LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[DownTown Giant]

The jump to Century City isn't "that" surprising. When driving out of town friends (Ohio) around , they were totally impressed with Century City and terrified of Downtown. I love Downtown, but seeing it through other people's eyes is always tough, sad, and a bit embarrassing.
If / When the trash & safety thing gets fixed, Downtown will have a draw back to it.

[scania]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ If you click on the link for Elevations in the Approved Plans section on the lower right of that page (dated 5/6/2022, which is the most recent submission), the elevations show a tower that is 54 levels (including the roof and mechanical levels, and approximately 590 ft. tall. Quite possible that taller plans were submitted and approved after that date and just not uploaded by the City, but this is the latest information we have to work with.

I just talked to one of the construction workers and he showed me a pic and I’ll have to check once I get back home…it’s a rendering I haven’t seen online. He said that it will be 54 floors, but that the top floor will be approximately 5 to 6 stories tall of a rooftop facade.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by scania

I just talked to one of the construction workers and he showed me a pic and I’ll have to check once I get back home…it’s a rendering I haven’t seen online. He said that it will be 54 floors, but that the top floor will be approximately 5 to 6 stories tall of a rooftop facade.

Odd how the building lost 170 feet but only 6 floors.

I was thinking at first maybe the 590' refers to last floor but the diagram reveals that it's to the top of the crown.

Good to know there's still a floor (or floors) higher than 500 feet. Those are gonna be some sick views.

[colemonkee]

That's somewhat consistent with the approved elevations. They show the roof 40 ft higher than the mechanical level, which is listed as floor 54, and 50 ft higher than the pool/PH level, listed at 53. Most people wouuld view that as the top accessable level as only approved personale would be allowed on the mechanical level.

Originally Posted by scania

I just talked to one of the construction workers and he showed me a pic and I’ll have to check once I get back home…it’s a rendering I haven’t seen online. He said that it will be 54 floors, but that the top floor will be approximately 5 to 6 stories tall of a rooftop facade.

[citywatch]

Brady Hunsberger/facebook

Brian Shively
I've seen rumors that this project is shrinking from 760 feet to 590 feet, but I like the design renders I've seen.

Julian Rodrigo
Brian Shively the tower isn’t shrinking. It’s going to be 760 feet. It was never rendered or approved for 590 feet.

Brian Shively
This is the revised plan!https://planning.lacity.org/.../1823...95-4003.../pdd

Julian Rodrigo
Brian Shively it doesn’t show anything sorry

Brian Shively
the link has the new diagram/elevation for the project.

.

[Zapatan]

Link is broken.

Julian is probably just going off recent articles which still state 760', but if the construction worker said 54 floors they'd probably know.

[LA21st]

It's still a awesome height for that area. It's going to have a strong impact regardless.

[scania]

Originally Posted by LA21st

It's still a awesome height for that area. It's going to have a strong impact regardless.

Agreed…and it’ll be close to if not just a little higher of 600 footer. Even at 590…the naked eye from the ground nor at a distance will notice 10 feet.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Link is broken.

Julian is probably just going off recent articles which still state 760', but if the construction worker said 54 floors they'd probably know.

https://planning.lacity.org/pdiscaseinfo/document/MjE5NzI0/1823a02c-5d95-4003-95c4-258347c32f18/pdd





^ Just estimating the dimensions of that rendering, the tower looks closer to over 500 ft tall instead of over 700 ft. If I'm reading the blueprint's dimensions correctly, the top is 840.42 minus 250.17 at the ground...which equals 590'....although I don't know why street level would be marked at 250'...above sea level? Since residential floor heights are shorter than they are in commercial or office towers, the average height of floors in the Onni bldg is only around 10 ft.

[citywatch]

August 12, 2023: “We are doing everything we can to counsel students individually,” Barbara Bundy, FIDM’s vice president of education, said this spring in an interview with The Times. She declined to respond to questions about the extent of the discontinued programs or those expected to be cut when the partnership is fully implemented next spring, but said there’s no “one size fits all” in this scenario.

