infrastructure and loads of retail. The city is also booming with tons of high rise construction. Very impressed... except for the gloom

Easy · #**5586** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 1:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

no horrible architecture like the Gilmore..

Do you mean Palmer?

LosAngelesSportsFan · #**5587** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 7:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy

Do you mean Palmer?

yes, sorry, thanks for the correction

colemonkee · #**5588** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 2:24 PM**

While getting my girlfriend's car out of impound yesterday (NOT fun), I drove by One Santa Fe, which is well underway. It's still in the underground phase, but the underground construction looks to be at a pretty advanced stage, with vertical column rebar nearly reaching ground level. The site is HUGE - it stretches along Santa Fe from south of 3rd Street to the 1st Street bridge - so it makes sense that it would take a long time to get above ground, but it looked like things are moving along, and could get visually interesting in the next few months.

Sorry, no pictures as I didn't have time to stop and smell the concrete.

citywatch · #**5589** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 4:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Downtown LA should strive to implement a lot of what Seattle has done with their downtown. Not many dead lots, no horrible architecture like the palmer shit, great landscaping, street furniture and infrastructure and loads of retail.

regardless of what other cities are like, or not like, the thing that really stands out about dtla is how much of it still looks very rundown.....far too much by the standards of a major city, at least one that isn't second class. that's the dominant impression I had after my most recent visit there not long ago, & which really lingers with me to this very day. in effect, it's like for the first time my eyes have been forced wide open.

I think i got lulled into believing all the changes & improvements over the past few yrs had somehow erased alot....or enough...of the grunge to make the hood totally transformed by now, but it took a splash of reality to wake me up.

this vid captures rather well the iffiness of dt....or what forces me to pause & have mixed feelings....where a person can see some ok, or nice sections, but he or she has to also go through too much

&

to get to those nice areas....

• Video Link

^ that's san pedro st going north towards 4th st, towards little tokyo. although it's farther east than areas where more new devlpt is taking place, it's still not too different from what a visitor encounters when around pico or olympic, on grand or olive sts, going from south pk up towards 7th st or bunker hill. however, those parts of dt at least doesn't have so many homeless ppl milling about, but the gaps &

sections still are quite noticeable throughout the hood.

of course, dt is better today than it was in the past...& in some ways is better than it has ever been. But I'm now forced to realize it should never have been or gotten so bad in the first place. That's the reason I find myself taking all the ongoing improvements & new projs in stride right now. I have more of a "show me the money" tude about things. I feel more demanding & less patient than before. So I don't wanna go

when a new proj breaks ground, as much as a feeling of....what took you so long??!!

BrandonJXN · #**5590** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 5:01 PM**

Citywatch. The broken record.

Anyway, some positive news (especially exciting for me as I've been clamoring for a W Hotel downtown for quite some time).

http://brighamyen.com/2012/10/19/virgin-w-kimpton-hotels-downtown-los-angeles/

Quote:

Downtown LA has seen tremendous growth in residential and commercial development over the last decade. An urban center once devoid of life is now a teeming residential hub filled with the newest and most innovative restaurants in Los Angeles (and to a certain extent the entire country). South Park’s boom has been a major driving force in Downtown LA, especially with the addition of LA Live and the Ritz-Carlton/JW Marriott and now the Marriott Courtyard and Residence Inn under construction across the street. Even so, many agree that there is still a major dearth of hotel rooms near the convention center, which has limited its potential. With that being said, three exciting hotel brands could be on the horizon for Downtown LA’s future that would add much needed rooms: Virgin Hotel, W Hotel, and Kimpton.

I spoke to Allie Hope recently over the phone, who is the official rep at Virgin Hotels, and she told me that Virgin Hotels — a new hotel brand from Richard Branson’s mega-empire — is “interested” and “definitely looking at Downtown LA” and specifically in the South Park area. Although no location has been nailed down yet, Hope says they are looking for an opportunity that could be either ground-up construction or perhaps adaptive re-use.

We also discussed the exciting developments happening in Downtown LA such as Ace Hotel coming to 9th and Broadway and the potential NFL stadium and expansion of the convention center. Hope agreed that downtown has come a long way and is now one of the “it spots” to be in Los Angeles (in addition to the Westside and Hollywood).

“We believe in Downtown LA and that it will continue to be a growing market,” Hope told me. “We really like the vibe of downtown and what’s happening there.”

We also discussed other hotel brands that have been scoping out downtown, including W Hotel and Kimpton, which are two other luxury brands that could potentially end up across LA Live replacing a car wash.

