Quote:
Originally Posted by bobcat
Video of the DTLA Housing Forum.
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Thanks for that link----nice way to end the holiday!
I think you also posted last yr the location of the video of the previous housing conference. Good too, cuz I'd never have known about them otherwise.
- First thing: Tom Gilmore makes a good MC. A more typical host, one into less or no humor, would have made the conference slower & too serious.
- The Related cos----devlpr of the Hikari, Block 8 & the Grand Ave proj----says that only 8 units (out of 128) are left in the new Hikari apt bldg at 2nd & Central. He also said the average income of the tenants there is $100,000, which has surprised the devlpr since a few yrs ago they thought only apts for lower income ppl would work in little tokyo.
- He also said the "San Pedro" apt bldg in block 8 is a temporary name only. Good thing too because that name makes me think the proj must be dozens of miles to the south, next to the LA harbor. The 22 floor tower that is supposed to rise directly north of the bldg is being designed right now, so I guess that means it won't be rising too soon in the future. However, he said that the Kor group's condo proj, which would be directly to the NW of the san pedro bldg, is supposed to break ground later this yr.
- As for the biggie, the Grand Ave proj, he implied the exterior of its shorter tower has been made plainer to save moolah. He also sounded like he wanted to shake a finger at Frank Gehry for pushing the upper limits of the proj's budget.
- He said that if the new Mandarin Oriental hotel in DTLA ends up being as nice as the one in Related's Time warner ctr in NYC, that it would be not just the nicest hotel in DT, but in all of LA. He said more ppl wouldn't have to keep running off to beverly hills for the best hotels in town.
- One of the devlprs of all those faux Euro apt bldgs that everyone loves so much said that 75% of the apts at their new visconti proj are leased. However, its web page shows only 5 apts are available, & there's no way so many units could have been rented in only around 13 days----the conference was held on June 21. I hope the devlpr isn't playing games with their web sites & inflating numbers.
- The spokesman for the parkfifth said that the psf price of condos in their tower will be $1,000, meaning that a small 1,000 sf condo would cost at least $1 million. That's getting pricey.
- When he said just how large some of the balcony patios would be, there was a bit of oohing & ahhing in the audience. IOW, some of those patios will be big. He also said the edge of them would look almost invisible as seen from inside, that when a person is sitting in a condo & facing out he'd seem to be looking into infinity. Gilmore joked that he knew someone who suffered from vertigo & said such condos would be too much for her.
- There was a point when the devlpr made me think I'd be able to stand up & cheer HIP, HIP, HURRAH! when it sounded like he was going to start saying something like "400 of our condos have been pre booked!!" Unfortunately, he only said that parkfifth's web site had gotten a lot of hits (I think it was 40,000). Because of the big bucks that the devlpr has put into advertising the proj, Gilmore kidded him about making managers of local papers very happy.
- The only thing that the devlpr of the Roosevelt conversion proj said that stood out to me was that their bldg was completed in 1927 & was one of the first to have its own underground parking garage. That means new devlpt in LA already was becoming autocentric over 80 yrs ago!
- I don't recall the spokesppl for the Meurelo tower & 1010 wilshire projs saying anything that isn't already known here.
- The devlpr of the Ralph's mktlofts made it sound like the grocery store's shelves would be filling up right about now, 1st wk of july, almost ready to open. The conference took place less than 2 wks ago, so I don't know if he was being too optimistic. The woman who manages the CCA sounded like she'd be pleasantly surprised if the store actually is operating towards the latter half of the month.
- As for the Q&A at the end, NO ONE asked a question like "what's going on with the Concerto proj??!!!" Or, "hey, Tom, what's going on with your proj next to St Vibiana's!!!???" Or, "does anyone know for sure if the devlpr of the Medallion is going to break ground by july!!!????" Or: "what the heck is going on with the Glass tower??!!"
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