LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[Easy]

Well it looks like I have to issue a retraction. LA Central sure looks like it's headed to a groundbreaking very soon. They have temporary lighting on the property and they are building a construction fence out to the sidewalk on Figueroa and out to the street on 12th. That jibes with the renderings. Take a look...



Two pics from 12th street







Now two from Figueroa






This one is blurry, but the sign says "Morley Construction Company" and they've locked some small earth moving equipment behind the fence that looks like it could be used for the asphalt excavation. Nothing as big as a front end loader. More like some bobcat type stuff.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by LongBeachUrbanist

I wouldn't be so sure...

Per the LA Times:

Funding to bring the Expo Line to Santa Monica remains in doubt. The state budget passed by the Assembly cut $1.3 billion from mass transit projects. The California Transportation Commission has temporarily held up $314 million that was to be allocated to the Expo Line because the budget failed to pass the state Senate.

Without that money, the Exposition Construction Authority may not have the funds to continue building the line west of Vermont Avenue -- let alone to Santa Monica, Thorpe said.

"We can't award the remaining contracts without that $314 million," Thorpe said. Without those funds, Thorpe said, officials would begin to see construction delays by the end of this year.

It remains in doubt until that money is added back into the budget. No one in LA government seems seriously concerned that it won't be added back in. I'm guessing that we'll know more in the next few days.

[DTLA]

^In the third pic of the LA Central site, what building is it that's under construction in the backround cause i saw it from the 10 freeway today but couldn't remember which project it was

[edkao]

Originally Posted by DTLA

^In the third pic of the LA Central site, what building is it that's under construction in the backround cause i saw it from the 10 freeway today but couldn't remember which project it was

That would be Evo

[DTLA]

^Thanx I was thinking it was Evo but I wasn't able to see any of the glass that they've already installed on it it so I couldn't really distinguish it as a specific building

[Steve2726]

Originally Posted by Easy

Well it looks like I have to issue a retraction. LA Central sure looks like it's headed to a groundbreaking very soon. They have temporary lighting on the property and they are building a construction fence out to the sidewalk on Figueroa and out to the street on 12th. That jibes with the renderings. Take a look...

Wow! This is huge if it is as close to groundbreaking as it appears, seeing as it was only approved 2 days ago.

[Echo Park]

Thanks for the info, Easy.

Well not a lot of news since I've been on vacation as the last 8 pages I finally come to read are mostly the board's citywatch gripes that we seem to get every now and then. I just wish the towers were on the fig side of the site and not on the Flower site. I thought the point was to create critical mass around the staples center and LA Live, and while i'm sure they will be at least moderately successful I think the effect is heightened with the massing of the towers imposed on to where all the action will be.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Easy

Well it looks like I have to issue a retraction. LA Central sure looks like it's headed to a groundbreaking very soon. They have temporary lighting on the property and they are building a construction fence out to the sidewalk on Figueroa and out to the street on 12th.

AMAZING! You've got what looks like the scoop on the story. fridayinla's photos hinted at something big about ready to happen, while your pics seem to confirm it.

The thought of a few more bldgs----one of them being pretty tall-----going up simultaneously with the nearby LA live hotel, & the 3 condo towers from Astani & Meurelo rising a few blocks to the north, is almost too good to be true. And I'm not even mentioning other bldgs like Hanover & Evo.

I didn't think any new devlpt would break ground before the Grand Ave proj in October, esp since the builders of the Glass Tower & Jardin----now called "south figueroa"-----both ended up delaying work on their towers originally scheduled for early this yr. And so I haven't been paying close attention to LA central cuz I didn't think it would be underway before maybe late 2008 or 2009 at the earliest, possibly slowed down on purpose til work on LA Live was nearer to completion.

But the joint is jumping! DT is making alot of others hoods in LA seem less & less active, & even kind of zzzz, as each day goes by.

One additional good thing that could come out of the closing of another major parking lot around Staples is if it encourages owners of some of the rundown bldgs around there to tear them down & replace them with new parking lots. While I hate surface parking, it's better to have them in the short term instead of the dives that often end up being nothing more than walls waiting for taggers.

And it would be nice if Staples parking lot lights were given to the owners of the many lots throughout DT that currently use makeshift light poles wired together with extension cords. As parking lots go, the ones for Staples at least had some better quality light fixtures, gates & landscaping.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Once I see foundation work for Medallion, I'll move it into the "Under Construction" section.

If someone earlier this yr had given me a guesstimate of what would actually end up happening to the Medallion site several wks after its July 15th "groundbreaking", even I'd have said they were being way too skeptical.

