LOS ANGELES | METRO Project Rundown 2.0 (non-downtown)

[circuitfiend]

So, action has been kinda slow and tedious at the site for the last week or so. Workers have been chipping away at the piling bases to bring them down to the recently poured pad. Small crews. Very boring visually.

That all changed today.

The CRANE has landed! The base anyway. A ton of rebar and forms are being delivered to the site as I type this. Lots of activity. I just snapped some pics. Will get some more at the end of the day and post this evening.

[OneMetropolis]

can downtown charlie brown update the development page or someone.

[Richard_D]

I would like to see a REAL rendition of the traffic on LaBrea Ave and Hollywood Blvd. Not this one that is akin to what traffic may be like between Midnight and 3AM. The impact this project will cause on an already congested intersection (especially during Hollywood Bowl season, not to mention all the Special Events along Hollywood Blvd.) is almost criminal. I hope they do not get to build this structure (at least not this plan) it is way to big and will cause too much of an impact on the residents of the neighborhood as well as the general public that rely on this intersection as a thruway to the 101 when doing their commute. City planners need to think about this a whole lot more.

[Flavius Josephus]

Originally Posted by Richard_D

I would like to see a REAL rendition of the traffic on LaBrea Ave and Hollywood Blvd. Not this one that is akin to what traffic may be like between Midnight and 3AM. The impact this project will cause on an already congested intersection (especially during Hollywood Bowl season, not to mention all the Special Events along Hollywood Blvd.) is almost criminal. I hope they do not get to build this structure (at least not this plan) it is way to big and will cause too much of an impact on the residents of the neighborhood as well as the general public that rely on this intersection as a thruway to the 101 when doing their commute. City planners need to think about this a whole lot more.

Multiple state and local laws, including CEQA, require detailed analyses of traffic impacts, mitigation measures, and in some areas transportation impact fees, before any development is approved. The council will have a detailed analysis before it when it makes a decision, and if people aren't satisfied by the analysis, they'll have an opportunity to comment on its deficiencies.

I think there's a good chance that this project will actually be good for traffic, especially on the 101 and areas near its ramps. It's better that people working in Hollywood live in Hollywood where they can walk or have a short drive to work than that they live further away and clog up the freeways. Hollywood has a concentration of jobs nearby - plus good transit only a couple blocks from this project - and needs this sort of well-designed infill development.

Put another way, the reason Hollywood traffic is bad isn't that there are too many people who live in Hollywood. It's that there are too many people who drive from the Valley to Hollywood. Give them an opportunity to live closer to work and you get less traffic.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Flavius Josephus

Multiple state and local laws, including CEQA, require detailed analyses of traffic impacts, mitigation measures, and in some areas transportation impact fees, before any development is approved. The council will have a detailed analysis before it when it makes a decision, and if people aren't satisfied by the analysis, they'll have an opportunity to comment on its deficiencies.

I think there's a good chance that this project will actually be good for traffic, especially on the 101 and areas near its ramps. It's better that people working in Hollywood live in Hollywood where they can walk or have a short drive to work than that they live further away and clog up the freeways. Hollywood has a concentration of jobs nearby - plus good transit only a couple blocks from this project - and needs this sort of well-designed infill development.

Put another way, the reason Hollywood traffic is bad isn't that there are too many people who live in Hollywood. It's that there are too many people who drive from the Valley to Hollywood. Give them an opportunity to live closer to work and you get less traffic.

You're absolutely correct. Additionally, people who live close (1/4 to 1/2 mile) of transit, especially rail transit, have fundamentally different transportation patterns than the rest of the population, with much lower car-ownership rates and significantly higher transit mode-share rates.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Richard_D

I would like to see a REAL rendition of the traffic on LaBrea Ave and Hollywood Blvd. Not this one that is akin to what traffic may be like between Midnight and 3AM. The impact this project will cause on an already congested intersection (especially during Hollywood Bowl season, not to mention all the Special Events along Hollywood Blvd.) is almost criminal. I hope they do not get to build this structure (at least not this plan) it is way to big and will cause too much of an impact on the residents of the neighborhood as well as the general public that rely on this intersection as a thruway to the 101 when doing their commute. City planners need to think about this a whole lot more.

