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

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by headcheckjj

Century City as seen from the top of Lago Vista Drive in Beverly Hills on January 13

Great pic!

The Century Plaza twins do look slightly taller than the triangular theme towers in this photo. Maybe they are 600' after all, or maybe they just sit at a bit higher ground elevation than the theme towers. To be determined. Decades ago when I last visited Century City (my Charles Schwab stock brokerage office was in one of the theme towers), I vaguely recall that the theme towers were lower than Ave. of the Stars street elevation. That is, the plaza where the triangular towers are located was down a flight of stairs or escalator or elevator from the street level (where the Schubert theater/movie theaters etc. used to be). Is this correct? If so, maybe the theme towers are at a lower ground elevation than the new Century Plaza twins, so the Century Plaza twins aren't really taller, and in fact may be shorter. Need some new eyeballs or a topographic map of ground elevations to say for sure.

[colemonkee]

^ Correct, the ground elevation of Century Plaza Towers is substantially lower than the street level of Ave. of the Stars, however, the elevation of the new towers is also substantially below that of Ave. of the Stars as well, as the elevation tapers down from Ave. of the Stars in both directions. So just depends on where the 600ft. is being measured from. But the towers are similar in height, with the new towers being listed at just over 600 ft., and Century Plaza Towers both listed at 571 ft. Hence why they look very similar on the skyline.

[ChelseaFC]

LA Planning Dept signs off on 6-story project at the notorious Fairfax/Olympic asterisk, called "Asterix"

https://whatnowlosangeles.com/city-m...oject-forward/

[Niftybox]

CC needs one nice tall skyscraper (60 stories+) right in the middle and that would look epic.

[LAisthePlace]

Originally Posted by Niftybox

CC needs one nice tall skyscraper (60 stories+) right in the middle and that would look epic.

Agreed and ideally something iconic just like the U.S. Bank Building is to DTLA.

Is there a lot that might make sense in Century City?

I hope they upzone and/or provide TOC incentives once the subway is running through that part of town.

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ Correct, the ground elevation of Century Plaza Towers is substantially lower than the street level of Ave. of the Stars, however, the elevation of the new towers is also substantially below that of Ave. of the Stars as well, as the elevation tapers down from Ave. of the Stars in both directions. So just depends on where the 600ft. is being measured from. But the towers are similar in height, with the new towers being listed at just over 600 ft., and Century Plaza Towers both listed at 571 ft. Hence why they look very similar on the skyline.

Not that it makes a difference to me but the twin office towers sit at Century Park East. When you enter the glass blocky office building in front of the twin towers from Avenue Of The Stars you have to go down an escalator or steps and exit out the back. And after that you still have to descend down a path until you reach the twin towers. Or from AOTS at Constellation you're descending slightly till you reach the twin towers. I don't know.

[plinko]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ Correct, the ground elevation of Century Plaza Towers is substantially lower than the street level of Ave. of the Stars, however, the elevation of the new towers is also substantially below that of Ave. of the Stars as well, as the elevation tapers down from Ave. of the Stars in both directions. So just depends on where the 600ft. is being measured from. But the towers are similar in height, with the new towers being listed at just over 600 ft., and Century Plaza Towers both listed at 571 ft. Hence why they look very similar on the skyline.

According to Google Earth, the elevation at the drive entry/sidewalk into the Theme Towers is about 270ft. The elevation at the lowest entry into the new twin towers is about 264ft at Solar Way (the backside). The elevation of Avenue of the Stars in front of the Century Plaza Hotel (which may be the official entry to these two new towers) is about 300ft.

So if you count from Solar Way, the entry is 6ft lower and the towers appear just slightly taller from a distance (23ft would make them an even 600ft). If you were to count from Avenue of the Stars, they would be about 564ft tall? That's still significantly taller than the 537ft listed in the World Almanac and at CTBUH. It's possible that their entry is elevated even from Avenue of the Stars, though 27ft seems unlikely.

Actually, I just watched the fly-through video on the Century Plaza website. I would guess that the entry to the new towers is about 10ft above Avenue of the Stars. So if they are indeed 40ft above the Theme Towers, that gets pretty close.

Theme Towers 270ft+571ft = 841ft
Century Plaza Towers 310ft + 537ft = 847ft

Given that there is rounding involved and I'm using Google Earth and rendered videos, I would say that 537ft is likely the correct height unless you measure from Solar Way, which puts it around 583ft.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by plinko

According to Google Earth, the elevation at the drive entry/sidewalk into the Theme Towers is about 270ft. The elevation at the lowest entry into the new twin towers is about 264ft at Solar Way (the backside). The elevation of Avenue of the Stars in front of the Century Plaza Hotel (which may be the official entry to these two new towers) is about 300ft.

