LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[Valyrian Steel]

http://www.facebook.com/WilshireGrandCenter

[ConstructDTLA]

Pardon my ignorance, but why don't they just save us all a lot of time (and give us all a ridiculous amount of entertainment) and blow it up?
http://youtu.be/3deyQH26DFM
• Video Link

[blackcat23]

Originally Posted by HunterK

Pardon my ignorance, but why don't they just save us all a lot of time (and give us all a ridiculous amount of entertainment) and blow it up?

Asbestos, amongst other reasons.

[Valyrian Steel]

Yep. As I understand they also want to recycle some of the materials.

[bmfarley]

There is a subway under 7th.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by gerryberry

this article was the reason why i thought about it in the first place in the last sentence he is referring to palmer´s homepage for the opening date.

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/geoff...3f06e42-7d15-11e2-b9c4-001a4bcf887a.html

gerryberry, you're right!! If you hadn't pointed that out, I'd assume my faulty memory was reliable in this once instance. in fact, you made me so curious about the whole thing that not only did I re read the article again that you linked to.....& yes, they do refer to the website having a date of 2017....but in my own post from sept 2012, I mention that the exact same webpage also lists 2017. I even said that since the date was so far off into the future, that was the reason why I & others wouldn't be taking his proposals for a site on broadway too seriously right now.

this is me & my recollection of that website ---->

gh palmer has been fairly good about sticking to a timeline that doesn't drag on & on, & on, into the future. I believe the instances when his projs have been delayed are due mainly to lawsuits brought against him by the city for violating low income housing requirements, or some controversy when he tore down a rundown old house near chavez blvd..

so if his website has been adjusted recently to show 2015 instead of 2017, the plot thickens!

[Easy]

Originally Posted by bmfarley

There is a subway under 7th.

That's a good point and so is the recycling, but according to the articles that I've read, the primary reason is that Los Angeles no longer allows implosions. So even if there were no subway, an implosion would not be allowed. It wasn't clear to me if that is for all buildings or just those containing asbestos.

[colemonkee]

^ Dismantling and recycling materials on site also factors heavily into LEED certification, as the construction (which demolition would be included in, in this case) methods are part of the equation.

[ChelseaFC]

Here's how they do it in Japan

• Video Link

[brudy]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Here's how they do it in Japan

That is so cool. What really blew my mind is that lowering the top section actually generates electricity for the rest of the site.

[blackcat23]

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/two-d...0a383a0-8128-11e2-8ee3-001a4bcf887a.html

Two Developers Angling for City Hotel Deal



by Ryan Vaillancourt

A city request for bids to buy a South Park development site has netted only two offers.

The city is angling to sell a 19,000-square-foot parcel at 12th and Figueroa streets to a developer with the caveat that the buyer build a four-star or boutique hotel on the land just east of the Convention Center.

A public request for proposals was issued in November and two responses were submitted by the Feb. 15 deadline, said Gerry Miller, the city’s chief legislative analyst.

Citing a study prepared in connection with AEG’s proposed stadium and Convention Center expansion project, 14th District Councilman José Huizar said in November that the proposed hotel would bring the area close to 5,000 hotel rooms within a half-mile of the Convention Center.

Today, there are about 1,685 rooms. The winning bidder would have to ferry the proposal through the city entitlement process.

The site is currently a parking lot just south of a structure once known as the Family Ford Building. Owned by developer Mayer Separzadeh, it now houses a Hooters.

Still mostly unknowns, but this does vibe with what Crackertastik said earlier in the month about interest being somewhat limited. He also said that the proposal would be "tall, iconic." Of course that begs the question of how tall, and iconic by whose standards?

[ConstructDTLA]

It's hard not to get down & negative about Downtown with articles like that ^.

And the fact that Fig @ 7th, which has a much better chance of attracting (real)retail than anywhere else in downtown still has nobody interested..

[blackcat23]

I'm happy enough at the prospect of another high rise hotel that I couldn't care less if only two developers were interested in the parcel.

[Illithid Dude]

I don't get what's so bad about that. Two developers are interested! The hotel will be built! Seems like all good news to me! And perhaps other developers aren't interested because they are already planning hotels? I know the parking lot site got sold for a hotel, and I'm sure more we don't know about are in the works. Also, screw Fig and 7th. If downtown doesn't need anything, it's more malls (or any malls, for that matter).

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

it is good news. HunterK is being overly pessimistic. The car wash is in escrow or just sold for 700 a square foot... get a grip Hunter.

Also, the Metropolis site is back on the market. They want about 125 - 130 mil for it. Plenty of interest already

[brudy]

Given the requirements of a 4 star or boutique hotel, two proposals seems decent enough to me. On the other hand, given the proximity to the convention center, it seems like a no brainer? But given the nature of the hotel, you know it's going to look good, so I'm psyched about that.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by HunterK

It's hard not to get down & negative about Downtown with articles like that ^.

I'm not pessimistic based on that article. You have to consider why anyone would want that property over any number of other properties that are available with no restrictions.

Have you or anyone else noticed anything happening yet with Grand Central Market? Haven't heard anything since they announced that they were going to redo it.

[Just-In-Cali]

Originally Posted by HunterK

It's hard not to get down & negative about Downtown with articles like that ^.

And the fact that Fig @ 7th, which has a much better chance of attracting (real)retail than anywhere else in downtown still has nobody interested..

So, some companies, in a slowly recovering recession, are looking to purchase a DTLA property and possibly build yet another hotel on it. And this is somehow negative? I guess if you have nothing productive to say, complaining is the next best option.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Just-In-Cali

I guess if you have nothing productive to say, complaining is the next best option.

then that describes just about all the forumers here.

Complaints about bldgs being too short, too big, too wide, too small, too blah, too fugly, too stuccoed, no stores on the 1st floor, parking podiums, lack of sidewalk access, unfriendly to pedestrians, faux euro styling, asshat corners, bad colors, too burban, too this....too that..... And, yes, me & my about parking lots, swapmeets on broadway, or various other mood killers in dt.

but to switch to something different, nothing is better than before & after....at least when the after is better than the before.

The SW corner of 1st & central, across from the geffen contemporary & japanese american museums, & also across from one of the stations of the future regional connector, has finally been improved. A shopping ctr with features typical of 1970s blah design...& sort of burban since its mall type layout turned its back on outer streets....had its NE corner opened up over the past 2 yrs. Now a small new restaurant will give life to the corner....with outdoor seating.

this is the way the bldg & corner originally looked...


maps.google.com

this is the way its was remodeled around 2011...


maps.google.com

a bit more remodeling had taken place when this photo was taken....


maps.google.com

and this is the new business that finally will be renting out the corner space...


elizabethdanielsphotography.com/la.eater


elizabethdanielsphotography.com/la.eater

An outdoor eating area has been carved into the area along central ave, on the side of the mall where the mural is located....


elizabethdanielsphotography.com/la.eater

bit by bit, putting it together, making the hood better & better!

[Hubris]

Great post citywatch (particularly since you don't live in LA and can't take your own pics)!

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!