You have it backwards bud. This is great news for hollywood

[circuitfiend]

I live just a long block down the street from LaBrea and Hollywood (Sunset and Labrea) and think that the project is perfectly proportioned for the neighborhood, which has one of the highest ratings for pedestrian activity in the entire city. Super markets, world class entertainment, shopping and great restaurants are all within walking distance to this development. Who wants to get into your car when you can take the elevator to the street and walk a couple blocks. Gee, what a concept!

[brudy]

Originally Posted by Flavius Josephus

Multiple state and local laws, including CEQA, require detailed analyses of traffic impacts, mitigation measures, and in some areas transportation impact fees, before any development is approved. The council will have a detailed analysis before it when it makes a decision, and if people aren't satisfied by the analysis, they'll have an opportunity to comment on its deficiencies.

I think there's a good chance that this project will actually be good for traffic, especially on the 101 and areas near its ramps. It's better that people working in Hollywood live in Hollywood where they can walk or have a short drive to work than that they live further away and clog up the freeways. Hollywood has a concentration of jobs nearby - plus good transit only a couple blocks from this project - and needs this sort of well-designed infill development.

Put another way, the reason Hollywood traffic is bad isn't that there are too many people who live in Hollywood. It's that there are too many people who drive from the Valley to Hollywood. Give them an opportunity to live closer to work and you get less traffic.

Very well said.

[blackcat23]

Since we're talking about Horizon Hollywood, here's a site plan obtained from the official project website.

The 26-story tower will stand 275'. Currently the fifth tallest building planned for Hollywood. Behind the Millennium and Palladium towers, but taller than Sunset Gordon, Columbia Square, and 5901 Sunset.


http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.c...-upcoming.html

[circuitfiend]

New pics from today:



Close up of the crane base

[blackcat23]

Nice pics, circuitfiend. If I recall correctly, there should be two construction cranes eventually. I wonder where the second one will go.

http://www.latimes.com/business/real...828-story.html

Prominent L.A. developer to build unconventional office at Playa Vista



by Roger Vincent

Robert F. Maguire III, a prominent developer who helped shape L.A.'s skyline in the 1980s and '90s, is back.

Maguire led development of several of the city's best-known office buildings including U.S. Bank Tower, the tallest structure in Southern California. Now, at 79, Maguire says he is gearing up to develop again.

He plans to build an unconventional office at Playa Vista, the expansive former headquarters site of aviation titan Howard Hughes that has become a magnet for so-called creative firms such as YouTube....The Playa Vista office market is roaring, in part because the tech-centric Westside, sometimes known as Silicon Beach, is running out of space.

"Santa Monica is full," Maguire said. "The obvious replacement for major tenants is Playa Vista."

His plan is to build an office called WE3, which would be the third building at an office campus called Water's Edge at the intersection of Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards. Maguire has held part interest in Water's Edge since he built it in 2002.

The complex, about a mile from the Pacific Ocean, was intended from the start to be a campus for creative technology types, but the timing was off. The roaring tech boom of the late 1990s was over by the time Water's Edge hit the market and it sat empty until video-game giant Electronic Arts Inc. moved there in 2004.

EA ran into financial challenges and labored to sublease much of its space, but Water's Edge is now at more than 90% occupancy, Maguire said. He plans to sell the complex to an investor willing to become a partner in the development of WE3.

"We are interested in joint venture so we can start the building on spec," he said, meaning that work on the $67-million building would begin before any agreements with tenants have been reached....

The design, by architect Zoltan Pali of Studio Pali Fekete Architects, calls for a vivid blue and red four-story building.

"There is color everywhere, inside and out," Maguire said. "It's in total contrast to conventional office space."

WE3 would have polished concrete floors, operable windows and 14-foot ceilings — about 60% higher than is typical.

