LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[Kingofthehill]

Ace Hotel:





One Santa Fe

[ChelseaFC]

Pros and cons of Pershing Square being gated at night?

[brudy]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

I like that Coco Laurent signage. Looking forward to trying Figaro (and Bar Ama, of course!) one of these nights - has anybody been?

Went to Figaro tonight actually. I thought it was pretty good, but not fantastic. Dessert was good, my wife's entree was awesome, mine was good enough, but not mind blowing. There were a fair amount of people there, which was nice. There was a large event/party going on upstairs as well. Service was also good but not incredible.

Designwise, I feel like the interior struggles to find an identity. Part of the interior is open to the second floor, but the section with most of the seating is closed in with a dark wood ceiling, and felt a little forced. It felt kinda generic, my wife said it reminded her of a hotel bar more than a french restaurant. Overall we liked it, but it needs to pick if it wants to be a more formal place or have a relaxed, bistro feel. It's trying to split the difference now and I'm not sure it's entirely working.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Pros and cons of Pershing Square being gated at night?

Pro: Keeps out the homeless who would naturally want to convene there at night.

Con: Encloses the park therefore turning it into a prison rec yard (See Grand Hope Park). Next to Grand Park, DTLA's best park is Grand Hope Park. However it would work so much better if wasn't enclosed.


http://www.iffti.com/images/gallery/photos/new-FIDM/Grand_Hope_Park_Night_Pano_DSC_0016-Edit_2.jpg

[112597jorge]

For pershing square to be a really great part of downtown where people would want to go, it should have a central monument of an angel (ex. angel of independence), and all around green laws with palm trees and evergreen trees.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by 112597jorge

For pershing square to be a really great part of downtown where people would want to go, it should have a central monument of an angel (ex. angel of independence), and all around green laws with palm trees and evergreen trees.

I think LA could do with a little less angels. What with it literally named 'The Angels.' As well as the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim), City of Angels, Angeles Crest Highway, Angel's Flight, Angels in the Outfield...

[ChelseaFC]

The height of the Grand Hope Park fencing is ridiculous and unnecessary. Just make it like Bryant and Madison Square Parks.

[Quixote]

Keep the updates coming, guys!

Really disappointing progress at One Santa Fe. I thought it would've been above ground by now.

[Chef Boyardee]

Originally Posted by Muji

Trees are starting to arrive in Spring Street Park!

There are some new renderings of it on the architects site.



http://www.lehrerarchitects.com/project/9588/spring-street-park

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Keep the updates coming, guys!

Really disappointing progress at One Santa Fe. I thought it would've been above ground by now.

It is above ground. It has been for quite some time.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by HunterK

Also Coco Laurent added some really nice (but subtle) signage to their awnings. Picture from this afternoon as well.

I wonder how much spillover that restaurant is getting from being across the street from another restaurant that is so popular that sometimes ppl wait in lines to get a table? so far, there are times when one is packed, the new kid on the block isn't.

someone said that restaurants regardless of location....whether they're in dt or another part of town....for any number of reasons either will be successful & remain open or fail to get enough business & close.

I do recall being in the weller court in little tokyo a few yrs ago....which is typical of a food court, or burban type of setting. Several restaurants exist side by side there. I'll never forget how most of them the evening I was there had at least a few to many diners. But one restaurant stood out to me like a sore thumb. It was just about empty....I recall its staffers standing around the front door, forced to watch ppl going into the front door of every business but their own. Not sure what that was all about....perhaps bad word of mouth....bad food, poor service?

I understand a successful small vegan bakery headquartered in NYC, & which opened a branch in the pacific electric bldg about 2 yrs ago, didn't draw enough business & has since shuttered. The owner said there wasn't enough foot traffic in the hood . They'll keep their other location in midtown LA open. In that instance, it looks like a case of a business forced to deal with the hood....perhaps still too sketchy since it's right next to skid row, with homeless ppl & drug users wandering around & hurting potential foot traffic....going through growing pains.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Pershing Square

1915

^ I think pershing sq was in the best shape, or design, at that time.

1948

^ I wonder if that was a special event or if the sq could attract large crowds cuz dtla at one time drew huge numbers of ppl visiting that part of town from all over. I read that one of the streets....around 7th & Hill or broadway....a long time ago had bigger crowds of pedestrians than almost any other city on the west coast. Ppl living back then would have been stunned & appalled to know what eventually would happen to the hood.

btw, some of the lush planting in the original pershing sq, ripped out during the huge makeover in the 1950s, supposedly is now in disneyland.