I read that Tom Gilmore is being sued by some of his contractors, or at least their workers. I wonder if the devlpr of the Medallion is having his own set of problems with his contractors & workers or suppliers? That definitely may be an issue if construction is going to start very soon on something as big as LA central. The reason being that all the new projs, both big & small, already underway in DT may be causing such a premium on available equipment, material & labor, that Medallion's devlpr found himself empty handed at the last minute & now is having to scramble. And although his proj doesn't need a tall crane, it's probably being affected in other ways along with everyone else.


High-Rise Boom Straining Supply of Cranes

Jahna Berry
The Arizona Republic
July 13, 2007

The pace of the Valley's growth is sky high, and so is the cost of getting there. Cranes, the ubiquitous symbol of progress, are in such high demand that to rent one locally can cost up to $65,000 per day. Those who want to rent may have to cross state lines, and those in the market to buy can expect to wait as long as 18 months. Even the people who operate them are a hot commodity.

That affects the Valley, where cranes are clustered in downtown Phoenix and Tempe and sitting in Scottsdale and Glendale and elsewhere. The symbolism is especially powerful in downtown Phoenix, which hasn't seen this kind of growth in five decades, economist Elliott Pollack said.

"Downtown, for the first time since the 1950s, will be viable," he said. "In Phoenix, historically you have mid-rises, for which you didn't need (tall) cranes. Now, you have high-rise construction outside the Central Corridor."

Although the housing market has flagged during the past few months, other types of construction -- offices, hotels, road upgrades -- has been brisk. Projects include the 32-story Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and mid-rises such as W Scottsdale Hotel & Residences and hotels in Glendale.

But the demand for cranes stretches far beyond the Valley. Equipment is in short supply in almost every region in the United States and in other countries. Northern California refineries need heavy equipment. Arizona copper mines are booming. Resorts are going up in Las Vegas, and highway projects are everywhere. Overseas, megaprojects including the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the relentless tide of construction in Dubai have siphoned cranes.

"This is the best that it's been in 20 years," said Neil Goodale, a regional vice president for Maxim Crane, a rental firm that furnishes construction equipment around the world and in the Valley.

Here in the Valley, cranes are in high demand and prices have risen, said Mike Gausden, Western division executive vice president of Hunt Construction Group, which is building the Phoenix Convention Center's North Building.

Now, large cranes can cost anywhere from $25,000 to as much as $65,000 a day to rent, an expense that ramps up a project's final cost. That ultimately is passed on to the client who pays for the project. In some cases, that's taxpayers, particularly for publicly funded projects such as the $600 million Convention Center and the $350 million Sheraton hotel in Phoenix.

When Hunt needed a crane to help build the $90 million, 225-room W Scottsdale Hotel, the company had to settle for a brand that the crane operator preferred not to use. The crane they wanted wasn't available, Gausden said.

With demand so high, crane manufacturers are taking longer to fill orders, he said. Orders that once took 90 days to six months now can take from six months to as much as 18 months, he said. In the hunt for machinery, companies often cross state lines, said Ken Schacherbauer vice president of operations for Perini Building Co.

"The biggest shortage we have are operators who are experienced to operate the crane," Schacherbauer said.

Seasoned workers can make good wages, said Jeff "Jay" Stevens, financial secretary for Local 428 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. The union guarantees operators base wage depending on the local's negotiated contract. That wage can be more than $23 an hour, not including negotiated benefits, Stevens said. That's nearly $50,000 a year, working eight-hour shifts. But it also is common for operators to work longer shifts, such as 10 hours, Stevens said.

Construction firms say it's common for them to pay far more than that, as much as $30 an hour, to entice experienced crane operators to a job.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by petescafe

This was under my door today. I really want to go but I might not be able to make it.

Would be nice if you could attend & find out what exactly is going on with the Medallion proj. Or at least find out from ppl who are able to attend why things are moving so slowly at 4th & Main. It will be even better if you also got the latest news on the St Vibiana proj.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Sodha

I went to Elevate Lounge last night...................unbelievable. Probably the best outdoor lounge I have ever seen. It's an open air area on the 21st floor of 811 Wilshire. While you are dancing, you can look out towards Eastern Columbia (very very brightly lighted), mid-Wilshire, and construction cranes in the south for 717 & Hanover.

