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JDRCRASH
Apr 13, 2008, 12:51 AM
Columbia Square Project Update: Cranes Coming!

Friday, April 11, 2008, by Dakota



A reader points out errors in today's Slatin Report story about Hollywood development, (Katyusha instead of Katsuya, and there is no such thing as Madrone Street), but here's a nugget--the reporter mentions a Spring 2009 ground-breaking for the $850 million Columbia Square project, a mixed-use development at the corner of Sunset and Gower, the site of the CBS Studios. Add in the nearby Hollywood and Vine project, and the Hollywood and Vine/the W hotel, and yes, Hollywood is hopping.

Via the Slatin Report:

---400 dwelling units
---125 hotel rooms
---380,000 sf of office space
---12,000 sf of ground floor retail
---22,500 sf of restaurant space,
---The project will also incorporate about 105,000 sf of the original CBS Studios.

Quixote
Apr 15, 2008, 3:57 AM
http://la.curbed.com/uploads/2008.04.square.jpg
[Architect: Johnson Fain (http://www.johnsonfain.com/getFlash.html)]

Hollywood Reveal: Columbia Square Mixed-Use Project

By Dakota
April 14, 2008

A fresh rendering of Columbia Square, the $850 million mixed-use condo/hotel/office development slated for the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Per a rep for developer Molasky Pacific, what you're looking at: This is the view from Sunset, looking north. The hotel will be housed in the building on the left--the hotel will take up seven stories, the rest will be condos. The office building is the new building on the right. The historic buildings are in the front along Sunset.

As previously discussed (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/04/columbia_square.php), the project will have, among other things, 400 dwelling units, 125 hotel rooms, and 380,000 square feet of office space. We're told the project is nearing release of the draft environmental impact report, with hearings expected to begin later this year.
Columbia Square Update: Cranes Coming (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/04/columbia_square.php) [Curbed LA]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Curbed LA (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/04/hollywood_revea.php#more)

Echo Park
Apr 15, 2008, 4:02 AM
whats the status of that project anyway, isn't it still in environmental review?

rendering is not bad. i like the jagged facade at the roof, its a nice change of pace from the usual san diego style crap going up in that area, but in the end those adornments just feel unnecessary and tacked on. i dont mind it.

DJM19
Apr 15, 2008, 6:16 AM
I love it!

JDRCRASH
Apr 15, 2008, 4:13 PM
Wow!!!

It's waay better than the original concept.:slob:

JDRCRASH
Apr 22, 2008, 5:09 PM
Beverly Hills Greenlights Hotel

Tuesday, April 22, 2008, by Dakota

Is the most contentious development around Los Angeles going on in Beverly Hills? After giving the thumbs up to architect Richard Meier's 9900 Wilshire green building, the Beverly Hills City Council has approved a 170-room Waldorf and a two-story conference center. Worried about traffic, "the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association has pledged to gather voter signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to overturn the council's expected approval of the project and to recall council members supporting it."

DJM19
Apr 22, 2008, 6:42 PM
God I hate NIMBYs...When will they accept that they live amongst the second largest city in America, and not some farm town in Kansas. Of course it will not be stagnant, of course it will grow. Traffic will always grow. People wanting to be in beverly hills is not the problem. Thats a great thing. If they want to avoid it, support the wilshire line!

DowntownCharlieBrown
Apr 25, 2008, 2:41 PM
From Curbed LA

http://la.curbed.com/index.php?page=3

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2069/2441140276_181ded39d2.jpg
Photo Credit: ColDayMan

A 16-story tower planned to go up next to the iconic Capitol Records building is not getting a neighborly welcome, reports the Los Angeles Times. Capitol is appealing the building's approval, saying the structure's underground parking garage will damage the record company's subterranean echo chambers used for high-end recordings. Unbeknownst to many, Capitol houses eight chambers 30 feet underground (oh, if those walls could talk). Some also oppose the new high-rise—which would include condos and commercial and office space—because it may block freeway views of Capitol, and possibly collapse during an earthquake.
· Capitol says recording quality at risk [LA Times]


Here is the proposed tower:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/2441140316_3d5b4b834c_o.jpg
Photo Credit: Steven Ehrlich Architects

JDRCRASH
Apr 25, 2008, 3:41 PM
Blocking Freeway views?...............WTF??!!

These are the same people that said that digital billboards would be a distraction and that people should keep their eyes on the road!!! It seems clear to me people aren't fighting to keep the landmark there; they're fighting because they think it is a legitimate excuse to fight dense high-rise development in the area. How cluelessly absurd!

People should be grateful that its not going to REPLACE the Capital Records Tower. Besides, I could be wrong, but wasn't Capital going to be turned into residential units; so what would be the use of the chambers?:shrug:

I support the proposed tower.:tup:

Echo Park
Apr 25, 2008, 6:12 PM
Haha, ColDayMan gets a credit on Curbed!

