LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[LAsam]

Now we sound like NIMBYs complaining about our view being impacted by new development!

[colemonkee]

Moderator Edit: moved the posts about the Hallasan tower in Koreatown to the LA Metro (non-downtown) thread.

[citywatch]

thrillist/Flickr/Cody Williams

LA sports fans are often maligned for their fairweather nature, late to arrive and early to leave, there for the scene and there to be seen and not for the love of the game. Some of that is fair criticism, but there is also another kind of LA sports fan. If you hang out in the upper bowl at a Laker game, post up at a sports bar for a Rams game, or sit in the outfield pavilion at Dodger Stadium, you will see them. In short, there is a powerful and fun undercurrent of real fans supporting LA’s teams. And over the last couple of seasons at Dodger Stadium, the experience has finally been geared more toward true blue LA sports fans.

The major change is Centerfield Plaza, a new entranceway to the stadium that also doubles as a sort of front yard, which debuted in 2021. Over the last couple of seasons, additions and tweaks to the setup have continued to improve the experience. Now there are picnic tables and live music, lots of food options, multiple open-air bars, a play area for kids, a ring of statues to celebrate Dodger legends (and provide photo ops), and two very cool vintage trucks that have been repurposed to serve beer and ice cream, respectively. And against all odds, it worked.

Standard procedure for baseball fans has often been to show up right before the first pitch to catch every moment of the game and minimize time spent squished into cramped seats, paying too much for mass-market beer and mediocre food. But now, if you show up to Dodger Stadium early, you’ll see a stunning and lively scene, big groups posted up at picnic tables, friends sitting at outdoor bars watching other games, and kids running around playing and climbing. It’s a nice way to turn your ticket into a whole evening out, making an event out of it, especially with baseball’s newly shortened games. It feels fun and different, and exciting. And it feels like something that has long been forbidden at Dodger Stadium. It feels like a tailgate.

Part of that fun feel is thanks to improved dining options in center field. There’s a Shake Shack out there now, and they’re serving totally reasonable facsimiles of dishes from their standalone restaurants. Lines get long, but people are happy....But now Dodger Stadium feels like a place for the people again, family-friendly and fun, the kind of night at the ballpark the city always deserved.

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• Video Link

https://youtu.be/bWD-vpRkUdk

[LAsam]

^Dodger Stadium is awesome. I've been to a couple of games post-Covid and the new Centerfield Plaza is such a great addition. Good mix of restaurants throughout the stadium and overall everything feels clean and updated. The stadium is a perfect mix of having a historic feel and also being thoroughly modern. Biggest issue continues to be ingress/egress... maybe the gondola is part of the solution.

[colemonkee]

Anything that moves a few thousand people in and out of the stadium not through cars will help alleviate the ingress/egress somewhat. Plus the views of downtown from a gondola car will be pretty epic.

[milquetoast]

I wonder if this gondola will have the capacity that the
Skyliner has at WDW. Hopefully the gondola will be an
attraction in itself.

[milquetoast]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Well, I was in my spaceship yesterday

and you should have seen the build from space.

[hughfb3]

[craigs]

Thanks for the update, hughfb3.

Is it me, or does 1000 S. Olympic look skinnier than the renderings?

[scania]

It looks as if the base that includes some of the above parking has not been built up to street level…or the base with the parking will not be as big/bulky.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

I would think they are gonna add the podium units later on in the process?

[bhunsberger]

Originally Posted by craigs

Thanks for the update, hughfb3.

Is it me, or does 1000 S. Olympic look skinnier than the renderings?

Idc how skinny it is, what I do care about is that it's of better quality and appearance than Hope+Flower. For God's sake, stop it with that terrible light blue spandrel glass. Make it white, black or grey. The renderings appear as if it would be a grey, so hopefully that is what we get.

[pwright1]

[scania]

Originally Posted by pwright1

Long time no see!!!!!!!!!!!

