LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[colemonkee]

^ They do tend to dent my front bumper a lot more than I'd like. And it's not cheap to fix. If only they'd get off the sidewalks when they see me coming. And stop all that complaining about text messaging while I drive.

On another note, I wonder if 717 Olympic will be unwrapped sometime in December. Could make for a nice Christmas present. Or one that we want to return if it ends up being all painted stucco.

[BrandonJXN]

Yeah..YEAH! Pedestrians should pay more attention to those texting while driving as opposed to the dog poop on the sidewalk.

Anyway regarding Hanover: I remember in a night renderinng, there seemed to be a thin line of blue light running the length of the building. Is that going to be a part of the building or wishfull thinking on my part? It would be great if Hanover had LED billboards AND a nice little lighting display near or on the top of the building.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

Wow..I always thought that Skylofts was struggling. Good to know that it's almost sold out.

To put the skylofts bldg in context to DT in general, the proj contains a total of 132 units, which were first put up for sale a litte more than a yr ago. By comparison, the market lofts proj (above the ralph's)----and owned by the same company as the skylofts----contains 267 condos, of which 50% are listed as being sold.

The parkfifth tower is supposed to have a total of 732 units, so in order to keep up with the monthly or quarterly sales rate (in % terms) of a proj like skyline, the volume is going to have to be much larger.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

Here's an update on South Park. These were taken around 9AM today (Thursday) and you can see that LA Central is moving faaast!

The plot thickens.

I wonder why the contractor, instead of building plywood barriers that begin from one point & then move in a continuous line from that point onward, instead is installing them with gaps every so many ft or yds?

[k3d]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

Anyway regarding Hanover: I remember in a night renderinng, there seemed to be a thin line of blue light running the length of the building. Is that going to be a part of the building or wishfull thinking on my part? It would be great if Hanover had LED billboards AND a nice little lighting display near or on the top of the building.

I noticed that Packard lofts recently added a blue neon to there lobby entrance. Also, FIDM replaced the "yellowish dance floor" outline lighting that outlines their building with a blue, more neon type outline. Looks much better I think. California Plaza also utilizes neon outlines at the top if I remember right. J lounge does a projection of their logo in red. LA Live will be video walls of light. Eastern really benefits from the lighting scheme. My point is that lighting seems to be the going theme for downtown. I think it would be great if more buildings in DTLA added some kind of bold theme lighting that utilizes combinations of LCD, neon and projection lighting. Btw, does anyone know if the Museum of Neon Art found a new location since they couldn't renew their lease at Hope and Olympic?

[Easy]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ They do tend to dent my front bumper a lot more than I'd like. And it's not cheap to fix. If only they'd get off the sidewalks when they see me coming. And stop all that complaining about text messaging while I drive.

On another note, I wonder if 717 Olympic will be unwrapped sometime in December. Could make for a nice Christmas present. Or one that we want to return if it ends up being all painted stucco.

The side closer to Figueroa will have more glass than the side closer to Flower. I think that with the LED billboards it'll come off looking pretty decent, stucco aside.

Isn't the purposed of the wrap to keep construction tools and materials from falling onto the street and sidewalk? That's why I was thinking that the wrap would come off sooner rather than later. They don't really need it anymore.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by k3d

I noticed that Packard lofts recently added a blue neon to there lobby entrance. Also, FIDM replaced the "yellowish dance floor" outline lighting that outlines their building with a blue, more neon type outline. Looks much better I think. California Plaza also utilizes neon outlines at the top if I remember right. J lounge does a projection of their logo in red. LA Live will be video walls of light. Eastern really benefits from the lighting scheme. My point is that lighting seems to be the going theme for downtown. I think it would be great if more buildings in DTLA added some kind of bold theme lighting that utilizes combinations of LCD, neon and projection lighting. Btw, does anyone know if the Museum of Neon Art found a new location since they couldn't renew their lease at Hope and Olympic?

I remember a post I made ages ago where I said that I would love to see 777 have different colors at night as opposed to the boring white, the anvil thing on the Gas Company Tower a deep blue, video projections on the huge blank wall at 611 Place, and AON outlined by red argon lighting like the Bank of America Plaza in Dallas. I always loved how that building looks at night as it is impossible not to notice.