Water's Edge already has an LA Fitness gym, a screening room, a cafe, a soccer field, a basketball court, a sand volleyball court and an Olympic-length lap pool.

"This really reflects the way people want to work and what progressive companies like to buy into in terms of space," Maguire said. "It's changed."

Demand has indeed been strong in Playa Vista lately. A former U.S. Postal Service hub on Jefferson Boulevard now called the Reserve leased 380,000 square feet in less than two years to such tenants as Microsoft, entertainment media company TMZ and content delivery network EdgeCast.

Landlords asked for nearly $3.25 a square foot per month in Playa Vista last quarter, according to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. In downtown Los Angeles landlords asked for less — about $3.04 a foot.

[202_Cyclist]

Google Eyes Giant Offices in Historic Los Angeles Airplane Hangar

By Elliot Brown
Aug. 26, 2014
Wall Street Journal


Google is eyeing an expansion in Los Angeles into a hangar where the “Spruce Goose” was built—Eliot Brown / The Wall Street Journal

"A massive former airplane hangar just north of Los Angeles International Airport was home to construction of the world’s largest airplane in the 1940s and then hosted filming for movies including “Independence Day” and “Transformers.”

Soon it could launch a new life: corporate offices of Google Inc.

According to multiple people familiar with leasing discussions, Google is eyeing an expansion of its Los Angeles facilities into the sprawling facility, a giant edifice built by Howard Hughes in 1943..."

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/20...rplane-hangar/

[brudy]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Google Eyes Giant Offices in Historic Los Angeles Airplane Hangar

By Elliot Brown
Aug. 26, 2014
Wall Street Journal


Google is eyeing an expansion in Los Angeles into a hangar where the “Spruce Goose” was built—Eliot Brown / The Wall Street Journal

"A massive former airplane hangar just north of Los Angeles International Airport was home to construction of the world’s largest airplane in the 1940s and then hosted filming for movies including “Independence Day” and “Transformers.”

Soon it could launch a new life: corporate offices of Google Inc.

According to multiple people familiar with leasing discussions, Google is eyeing an expansion of its Los Angeles facilities into the sprawling facility, a giant edifice built by Howard Hughes in 1943..."

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/20...rplane-hangar/

Interesting. I wonder if Google was the prospective tenant for the giant May Co bldg downtown and what this would mean for that? People were also talking about Yahoo for that space too.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

i had the same thoughts. 300,000 sq ft is exactly the number that the Broadway Trade Center article referenced

[circuitfiend]

More concrete, forms and rebar today. Activity has really picked up. It's been fascinating to watch the process. Pretty much everyone checks out the progress everyday and tries to figure out what is what. This thing is going to take off shortly.

Pouring the base of the core


Pouring the crane base


Done for the day


Crane base

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by brudy

Interesting. I wonder if Google was the prospective tenant for the giant May Co bldg downtown and what this would mean for that? People were also talking about Yahoo for that space too.

Maybe Yahoo locked the Broadway space down so Google had to look elsewhere?

[colemonkee]

^ I'm not sure Yahoo! is looking to expand, to be perfectly honest. It would be great if they did, but financially they're not taking off.

Driving east on the 10 last weekend, it became pretty apparent the dramatic effect that 10000 Santa Monica will have on the Century City skyline. It will be the eastern-most tower in the structure, and at 480+ feet, it will really show from a lot of angles. Can't wait to see this one rise.

[blackcat23]

Yahoo is reportedly looking at the new office campus J.H. Snyder Co. is building in Hollywood.

http://recode.net/2014/08/26/with-co...s-l-a-offices/

Not sure what's being targeted for the Broadway Trade Center.

[blackcat23]

Construction permits are in the works for the Wetherly Luxury Residences. 12 stories/152', 55 condos, located a few blocks west of the Beverly Center/Cedars-Sinai.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

pretty clean looking building. It would be even nicer if it was perhaps 5 - 10 stories taller on the tall portion.