This shot, from la.eater.com, was taken from that lounge:



I can imagine friends on the rooftop pool deck of the Standard hotel across the street talking on their cell phones & looking at other friends over at Elevate, all waving to one another. If it weren't for the view blocked by the City National Bank towers, ppl from Elevate/takami could also see ppl on the top floor restaurant-lounge of the Bonaventure Hotel. That would be even more of an ultimate in cross link synergy: guests on the top floors or roofs of 3 restaurants/lounges looking across the way, talking on their cells & waving to each other.

Not only does elevate/takami's opening make up for the closing of the restaurant on the top of the SBC bldg, but it means there now are more ppl than ever before in the hood at night. Only a few yrs ago, before the existence of the Standard hotel, pegasus apts, 1100 wilshire, gas co lofts, library lofts, elleven, luma, eastern columbia, & all the rest, there were far fewer ppl hanging out after 5:00 pm. Back then I sometimes wondered if the owners of bldgs in DT even thought that having their towers lit up at night was worth it because so few ppl were around to take advantage of the views. Several yrs later, it's now "showtime" for the entire hood.

[DTLA]

^That's amazing that people are finally going downtown at night cause DT is generally considered somewhere that's dangerous to be after dark. Same with DT Long Beach but even that's starting to change now with all the new high-rise residential. So the fact that people are willing to take the trip DT to go to these clubs is huge.

BTW why did the SBC restaurant close? I tried to get a reservation there but they told me that they were closing.

[petescafe]

Originally Posted by citywatch

Would be nice if you could attend & find out what exactly is going on with the Medallion proj. Or at least find out from ppl who are able to attend why things are moving so slowly at 4th & Main. It will be even better if you also got the latest news on the St Vibiana proj.

Actually I will be going to the meeting.

I'll fill everyone in on what was said, and maybe some pics if anything interesting pops up.

[colemonkee]

^ Cool. See if you can get some pics of the St. Vibiana Lofts and a timeline from Gilmore on when he plans to start construction.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

Originally Posted by DTLA

^That's amazing that people are finally going downtown at night cause DT is generally considered somewhere that's dangerous to be after dark.

I was in South Park Saturday night. Ate at the Pantry and got groceries at Ralphs. There were people walking around. It felt like a quiet neighborhood in Manhattan.



Sunday we got brunch in the OBD around noon. Lots of people were out. Pete's was doing great business. So was Banquette...full of people. Picked up a book from Metropolis. What a great little area!

Although the little patch of Medallion had been scraped away, you wouldn't think construction was imminent.

[k3d]

Originally Posted by DTLA

^That's amazing that people are finally going downtown at night cause DT is generally considered somewhere that's dangerous to be after dark.

I've lived downtown for over a year now and I don't find downtown to be dangerous at all. There are people all over, more every day. Sometimes we take the subway to varoius places all over the southland and come home late, no problems at all. We walk our dog at all hours of the night and never feel unsafe. You ought to go downtown see for yourself.

Originally Posted by DTLA

BTW why did the SBC restaurant close? I tried to get a reservation there but they told me that they were closing.

They are enclosing the top portion and building condos as part of the AT&T facelift. Isn't it the AT&T building now?

[Sodha]

After going to Elevate, I feel downtown is now the 2nd hippest place behind Hollywood in the L.A. metro area. And, we are growing! As long as we keep on accepting new construction (unlike certain LA areas, you know who you are), we will be the # 1 hot spot for the southland.

To put in perspective, I met a few people who came in from Fresno who wanted to go out in Los Angeles for the weekend. Yes, they went to Elevate. People will come into Los Angeles like they do in the midwest to Chicago for the weekend. That's my belief.

[colemonkee]

Originally Posted by k3d

They are enclosing the top portion and building condos as part of the AT&T facelift. Isn't it the AT&T building now?

Actually, they are converting the former Windows restaurant space into offices. And it hasn't been confirmed yet that they are going through with the new glass crown.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ I strongly believe that LBA will continue forward with their plans to renovate the apex of the Transamerica tower. As of now, the top portion (where WINDOWS used to be) stands out waaay too much from the rest of the renovated lower floors. It's literally black/white.

Plus, from reading about their plans to convert WINDOWS into executive quality office space, they would have to do some major design upgrades to charge top rents.

That's just my guess!

[ladowntowner]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

^ I strongly believe that LBA will continue forward with their plans to renovate the apex of the Transamerica tower. As of now, the top portion (where WINDOWS used to be) stands out waaay too much from the rest of the renovated lower floors. It's literally black/white.

Plus, from reading about their plans to convert WINDOWS into executive quality office space, they would have to do some major design upgrades to charge top rents.

That's just my guess!

Are there any renders available showing the proposed changes to the apex or crown of the Transamerica tower?