Flickr: the urban frabic

[RAlossi]

I think the white of the 777 Tower makes it look extremely elegant. When there's fog at night and you look up at the tower, it looks almost Gotham-like. I would hate to see it multi-colored or with lasers or neon... Almost any other tower than the 777 Tower, I'd agree with you.

I'd still love to see more detail lighting on the older buildings in the Historic Core. Sometimes I wish I'd have gotten into lighting design.

[k3d]

Originally Posted by RAlossi

I think the white of the 777 Tower makes it look extremely elegant. When there's fog at night and you look up at the tower, it looks almost Gotham-like. I would hate to see it multi-colored or with lasers or neon... Almost any other tower than the 777 Tower, I'd agree with you.

I'd still love to see more detail lighting on the older buildings in the Historic Core. Sometimes I wish I'd have gotten into lighting design.

Oh yes, I agree on 777. It's perfect as is.

[petescafe]

Just got back from the meeting.

The architect of the Medallion made a presentation. Actual ground breaking and construction won't start for another month due to testing of the soil. As of today the construction trailer was in place, with a new chain link fence being added around it. (I'll try and post a pic of it tomorrow) Most of the parking lot on the 4th st side is gone.

In other developments, Tom Gilmore made a presentation for the Vibiana tower.
It's still 41 stories but he said the actual look of the building is still being ironed out. He said the city wasn't happy with the look of it, and that the tower needed to be integrated better with the street. Make it more pedestrian friendly. I wasn't able to get a photo of the illustration, but the design hadn't changed much. It did include a crazy design for the police parking garage. Lots of glass and steel. Trying to hide the fact that its a parking garage.

On a side note, Gilmore said that the steeple of the church will put back in place on the 29th of this month.

The PE lofts will finally be finishing off the restored ground floor corner at 6th and Main. Finishing probably at the end of September.

A grant was issued for the Main st corridor to add new tree's, benches, lighting, and bike racks along Main st between 4th and 7th st.

And finally, the L.A. conservancy will be hosting a tour of Main st on Nov 4th.

phew...I'm going to go eat now.

P.S.

I know I forgot a few things, the sound wasn't very good inside the bank.
I didn't stick around for the Linda Lea or the Santa Fe lofts.

[WonderlandPark]

Thanks for the update. Medallion I can care less for, there is something similar in size going up here at San Fernando road in Sunland, whoop-de-do. Sorry, I just don't get the "excitement" that a 5-6 story wood frame stucco building like this is generating. Guess it is another parking lot gone. Glad to hear St. Vibianas is still going forward at its height. An interesting parking garage a la Cal Trans? That would be sweet.

[DTLA]

^It's relieving that Medallion is being held up just beacuse of soil testing rather than for funding or something like that cause the testing shouldn't take too much longer where as funding would take ages to run through.
As for the lighting of downtown i think that the neon lights would definitely boost the perception of downtown as a nightime/tourist destination rather than just a 9-5 office center. I think more of the buildings should be like fig at wilshire and include the neon lights around the building.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

Originally Posted by WonderlandPark

Thanks for the update. Medallion I can care less for, there is something similar in size going up here at San Fernando road in Sunland, whoop-de-do. Sorry, I just don't get the "excitement" that a 5-6 story wood frame stucco building like this is generating. Guess it is another parking lot gone.

Speaking for myself, I'm excited for this project not because of the buildings, but because of its strategic location.

Medallion will remove a huge vacuum and fill the biggest gap on Main Street. Specifically, it will help plug a leak of Skid Row homelessness that has dripped for decades into the Historic Core.

For those that don't remember, it wasn't more than a decade ago that this stretch of Main Street was one of the worst parts of Skid Row. Once a tent city, the area has since been completely transformed. The Medallion site is the last holdout.

Once Medallion is built, you will be able to walk much more comfortably up Main Street (and Spring too), between the OBD and the other nearby neighborhoods (esp. Little Tokyo and Civic Center). Along with other projects (like the Santa Fe Lofts and PE Lofts), it will help strengthen Main Street's claim as the solid eastern wall of downtown's renaissance.

[BrandonJXN]

^ Well that explains it.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by petescafe

The architect of the Medallion made a presentation. Actual ground breaking and construction won't start for another month due to testing of the soil.

oh, for crissakes. More delays?!