[ChelseaFC]

I haven't followed the legal cases that closely, did Carmel get their legal problems sorted out with the whole bribery scheme?

[colemonkee]

Even in the renderings of 1000 S. Hill, it looks like the 2nd story is parking without the podium units, which start on the 3rd level. Which is fine, in my opinion. As long as you have eyes on the street in those 3rd and 4th levels, which they have, this is far better than a 5-7 level parking podium. I agree with bhunsberger that the materials will make or break this one, and Onni's more recent track record with Hope & Flower and the tower in Long Beach do not give me much confidence. Though their first two towers in downtown turned out fine, so hopefully they draw from those facade suppliers.

[homebucket]

Folks, just a friendly reminder that we do have a construction thread for 1000 S. Hill Street where we can consolidate photo updates and discussion. It'll be a lot easier to keep track of progress if we utilize it.

[Ptown2downtown]

Originally Posted by craigs

Thanks for the update, hughfb3.

Is it me, or does 1000 S. Olympic look skinnier than the renderings?

I've seen 2 final versions of 1000 S. Hill. Not sure which version we are getting
[IMG]https://ibb.co/mt4wFkT]
[IMG]https://ibb.co/KW2k821]
[IMG]https://ibb.co/7SjCjZw]

[plinko]

That would be very disappointing if it only ends up 590ft tall.

[citywatch]

ladowntownnews.com/LA ART/Submitted

The Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit’s (LA ART) proposal for the Dodger Stadium Gondola project has reached a new milestone following the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Report by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The report, which evaluated the environmental benefits and impacts of an aerial gondola connection between Union Station and Dodger Stadium, found that the proposed project would reduce congestion and reduce emissions by over 150,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses over its lifetime.

“Since Dodger Stadium opened, there’s not been permanent transit. This project is really all about creating that permanent transit link, but most importantly tying into the region’s transit hub at Union Station,” said David Grannis, executive director of Zero Emissions Transit, the nonprofit leading the project.

The gondola would be free to ride for anyone attending a game at Dodger Stadium and cost the same price as a Metro fare for anyone who lives or works in the area. It would operate year-round and take riders seven minutes to travel from Union Station to Dodger Stadium.

Grannis explained that gondola systems have proliferated globally, providing a green alternative to automotive travel that LA could learn from. He noted successful examples in places like London and Mexico City. The gondola network is proposed to run above roads and transit lines, inspired by the cable car lines of La Paz, Bolivia, which were built above the city streets and have reportedly carried 100 million riders since their construction.

“Elysian Park is the oldest park in LA, and it’s the second largest,” Grannis said. “There’re so many things to explore here. … The LA River Bikeway that Metro is doing has two exit points that come into this area. These are very bike friendly, so you could actually ride your bike on the LA River Bikeway, come down Spring Street, get on the Chinatown/State Park Station and be here in Elysian Park to ride your bike.”

“Attendees will still need to reach Union Station to take the gondola, creating another traffic issue in that area and can also lead to an increase in traffic in the Boyle Heights area,” The Wall Las Memorias Executive Director Richard Zaldivar said in a statement in 2022. “It not only will create havoc on the streets, but it is also an invasion of our community space, affecting one of the few green areas that the residents have to enjoy by going over the Los Angeles State Historic Park. We believe we can find a better solution to this problem and that we should work with the community to find one that works for all.”

To date, nearly 6,000 people and over 340 businesses in Chinatown, El Pueblo and Lincoln Heights have signed up to support the project.

“There is no question this project will benefit the local community,” said Martin Farfan, president of Cathedral High School, located along the proposed gondola route. “The LA ART project could make it easier for Cathedral High School students to access public transit and improve traffic around the school and community on game days.”

The aerial gondola would provide the first permanent transit connection to Dodger Stadium since its construction 60 years ago, and would be the first tricable gondola lift built for public transit in the United States, Grannis said.

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