Echo Park
Apr 25, 2008, 6:13 PM
By the way, for you guys who never go to the Califorum, vodila has a great photo update on numerous Hollywood projects

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=72609&page=56

DowntownCharlieBrown
Apr 25, 2008, 7:24 PM
Haha, ColDayMan gets a credit on Curbed!


Actually, no. After looking at ColDayMan's recent LA photo thread, I saw he had a great shot of the building and so I used it instead of the Curbed's shot. Thanks ColDayMan!

Quixote
Apr 25, 2008, 10:45 PM
http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2303/2441689618_0acdb3814e_o.jpg

ConstructionWatch: So Much Aqua Glass in Hollywood

By Dakota
April 25, 2008

As a follow-up to last week's discussion on that big new Hollywood development (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/04/columbia_square.php) Columbia Square, let's check in with two under-construction projects in the area: A new office building rising in the 6000 block of Sunset Boulevard and old friend Sunset and Vine (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/01/sunset_vine_is.php), the under-construction 59-unit apartment building that'll eventually have 7,000 square-feet of retail. That aqua rod is now boasting some side flaps---billboard holders? What are those things?
Construction Watch: Hollywood and Vine (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/02/construction_wa_43.php) [Curbed LA]

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2084/2441692398_fc20d19a5c_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3149/2441667680_6716289d2f_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2350/2441673612_2d43969eae_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2266/2441681198_77b3c878d0_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3051/2441662228_83b1da9359_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2010/2440816829_840bca95d9_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2231/2441643886_9141578ae7_o.jpg

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Curbed LA (http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/04/constructionwat_18.php?o=0)

Quixote
Apr 28, 2008, 10:43 PM
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/2446261511_3b734afe2d_b.jpg

More photos of The Century here (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=3516560&postcount=52).

Quixote
Apr 29, 2008, 1:14 AM
There is another render available here:

http://www.archpaper.com/news/2008_0330.htm

It is flash, I don't know how to post and need some help. Scroll thru the photos to get to "Green Blade".

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2380/2450052151_4e8165fa19_o.jpg

LosAngelesBeauty
Apr 29, 2008, 9:54 PM
Wow, The Century is going up pretty fast.


Any word on the twin 45-story towers that will be built at Ave. of the Stars and Constellation?

BrandonJXN
Apr 30, 2008, 2:36 PM
Basque on Hollywood and Vine is on fire.

Echo Park
Apr 30, 2008, 3:03 PM
i never liked that building.

dktshb
Apr 30, 2008, 3:32 PM
Hope it doesn't spread... the PaliHouse is right next to it. Fortunately there wasn't anything structurally interesting about the building IMO. I just hope it is cleaned up right away.

DowntownGymRat
Apr 30, 2008, 7:52 PM
I wonder if Pailhouse would want to buy Basque's property for future additions. Seems stupid to rebuild the same type of building there when someone could do some kind of mix-use project. Whatever happens, I just hope they use a lot of glass on the ground floor to open it up to passing pedestrians

JDRCRASH
May 1, 2008, 3:06 PM
Hope none of the Walk of Fame was damaged.

StethJeff
May 1, 2008, 5:40 PM
Hope none of the Walk of Fame was damaged.

building destruction >> damage to sidewalk

that could probably be repaired very quickly, esp since Hollywood is used to vandalism and other damage to the stars.

JDRCRASH
May 1, 2008, 5:47 PM
building destruction >> damage to sidewalk

that could probably be repaired very quickly, esp since Hollywood is used to vandalism and other damage to the stars.

People need to respect that sidewalk. There are over 2,000 of them, but each one tells a story.

Echo Park
May 2, 2008, 4:31 AM
the walk of fame is the ugliest, tackiest shit.

LAsam
May 2, 2008, 5:28 AM
the walk of fame is the ugliest, tackiest shit.

What's with all the negativity? The Walk of Fame is an icon not only for Hollywood, but for the entertainment industry. It may not be an architectural gem, but it's very effective at serving its purpose. It immortalizes entertainment's biggest names, and is a huge tourism draw. It's been a part of Hollywood since 1958, far longer than most of us have even existed. You're allowed to your opinion... but you come across as a self hating Angeleno a lot of the time.

DowntownCharlieBrown
May 2, 2008, 5:46 AM
^Tacky, maybe, but that sidewalk and that sign on the hill bring in a boatload of tourist dollars. cha-ching!


