LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[Quixote]

Great updates, guys!

Mojeda, is 9th/Olive set back from the sidewalk or is its footprint aligned with the Chase Building?

[Mojeda101]

Originally Posted by Quixote

Great updates, guys!

Mojeda, is 9th/Olive set back from the sidewalk or is its footprint aligned with the Chase Building?

Can't really tell to be honest from my photo.

To anyone who missed it, photos on the last page!

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

I'll be there. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to Mr. Gehry himself as he leaves. Anyone have questions for him?

One question that needs to be directed not just at him but to all the major players involved with the grand ave proj...past & present....is why was all the planning work done by gehry's firm tossed out & the group from robert stern brought in? Quite a bit of $$ must have been given a few yrs ago by related to frank gehry for his preliminary designs, so why did related feel that all that time & money wasn't worth taking to the next level?

Would the cost of having gehry's company do the detailed, final stage work on the grand ave proj be too expensive, so another architect was brought in? Or did Related fear that Gehry's version of the original Grand ave plans translate into construction costs that would be too high to pencil out correctly?

inquiring minds want to know.

btw, your, trojan's & muji's pics are much appreciated. The apt bldg where the whole fools store will be located does seem to be moving a bit slower than I thought would be the case by now.

Originally Posted by StethJeff

Anyway, it's possible to both be an LA homer and still find the city to be largely ugly, usually uninspired, and a shitty place for tourists. It's not a big deal, folks.

stethjeff, whether you realize it or not, your reaction towards LAX....& it being old & unpleasant or a big letdown....can be applied to the city in general. LAX is sort of a paradigm of what's wrong with the city & maybe what needs to be done to it.

if LA is as fugly as you describe it, then what's the reason behind your or other ppl's resentment when the ugly & uninspiring qualities of LA are being pointed out here? I could understand your feelings if you totally avoided saying any things about LA. But your comments about the airport, disney hall, or newer projs in dt suggest otherwise. Or, more tellingly, your having few to no issues with forumers who dislike new projs in dt cuz in their eyes such projs aren't totally wonderful indicates selective resentment.

If LA is a "shitty place for tourists", I bet it's due to things that the average person is far more likely to notice & dislike....& that doesn't have anything to do with new projs not being good enough to win a Pritzker. To believe otherwise is like saying that a person in the late stage of cancer looks & acts very ill cuz he isn't wearing nicer clothes or forgot to put on his nicer shoes.

[inSaeculaSaeculorum]

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[a9l8e7n]

Sorry to slightly turn off topic. Will we transition to a new thread once we hit 500 pages like what happened in the project rundown 3.0 thread?

[blackcat23]

Originally Posted by Quixote

Great updates, guys!

Mojeda, is 9th/Olive set back from the sidewalk or is its footprint aligned with the Chase Building?

It looks like it meets the sidewalk.

[inSaeculaSaeculorum]

Originally Posted by a9l8e7n

Sorry to slightly turn off topic. Will we transition to a new thread once we hit 500 pages like what happened in the project rundown 3.0 thread?

Last time the limit was 10,000 posts to a thread before a new one had to be started (though the Chicago one is going at 11,000+). We are about to get there this week but I don't know if that's still the policy.

Also does anyone know if JDRCRASH is still updating the first page? Haven't seen him around much lately but maybe someone who wants to be on top of things could volunteer to create the new thread.

[Mojeda101]

Originally Posted by inSaeculaSaeculorum

Last time the limit was 10,000 posts to a thread before a new one had to be started (though the Chicago one is going at 11,000+). We are about to get there this week but I don't know if that's still the policy.

Also does anyone know if JDRCRASH is still updating the first page? Haven't seen him around much lately but maybe someone who wants to be on top of things could volunteer to create the new thread.

I'm here everyday, I wouldn't mind, although as long as it's alright with JDRCRASH

[alki]

Originally Posted by Muji

^^^ That would be the former Coulter Dry Goods building at the southwest corner of 7th and Olive.

Thanks. Good looking bldg.

[Muji]

Curbed reports that Blossom Plaza has finally begun construction. I don't love the renderings, but in the end it still has the potential to be a great addition to Chinatown.

[alki]

Originally Posted by inSaeculaSaeculorum

I don't understand people like you who will claim Los Angeles to be a world class city yet turn around five minutes later and proclaim that beggars can't be choosers when it comes to good design. Are we an ambitious and world class city or not?

I think you are confusing me with someone else.............I have never used that term to reference LA. I am not even sure what world class city means.....global city? The term means very little to me.

And frankly I don't think the Grand Avenue design is begging. Is it extraordinary design? No. Can it stand some tweaking? Of course. But overall I think it will be an asset on Grand Avenue.

I just don't think extraordinary design comes along every day. So my expectations are set at 'good design'......so that anything better than good makes me very happy.

EDIT. Three Hundred 's post reminded me of all the great design getting done by European architects. So I take back some of what I said earlier.........the current state of architecture in the US is pretty bland and uninspiring.......not just LA but in general.

