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

[craigs]

More details from the article:

• A cylindrical 22 story, 525,000 square foot tower.
  
• A pathway will loop around the tower, accessible from Sunset Boulevard on both sides of the building.
  
• A lower structure next to the tower would be wrapped with an expansive LED video screen showing digital art and images generated by tenants.
  
• The proposal calls for restaurants, entertainment production space, a theater and exhibition space for art shows and other events on the Star’s ground level.
  
• Parking for nearly 1,300 vehicles would be underground.
  
• Miracle hopes to start work on the 525,000-square-foot building by late 2026 and open its doors in 2029.
  
• The Star is the first commercial development for Miracle, who is known for building deluxe single-family properties.

[craigs]

REMEMBER: Don't fall in love with initial renderings like these or expect the building to look precisely and exactly like this. If this building even happens--and there's no guarantee it will--there will be a divergence from the renderings. Accept that inevitability and you can avoid the usual anger and extreme bitterness at reality that comes from falling in love with luscious renderings intended to sell the project.

Office tower planned for Hollywood gets new design and billion-dollar price tag


A rendering of the Star, a proposed 22-story office building in Hollywood, designed by Norman Foster. (Foster + Partners)

Roger Vincent
Los Angeles Times
March 20, 2024

At a time when office landlords are struggling to attract and keep tenants, a Hollywood real estate developer is forging ahead with plans for a visually arresting high-rise on Sunset Boulevard that would cater to the entertainment industry.

The owner of the property at 6601 Sunset, Los Angeles investor and developer Maggie Miracle, has doubled down on an earlier $500-million proposal for the site near Gower Street with a $1-billion greenery-laden “vertical campus” designed by esteemed English architect Norman Foster.

Miracle’s family-run company on Tuesday submitted to the city revised design plans for the office tower, which has been dubbed “the Star.” Renderings show a cylindrical high-rise stitched with colorful gardens spiraling from street to roof. A rooftop restaurant will be open to the public.
. . . .


A rendering of the building, looking east on Sunset Boulevard. (Foster + Partners)


Plans for the Star office building in Hollywood call for landscaped outdoor terraces serving tenants on each floor. (Foster + Partners)

[citywatch]

• Video Link

[craigs]

Historic Sportsmen’s Lodge hotel may be demolished for 520-unit apartment complex


A rendering of the proposed residential building that would replace the Sportsmen’s Lodge hotel. (Marmol Radziner)

Jenna Peterson
Los Angeles Times
April 3, 2024

The historic Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City could be demolished to make way for a 520-unit residential complex and mixed-used development if the Los Angeles City Council approves the project Wednesday. Proponents of the development say it would bring much-needed affordable housing that would enable workers to live closer to their jobs. Opponents say the developers have not sufficiently weighed the project’s effects and that it would erase an important piece of history.

The Sportsmen’s Lodge hotel permanently closed when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Now, the only active part of the property is the neighboring Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge, which opened in 2021 with retailers including grocery chain Erewhon and the sustainable clothing and shoe store Allbirds. The lodge’s event center was demolished to make room for the shops.

In addition to the 520 apartment units, 78 of which would be set aside for low-income tenants, the project would include 46,000 square feet of commercial space. The design would also include a bike and pedestrian path along the L.A. River.
. . . .

[Illithid Dude]

Saddened by the loss of Sportsman's Lodge, but the architecture on this is about as good as it gets for LA.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by craigs

REMEMBER: Don't fall in love with initial renderings like these or expect the building to look precisely and exactly like this. If this building even happens--and there's no guarantee it will--there will be a divergence from the renderings. Accept that inevitability and you can avoid the usual anger and extreme bitterness at reality that comes from falling in love with luscious renderings intended to sell the project.

Office tower planned for Hollywood gets new design and billion-dollar price tag


A rendering of the Star, a proposed 22-story office building in Hollywood, designed by Norman Foster. (Foster + Partners)

RIP to The Star version 1.0. We hardly knew ye. Oh well. The new design is nice, and double the price tag!

Originally Posted by bobbyv

https://www.latimes.com/business/sto...aurant-planned

[craigs]

Studio owners revise plans for $1-billion update of historic Television City


The main entrance to Television City on Beverly Boulevard at Genesee Avenue as proposed by studio owner Hackman Capital Partners. (Courtesy of Foster + Partners and Television City)

Roger Vincent
Los Angeles Times
April 4, 2024

The owners of Television City have scaled back their plans to enlarge and modernize the landmark Los Angeles studio where CBS began making shows to broadcast nationwide at the dawn of the television age.

Formerly known as CBS Television City, the studio sits next to popular tourist attractions the Original Farmers Market and the Grove shopping center in the Fairfax district where it has been operating since 1952 as a factory for such hit shows as “All in the Family,” “Sonny and Cher” and “American Idol.”

CBS sold the famous studio for $750 million in 2019 to Hackman Capital Partners, one of the world’s largest movie lot owners and operators. CBS continues to occupy Television City as a tenant.

. . . .

There's a lot more. Read the rest here.