1953




1956


1976

^ Ppl complain about pershing sq today, but I think the area shown in those pics was far, far worse....way more .

but notice how plain & simple the design is....notice how visible all parts of the sq are. No gates to prevent flow through. That's why I think it's a mistake to assume the design of the revamped park from the 1990s is the main reason pershing hasn't been more popular, or why it still doesn't attract many ppl.

I'd say things like the big parking lot across from one very crucial side of pershing sq hurts the hood as much as the layout of the sq itself.....along with ppl being nervous about running into troublemakers, combined with innumerable comments from so many ppl about a lingering smell of urine always wafting through the area.


maps.google.com

^ another reminder why the failure of the parkfifth proj to me has been the biggest blow to pershing sq....if only cuz the owner was going to help fund a complete re-makeover of the sq. the seed money from AEG is nice, but it's going to cover only another study....one of many studies that probably have been done about pershing sq since the beginning of its existence.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by Chef Boyardee

There are some new renderings of it on the architects site.



http://www.lehrerarchitects.com/project/9588/spring-street-park

I am literally blinded by this rendering. If this is the final product, it's way overdesigned.

[Mojeda101]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Pershing Square

What exactly happened to that Temple baptist church building? Why is it now a parking lot?

[brudy]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Pros and cons of Pershing Square being gated at night?

They have 24 hour security now, so that keeps homeless people from camping out at night. Fences with a size similar to Bryant Park and say Public Garden in Boston might be a decent compromise. Just tall enough to make it difficult to get over.

I also agree with an above comment about overdesigning the parks. They can be simpler, wilder spaces. Not everything needs to be hardscape with water features and multi-leveled. I don't like those recent renderings of Spring St park, which is indicative of this problem.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

What exactly happened to that Temple baptist church building? Why is it now a parking lot?

Built originally in 1906 and called Temple Auditorium on the site of Hazard's Pavilion. The LA Philharmonic moved in in 1920 and then it was called the LA Philharmonic Auditorium. Remodeled in 1938 to what you have in this shot. In the 60's it became the Temple Baptist Church when the LA Phil moved. Razed in 1985.

https://sites.google.com/site/downtownlosangelestheatres/auditorium

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Coco Laurant has been getting busier and busier and as the weather improves, i suspect that the patio will become very popular

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by citywatch

I understand a successful small vegan bakery headquartered in NYC, & which opened a branch in the pacific electric bldg about 2 yrs ago, didn't draw enough business & has since shuttered. The owner said there wasn't enough foot traffic in the hood . They'll keep their other location in midtown LA open. In that instance, it looks like a case of a business forced to deal with the hood....perhaps still too sketchy since it's right next to skid row, with homeless ppl & drug users wandering around & hurting potential foot traffic....going through growing pains.

I cannot imagine a place in midtown LA having more foot traffic than 6th/Los Angeles where Babycakes was located. Foot traffic in Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, etc...that's heavier with the clientele who would support "vegan cupcakes", but mid-town LA?

Anyways, Church & State changed everything when you said places in desolate places will not survive. Church & State is in the most industrial section of downtown LA (surrounded by 2 island residential buildings), but people go there in droves.

Make a good product and people will come.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

I cannot imagine a place in midtown LA having more foot traffic than 6th/Los Angeles where Babycakes was located. Foot traffic in Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, etc...that's heavier with the clientele who would support "vegan cupcakes", but mid-town LA?

Anyways, Church & State changed everything when you said places in desolate places will not survive. Church & State is in the most industrial section of downtown LA (surrounded by 2 island residential buildings), but people go there in droves.

Make a good product and people will come.

Same with Urth Cafe. It's way out in the Arts District but it's forever packed. And quite good. It also has the good fortune of being across the street from Barker Block.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

I cannot imagine a place in midtown LA having more foot traffic than 6th/Los Angeles where Babycakes was located. Foot traffic in Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, etc...that's heavier with the clientele who would support "vegan cupcakes", but mid-town LA?

Anyways, Church & State changed everything when you said places in desolate places will not survive. Church & State is in the most industrial section of downtown LA (surrounded by 2 island residential buildings), but people go there in droves.

Make a good product and people will come.

But almost nobody who would want vegan cupcakes walks past Main on 6th. There's just no reason to wander any further down 6th when you know (and can see) it leads into skid row. It was also tucked away and difficult to see. I lived here for almost a year before I knew that it was there, despite going to 6th and Main all the time for dog supplies.