[WonderlandPark]

Originally Posted by Muji

Curbed reports that Blossom Plaza has finally begun construction. I don't love the renderings, but in the end it still has the potential to be a great addition to Chinatown.

Wow, that design has sure been watered down into MEH-ness. It looked pretty hot back in the day, now just painted stucco, yay. Will check the site soon and confirm, this is near me.

[alki]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

This is just the dreamer in me but I would've loved to see Zaha Hadid design the Grand Ave project. Gehry is nice but I think her designing something in Los Angeles just seems to work for some reason.

Yeah, I forgot about the Europeans......some incredible bldgs going up in Europe and the Emirates. Although he doesn't do a lot of hi rises, Calatrava is another good one.

[alki]

LA’s First Stumptown Coffee Now Open in Downtown LA Arts District

http://brighamyen.com/2013/10/01/las-fir...en-downtown-la-arts-district/#more-11035

[blackcat23]

The Times' architecture critic has an article out this morning about the Grand Avenue Project.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/art...ertainty-20131002,0,4255080.story?page=1

Apparently, Frank Gehry is hinting that his firm might be coming back on board to help design the project.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by blackcat23

The Times' architecture critic has an article out this morning about the Grand Avenue Project.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/art...ertainty-20131002,0,4255080.story?page=1

Apparently, Frank Gehry is hinting that his firm might be coming back on board to help design the project.

There's a panel discussion tonight at WDCH as part of KCRW's Which Way LA series on the Grand Ave project. Gehry will be there, and Hawthorne too (among others). Might be worth catching...

[bobcat]

It certainly would be nice if Gehry were back onto the Related team, but I can't help but feel the project is still lacking something, especially when we compare it to what AEG did with LA Live and how that project was able spark a development boom in South Park.

For all its architectural flaws LA Live created a real destination: 1000 hotel rooms, the Nokia Theatre and Club Nokia for indoor stage performances, the Nokia Plaza for outdoor events, the Regal Cinema (now home of the LA Film Festival), broadcast facilities for ESPN, a bowling alley, the Grammy Museum, massive outdoor video screens.

What does Grand Ave have? Grand Park (which was a requirement for the project), Broad Museum (which Eli is paying for), 271 unit apartment tower (under construction), 430 additional apartments (down from 488), some condos, a 250 room hotel (down from 275 rooms), 171,000sf of retail (down from 250,000sf).

Take away the park and museum and Grand Ave is less impressive than the mediocre Metropolis project (836 residential units, 480 hotel rooms, 300,000sf of retail). How is this supposed to be a showcase for the city? Why should anybody care about it?

[brudy]

Originally Posted by bobcat

It certainly would be nice if Gehry were back onto the Related team, but I can't help but feel the project is still lacking something, especially when we compare it to what AEG did with LA Live and how that project was able spark a development boom in South Park.

For all its architectural flaws LA Live created a real destination: 1000 hotel rooms, the Nokia Theatre and Club Nokia for indoor stage performances, the Nokia Plaza for outdoor events, the Regal Cinema (now home of the LA Film Festival), broadcast facilities for ESPN, a bowling alley, the Grammy Museum, massive outdoor video screens.

What does Grand Ave have? Grand Park (which was a requirement for the project), Broad Museum (which Eli is paying for), 271 unit apartment tower (under construction), 430 additional apartments (down from 488), some condos, a 250 room hotel (down from 275 rooms), 171,000sf of retail (down from 250,000sf).

Take away the park and museum and Grand Ave is less impressive than the mediocre Metropolis project (836 residential units, 480 hotel rooms, 300,000sf of retail). How is this supposed to be a showcase for the city? Why should anybody care about it?

It's not just the Related properties that matter. Bunker Hill is arguably the cultural heart of the city and this development could cement that. It's not meant to be viewed on its own. Between all the venues at the Music Center, you have WDCH, the Redcat, MOCA. You will have the Broad. You're steps to GCM and other parts of downtown. The parcel in question will bring much needed residential, retail, and other amenities to the area in addition to complementing the world-class architecture that exists. It could and should be a reflection of LA's place in the world.

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by brudy

Between all the venues at the Music Center, you have WDCH, the Redcat, MOCA. You will have the Broad. You're steps to GCM and other parts of downtown. The parcel in question will bring much needed residential, retail, and other amenities to the area in addition to complementing the world-class architecture that exists. It could and should be a reflection of LA's place in the world.

All of that already exists and parcel q is still a parking lot. There's nothing special about Related's project that no other half decent developer couldn't do. If we were to have another design competition today I can guarantee you someone else could come up with a better project than this one.

[inSaeculaSaeculorum]

Originally Posted by bobcat

All of that already exists and parcel q is still a parking lot. There's nothing special about Related's project that no other half decent developer couldn't do. If we were to have another design competition today I can guarantee you someone else could come up with a better project than this one.

I'm not sure why you're evaluating a project that hasn't been built or has a definite design/architect, hell it doesn't even have a definite developer really. Related has been fumbling this one but they already paid for the park so who knows.

It's a pretty important location so it'd be nice to hit a home run on this project.