An architect’s rendering of the planned office and production space at Television City, an entertainment studio in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. (Courtesy of Foster + Partners and Television City)


An architect’s rendering of plans for Television City. (Courtesy of Foster + Partners and Television City)


A rendering of the entrance to the planned mobility hub on Fairfax Avenue where shuttle buses from a nearby subway station would come and go. (Courtesy of Foster + Partners and Television City)


The signature red awning at Television City as seen from Beverly Boulevard. (Courtesy of Foster + Partners and Television City)

. . . .

[Illithid Dude]

I think this is a much better plan. I'm always surprised when a project becomes better, not worse with iteration.

[LA21st]

That whole part of LA could change quite a bit this decade.

There's signifigant proposals around Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega/east Beverly Hills. and the Beverly Center/Cedars area too.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

It looks very good to me. That entire area between Hollywood to West Hollywood to Mid City is really on the brink of a massive improvement.

[Quixote]

From the LAT article:

On Fairfax Avenue, where pedestrians now pass by a fenced parking lot, there would be shops and restaurants serving the public on the ground floor of office buildings that could be reached only from inside the lot.

The separation is part of the balancing act Hackman Capital is attempting to make Television City feel more friendly to the neighborhood while retaining the security and exclusivity of a closed campus that appeals to celebrities and others who make movies and television shows.

This is unfortunate.

[Radio5]

Originally Posted by Quixote

From the LAT article:



This is unfortunate.

How does that even make sense when you have street fronting cafes that are not behind a gate? Unless this means there's more retail that is behind the gate?

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Radio5

How does that even make sense when you have street fronting cafes that are not behind a gate? Unless this means there's more retail that is behind the gate?

I don't know for certain, but I think it means that street-facing retail will have no back doors that could provide access to the interior of the complex.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Quixote

From the LAT article:



This is unfortunate.

I think it's saying the office buildings are only accessible from inside the gate however, the retail is accessibile to the public and the street

[Radio5]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

I think it's saying the office buildings are only accessible from inside the gate however, the retail is accessibile to the public and the street

That makes much more sense. No business is going to set up shop on Fairfax where the public can't access it from Fairfax. Phew!

[colemonkee]

Re-read that line again, people. It says quite explicitly that the ground floor retail will only be accessible from inside the complex, not the street.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Re-read that line again, people. It says quite explicitly that the ground floor retail will only be accessible from inside the complex, not the street.

The wording of one paragraph is ambiguous, but I think the subsequent paragraph about the "balancing act" of retaining security while making Television City more neighborhood-friendly clears up the ambiguity. Taken together, I read the following two paragraphs as saying: There will be shops and restaurants serving the public on Fairfax; the restaurants and shops will be on the ground floor of office buildings; the office buildings themselves will be accessible only from inside the lot.

On Fairfax Avenue, where pedestrians now pass by a fenced parking lot, there would be shops and restaurants serving the public on the ground floor of office buildings that could be reached only from inside the lot.

The separation is part of the balancing act Hackman Capital is attempting to make Television City feel more friendly to the neighborhood while retaining the security and exclusivity of a closed campus that appeals to celebrities and others who make movies and television shows.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by craigs

The wording of one paragraph is ambiguous, but I think the subsequent paragraph about the "balancing act" of retaining security while making Television City more neighborhood-friendly clears up the ambiguity. Taken together, I read the following two paragraphs as saying: There will be shops and restaurants serving the public on Fairfax; the restaurants and shops will be on the ground floor of office buildings; the office buildings themselves will be accessible only from inside the lot.

On Fairfax Avenue, where pedestrians now pass by a fenced parking lot, there would be shops and restaurants serving the public on the ground floor of office buildings that could be reached only from inside the lot.

The separation is part of the balancing act Hackman Capital is attempting to make Television City feel more friendly to the neighborhood while retaining the security and exclusivity of a closed campus that appeals to celebrities and others who make movies and television shows.

I don't see anything in the revised plans about the shops being publicly accessible. It's confusing because they frequently use the term "pedestrian" when describing access and entry and that can be confused with "public" and I think that's what happened. The LA Times maybe thought that the entrances were public but they're really just pedestrian entrances. The amount of retail hasn't even changed, still 20,000 sq ft.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Easy

I don't see anything in the revised plans about the shops being publicly accessible. It's confusing because they frequently use the term "pedestrian" when describing access and entry and that can be confused with "public" and I think that's what happened. The LA Times maybe thought that the entrances were public but they're really just pedestrian entrances. The amount of retail hasn't even changed, still 20,000 sq ft.

Like I said, the way I read the article and the way I see the accompanying rendering below, I think the plan is to have shops and restaurants that the public can access directly from Fairfax--yes, by foot--but the public will not be able to access the offices above those shops and restaurants, nor the soundstages and such within the gated areas inside the complex.

[badrunner]

Looks like there is public accessible retail at the Beverly entrance as well. And reading that quote again, it says there will be shops and restaurants serving the public ON Fairfax. That's exactly what the rendering shows.