So if you count from Solar Way, the entry is 6ft lower and the towers appear just slightly taller from a distance (23ft would make them an even 600ft). If you were to count from Avenue of the Stars, they would be about 564ft tall? That's still significantly taller than the 537ft listed in the World Almanac and at CTBUH. It's possible that their entry is elevated even from Avenue of the Stars, though 27ft seems unlikely.

Actually, I just watched the fly-through video on the Century Plaza website. I would guess that the entry to the new towers is about 10ft above Avenue of the Stars. So if they are indeed 40ft above the Theme Towers, that gets pretty close.

Theme Towers 270ft+571ft = 841ft
Century Plaza Towers 310ft + 537ft = 847ft

Given that there is rounding involved and I'm using Google Earth and rendered videos, I would say that 537ft is likely the correct height unless you measure from Solar Way, which puts it around 583ft.

They "look" more than the 537' listed in the 2021 World Almanac. Maybe not 600', but at least as tall as the 571' theme towers. Of course just eyeballing it, but I'm a pretty good judge of building height. An easy way to solve it would be to use trig. Measure the building shadow length when you know the solar angle. Simple calculation gives you the height. I don't know why the building owners are being mysterious about the actual height. Best guess is to call it a tie with the theme towers--571' give or take.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ Correct, the ground elevation of Century Plaza Towers is substantially lower than the street level of Ave. of the Stars, however, the elevation of the new towers is also substantially below that of Ave. of the Stars as well, as the elevation tapers down from Ave. of the Stars in both directions. So just depends on where the 600ft. is being measured from. But the towers are similar in height, with the new towers being listed at just over 600 ft., and Century Plaza Towers both listed at 571 ft. Hence why they look very similar on the skyline.

Call it a tie. Anyway, they are impressive additions to the skyline. Are the units selling/leasing well? I wonder what the units are selling for?

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by LAisthePlace

Agreed and ideally something iconic just like the U.S. Bank Building is to DTLA.

Is there a lot that might make sense in Century City?

I hope they upzone and/or provide TOC incentives once the subway is running through that part of town.

Originally Posted by Niftybox

CC needs one nice tall skyscraper (60 stories+) right in the middle and that would look epic.

Colemonkee said in an earlier post that unfortunately the Santa Monica Airport airspace restrictions would prevent anything taller than 600' in Century City at the present time. A 700-900' tower in the middle would look great. Maybe one day.

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Call it a tie. Anyway, they are impressive additions to the skyline. Are the units selling/leasing well? I wonder what the units are selling for?

According to Urbanized LA the prices range from $2million to $50 million.

[edale]

Originally Posted by pwright1

According to Urbanized LA the prices range from $2million to $50 million.

It just blows my mind that there are that many people out there who can afford shit like this.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by pwright1

According to Urbanized LA the prices range from $2million to $50 million.

For $2 mil you probably get a studio/one br on the lower floors. Most of the units are probably below $10 mil. The $50 mil is probably for a huge penthouse unit. The prices are always negotiable. Bargaining is expected. At some point increased supply and reduced demand should reduce prices. Apt. rents are down over 20% in San Fran. and San Diego. Are they falling in L.A.? People complain about the "Great Recession" in 2008-2010, but housing prices fell 50% or more in some areas, and people who could get financing or could scrape up a down payment could pick up bargains. You could get new condos in Vegas for less than $50 k, even $25 k in 2009. Hedge funds and rich people snapped up these distressed properties and made fortunes. Sorry we went a bit off topic. Back to topic.

[CaliNative]

Delete

[pwright1]

Vermont Avenue between Wilshire Blvd 6th and 7th Streets.
LA County Administration Bldg at 510 S. Vermont Avenue.






Old Denny's, Shell gas station and Korean restaurant gone and fenced off at Wilshire and Vermont.


Old I. Magnin store at Wilshire and New Hampshire supposedly being developed into hotel.


Directly behind I. Magnin in the parking lot construction started on 38 story apt tower.

[pwright1]

Wilshire Blvd and Hoover.




Some sort of gas station existed on this corner of Wilshire Blvd and Vermont for over 80 years. Gone forever.

[Easy]

Thanks pwright1!

So weird about a single story CVS replacing the gas station at maybe the most prominent intersection in all of Koreatown and next to a rail transfer station. There has to be a reason. Maybe the property owner sold the air rights? Or maybe there is soil contamination from the underground tanks that would require additional cleanup for residences that isn't required for workplace buildings?

[ChelseaFC]

It's hard to imagine a CVS pharmacy at Wilshire/Vermont would get you the most bang for your buck as a property owner.

[slock]

Does the post about Denny's being closed and fenced off imply that this is breaking ground?

https://urbanize.city/la/post/new-lo...ire-gate-tower.

[colemonkee]

Oh, man I hope so. That would make two 30+ story buildings going up within a few blocks of each other.