“There’s room for everyone,” Hope said.

blackcat23 · #**5591** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 5:27 PM**

Villaraigosa and Huizar just announced that HNTB's design has been selected to replace the Sixth Street Viaduct. No surprise, I think it was the consensus favorite everywhere.

Crackertastik · #**5592** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 8:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

Citywatch. The broken record.

Anyway, some positive news (especially exciting for me as I've been clamoring for a W Hotel downtown for quite some time).

http://brighamyen.com/2012/10/19/virgin-w-kimpton-hotels-downtown-los-angeles/

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the W isnt going to happen in downtown in the near or mid future. Starwood is not keen on two competing products from their portfolio in downtown. They are planning a Le Meridian downtown which is much farther along. The developer who was in brought to Starwood the idea for the W has switched gears to another brand.

LAofAnaheim · #**5593** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 8:31 PM**

citywatch, have you ever been to south side of Chicago? Not really different than east of Main Street in LA, except for the homeless.

Also, you do realize the "homeless problem" is only because Los Angeles has the best weather in the world for a world-class city. Meaning, there are cities with better weather (i.e. Caribbean), but they don't have the health/safety facilities of a first world city like LA, thus Los Angeles will ALWAYS have the largest homeless population in the world. If you're homeless, why would you live anywhere else? 50 years ago it was decided that cities would fund facilities in downtown LA as the "Great White Flight" was happening, so it's a tragic occurenance, but the homeless on that side of downtown will always be there. We can help make it smaller, but not when you have the best darn weather in the world.

StethJeff · #**5594** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 10:12 PM**

1) W is consistently the most stylish hotels I've stayed in. Going from a 9-5 neighborhood to having a W Hotel within 15 or so years would be huge for DTLA. No one could have ever predicted that. Then again, I suppose a Ritz-Carlton in <10 years is probably even more of a surprise.

2) There would have been uproar if anyone other than HNTB would have been picked for the 6th Street Bridge. This has quickly now become one of my favorite projects in LA.

3) Can someone please remind me how to block posts from individual users? I honestly can't take this anymore.

Illithid Dude · #**5595** Posted **Oct 19, 2012, 11:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crackertastik

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the W isnt going to happen in downtown in the near or mid future. Starwood is not keen on two competing products from their portfolio in downtown. They are planning a Le Meridian downtown which is much farther along. The developer who was in brought to Starwood the idea for the W has switched gears to another brand.

Well, a Le Meridian is good, too. And I've seen Starwood Hotels compete all the time. There are something like three W Hotels in midtown NY, all within a couple blocks. But whatever. I'll take the Le Meridian. Any details on what they are planning concerning the Le Meridian?

JDRCRASH · #**5596** Posted **Oct 20, 2012, 12:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by StethJeff

3) Can someone please remind me how to block posts from individual users? I honestly can't take this anymore.

THIS x 1,000,000.....

Go to the "User CP" section, and under "Settings & Options", choose "Edit Ignore List". Add in the box the name of the forumer you want to ignore, click "Okay", and at long last, you can finally take matters into your own hands (which frankly, I'm close to doing as well

).

I never thought I'd ever have more than one forumer on my ignore list, but alas, that day might be close at hand.

Quixote · #**5597** Posted **Oct 20, 2012, 1:07 AM**

Good news regarding the selection of HNTB's proposal. Can/have bridges served as catalysts for urban renewal? Any notable examples?

Mojeda101 · #**5598** Posted **Oct 20, 2012, 1:45 AM**

Nothing special, but looks like they're adding flood lights to the Courtyard Marriott site. Now we can enjoy the live feed at night! =D Not enough of them right now, but i'm sure there will be and this means they'll finally start working through the night I'd imagine.

ziggy331 · #**5599** Posted **Oct 20, 2012, 6:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Any details on what they are planning concerning the Le Meridian?

It's *RUMORED* that the new Wilshire Grand hotel will be a Lê Meridian.

And I also agree that a Lê Meridian wouldn't affect whether a not a W comes to downtown. They cater to different markets. Even in San Francisco, the W and Lê Meridian are separated by less than a mile. It could totally work here too.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**5600** Posted **Oct 20, 2012, 4:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy331

It's *RUMORED* that the new Wilshire Grand hotel will be a Lê Meridian.

And I also agree that a Lê Meridian wouldn't affect whether a not a W comes to downtown. They cater to different markets. Even in San Francisco, the W and Lê Meridian are separated by less than a mile. It could totally work here too.

Wish Mandarin Oriental would go into Wilshire Grand, but I guess we'll have to wait. Perhaps it'll go back to the future Grand Ave Project.