Bundy emphasized that FIDM — which had been in financial distress so dire it faced losing accreditation — will continue operating independently through spring 2024, allowing many students to wrap up their current programs if they can complete the coursework before then

Several other current and former FIDM students who spoke with The Times say their education plans were derailed when FIDM’s renowned fashion design program merged with ASU at the beginning of April — far too late for students to change direction that spring, much less make new arrangements for the summer or fall.

skyscrapercity.com

May 27, 2005: With the help of architect Clive Wilkinson, the college is setting new standards in design, both in structure and form. A new dual-level structure at Flower and Olympic is expected to follow the same line of design-strong development when ground breaks on the project later this year. Escrow is expected to close next month and city approvals are expected in September, said FIDM Vice President of Finance Annie Johnson.

The new complex will include an 18-story residential tower containing 112 apartments. It will be the first campus-owned housing for FIDM. It currently has contracts with five or six building owners throughout the city and leases apartments to about 500 students. In addition to the housing, a five-story section will contain an expansion of the school’s museum and library as well as multi-purpose space, said Johnson. A museum store is also part of the plan.

.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by citywatch

^ Just estimating the dimensions of that rendering, the tower looks closer to over 500 ft tall instead of over 700 ft. If I'm reading the blueprint's dimensions correctly, the top is 840.42 minus 250.17 at the ground...which equals 590'....although I don't know why street level would be marked at 250'...above sea level? Since residential floor heights are shorter than they are in commercial or office towers, the average height of floors in the Onni bldg is only around 10 ft.

Thanks,

The crown looks a little simpler, height chopped an VE'd

On a positive note, this is well underway and if Century City Tower + Mitsui end up getting built then LA will have 3 near 600 footers U/C soon.

[Yackemflaber69]

I was in century city last night, i can confirm the century city tower is U/C

[NIMBY Slayer]

Originally Posted by citywatch

.

Wow the situation sounds grim there. My wife graduated from FIDM in September 2021, so she was lucky and just missed all this.

Maybe the only positive thing to come out of this is for them to build their tower (hopefully redesigned) they wanted to years ago. For being a design school, their current building may be one of the ugliest in LA. It looks like 1990 Michael Graves stucco shitbox.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by NIMBY Slayer

Wow the situation sounds grim there. My wife graduated from FIDM in September 2021, so she was lucky and just missed all this.

Maybe the only positive thing to come out of this is for them to build their tower (hopefully redesigned) they wanted to years ago. For being a design school, their current building may be one of the ugliest in LA. It looks like 1990 Michael Graves stucco shitbox.

Ya i absolutely hate the building they are currently in. I wish they would build a 40 or 50 story building on the Olympic / Flower lot to house the school and dorms and then expand the park to take over the current footprint of the school as well. Wishful thinking, i know

[Charmy2]

Originally Posted by Yackemflaber69

I was in century city last night, i can confirm the century city tower is U/C

Was it the actual tower or just the metro station? I was in Century City recently and thought I saw the tower being built only to find out it was just the metro station.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by Charmy2

Was it the actual tower or just the metro station? I was in Century City recently and thought I saw the tower being built only to find out it was just the metro station.

Both are under construction.

[Yackemflaber69]

Originally Posted by Charmy2

Was it the actual tower or just the metro station? I was in Century City recently and thought I saw the tower being built only to find out it was just the metro station.

I wish i had pictures, but I looked into the pit and they were installing cranes and building the foundations where the tower is going to be located.

[citywatch]

• Video Link

[LAsam]

^ Wow... really coming along! I think this has the potential to be an A-List attraction for LA... up there with the Getty Center, Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica Pier, etc. A must see for visitors. Don't get to add one of those to your city very often! Very excited to see this finish up and to check it out. Expo Park is going to be even more incredible with this museum, the new space shuttle enclosure, and the continued renovations at the Natural History Museum.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LAsam

and the continued renovations at the Natural History Museum.

this was in the urbanizeLA blog several wks ago...

la.urbanize.city

In Exposition Park, steel beams are now being assembled for a $75-million expansion project which is envisioned as a new "front porch" for the L.A. County Museum of Natural History.

The $75 million NHM Commons expansion, located on the west side of the museum building adjacent to Bill Robertson Lane, includes approximately 75,000 square feet of new and renovated space. The project will include a new 400-seat theater, replacing the Jean Delacour Auditorium, which will be used for performances, discussions, educational content, and festivals


la.urbanize.city

I imagine all the rain yesterday, which is a rarity for summer in socal, has slowed things down a bit for devlpt projs in LA, including the museums. As for adding a new southern side to the natural history, that is a long needed improvement. For decades, the museum's southern side been mainly a huge, unfriendly blank wall facing Expo park.