Either because you possibly misheard the devlpr or he himself described the schedule incorrectly, I hope "another month" actually means "next month"----or in about 2 wks versus 4 wks. Ok, I know, I'm grasping for straws here.

How come the Related Co, the devlpr of the new apt bldg now going up in Little Tokyo----&, btw, also the same devlpr of the Grand Ave proj----was able to get its proj underway pretty much around the time they originally estimated (April), without delay after delay for things like soil testing? Their bldg also is located on a former huge parking lot. Moreover, that lot once was occupied by large industrial type bldgs, which might have housed toxic stuff.

So is the site of the Medallion more suspect when it comes to a history of contamination? And if testing on the soil sets off alarm bells, will there be one more delay, after delay, after delay, after delay?

On a side note, Gilmore said that the steeple of the church will put back in place on the 29th of this month.

FINALLY! I've been waiting to see that bldg in decent shape for yrs, esp after a crane removed the church's steeple. That occurred long enough ago that I now don't recall if the top was lopped off as a safety measure due to the Northridge earthquake, or because the original owner, the catholic archdiocese, was prepping the bldg for demolition.

The PE lofts will finally be finishing off the restored ground floor corner at 6th and Main. Finishing probably at the end of September.

Another FINALLY! The success in converting that bldg to apts has been a big relief. I still remember hearing about plans for it awhile back & thinking, oh oh, don't tell me the owner of the PE bldg is one of those big dreamers who thinks ppl will wanna live around there when in reality they won't? The last laugh is on me.

A grant was issued for the Main st corridor to add new tree's, benches, lighting, and bike racks along Main st between 4th and 7th st.

Sure is nice----& also a relief----that a street that had been given up for dead, from one end to the other, & not even that long ago, is finally being brought back to life.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

I was there at the meeting too. And petescafe mentioned pretty much all the "important" stuff, but he failed to mention one thing! Hotel Cecil was purchased by a gentleman named Fred Cordova (from Colliers Seeley) and will be converting it into a new hip/trendy boutique hotel with a different name! He wouldn't disclose what the new moniker would be, but he said "You guys are gonna like it!" He said it's gonna get "new" second-hand furniture (beds, etc.) from Las Vegas hotels like Bellagio. New flat screen TVs in all the rooms, a new higher-end restaurant on the ground floor, and revamping the hotel will be completed hopefully by New Years Eve, where he hopes to have a large outdoor party to ring in the new year (in the parking lot across the street that Barry Shy owns I believe).

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Here are some random pics again from LT taken yesterday (Thursday) around 4PM.


Gold Line Eastside Extension progressing nicely

Walls erecting along Alameda






Only 2 years away!



Mura finishing up fast now. Should be done by end of the year is my guess.

[colemonkee]

petescafe and LAB, great updates and synopses. Thank you for attending and filling us in. By in large great news on Main Street developments, especially the grant for street improvements (though I would have liked to see that extended to 2nd Street).

I hate to break it to you guys, but soil testing is part of the game. Standard operating procedure for development. A month ain't all that bad. I'll update the front page and change St. Vibiana to 41 stories when I get home later tonight. I think I'll add a "Site Prep" designation for Medallion, and hopefully for LA Central, as soon as I see some more asphault being removed.

citywatch, you're too predictable. You should shake it up every once in a while.

[petescafe]

Thanks LosAngelesBeauty, I hadn't eaten dinner so I left out the Hotel Cecil info.

Here's a quick photo update as of this morning.

This shot is taken from Pete's Cafe's front door.



A bit closer.



And two shots of the new trailer that showed up yesterday.





That's it for now.

[MapGoulet]

Originally Posted by petescafe

Just got back from the meeting.

The architect of the Medallion made a presentation. Actual ground breaking and construction won't start for another month due to testing of the soil. As of today the construction trailer was in place, with a new chain link fence being added around it. (I'll try and post a pic of it tomorrow) Most of the parking lot on the 4th st side is gone.

A friend of mine who lives right above Pete's (and overlooking the Medallion site) had his shelving collapse in his loft because of the vibration created from the machines breaking up the asphalt! He loves progress, but has to contend with this issue.

Also, talked to Cedd at the Art Walk. Apparently, the ADA requirements for Cole's are by far the biggest headache. He's trying to get some compromise from Building and Safety in terms of the restaurant's historical status.