I wonder if Pailhouse would want to buy Basque's property for future additions. Seems stupid to rebuild the same type of building there when someone could do some kind of mix-use project. Whatever happens, I just hope they use a lot of glass on the ground floor to open it up to passing pedestrians

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2005/2458035685_d59872e4b4_o.jpg
Photo Credit: Curbed LA


During the fire a reporter mentioned how valuable all the property near Hollywood and Vine is now due to the renaissance going on in Hollywood. What a coincidence that this little one floor building would burn to the ground now of all times.:shuffle:

JRinSoCal
May 2, 2008, 3:51 PM
When I first turned on the news and saw the fire next to the construction cranes, I swear I thought the W Hotel complex was burning down. I almost went :ahhh:

StethJeff
May 2, 2008, 5:48 PM
People need to respect that sidewalk. There are over 2,000 of them, but each one tells a story.

some of them do.

but most of them simply remind us about the needless nonstop patting on the back that the entertainment industry gives itself.

jerry buss getting a star for his contribution to television . . . really?!?! :rolleyes: :koko:

StethJeff
May 2, 2008, 5:50 PM
the walk of fame is the ugliest, tackiest shit.

ugly? probably not. it's actually pretty eye-grabbing and a clever way to jazz up what would otherwise be just another sidewalk.

tacky? absolutely.

Echo Park
May 2, 2008, 6:14 PM
ugly? probably not. it's actually pretty eye-grabbing and a clever way to jazz up what would otherwise be just another sidewalk.

tacky? absolutely.

I wish the whole sidewalk would be revamped. That's probably for time when money is available, but I would like someting more sleek then the 60s countertop gravel whatever it is they're currently using. A lot of it is cracked anyway.

I like the footprints in from the grumans though. That itself is an LA monument.

JDRCRASH
May 2, 2008, 6:39 PM
some of them do.

but most of them simply remind us about the needless nonstop patting on the back that the entertainment industry gives itself.

jerry buss getting a star for his contribution to television . . . really?!?! :rolleyes: :koko:


Star nomination process

In order for a person to get a star on the Walk of Fame, he or she must agree to attend a presentation ceremony within five years of selection, and a $25,000 fee must be paid to the Trust for costs such as security at the star ceremony; a 2003 FOX News story noted that the fee is typically paid by sponsors such as film studios and record companies, as part of the publicity for a release with which the honoree is involved.[citation needed] On other occasions, the fee is paid by a fan club or the nominating person or organization.

StethJeff
May 2, 2008, 6:51 PM
I wish the whole sidewalk would be revamped. That's probably for time when money is available, but I would like someting more sleek then the 60s countertop gravel whatever it is they're currently using. A lot of it is cracked anyway.

I like the footprints in from the grumans though. That itself is an LA monument.

i see what you mean. but in my book, i'd also throw the footprints into the 'tacky' category as well. any representation that attempts to deify actors of all people screams of stupidity.

colemonkee
May 2, 2008, 7:09 PM
I deleted some posts that had personal attacks - and I'm getting tired of doing so. You guys need to cut it out with the personal attacks. Read LASam's reply for how to respond to an opinion that you don't agree with. It's perfect.

The next person who posts a personal attack will be suspended.

colemonkee
May 3, 2008, 6:37 AM
If you guys really need to have a discussion about the Hollywood Walk of Fame, create a thread in the California forum. No more hijacking this thread, which is for LA Metro projects.

JDRCRASH
May 5, 2008, 3:48 AM
Um....okay.

citywatch
May 6, 2008, 4:17 PM
Building Boom Gives Hollywood Pause

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-05/38535133.jpg
Construction cranes soar above the landmark corner of Hollywood and Vine. More than a
dozen multimillion-dollar projects have been announced, launched or just completed in
Hollywood that promise new stores, restaurants, apartments and towers of glass and steel.

Some worry that a proliferation of high-end projects will bury the charm of the storied area's golden past.

By Roger Vincent,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 6, 2008

Construction cranes hover over Hollywood as the movie industry's historic home undergoes another sweeping -- and sometimes wrenching -- transformation. More than a dozen multimillion-dollar projects have been announced, launched or just completed that promise new shopping and restaurants, thousands of new apartments and condominiums and towers of glass and steel.

Glitzy clubs dot once-sketchy street corners. Residents swim atop the former Broadway department store at Hollywood and Vine. Construction projects cuddle up to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and are popping up in the shadow of the landmark Capitol Records tower.

The changes can be both impressive and alarming to those who know Hollywood best. Residents and business owners marvel at the improvements around them. Yet they prize the lingering charm of Hollywood's golden past and fear that the place they love is slipping away.

"My worst-case scenario is that it loses the special flavor that is unique to Hollywood," said neighborhood activist Cheryl Holland, who has lived there for almost 20 years. "We want some give and take" with planners and developers, she said. "Our streets are unique because we abut commercial property." But, she added, "this is a very historic neighborhood with streets that are quaint and charming."

The love-hate battle over development that is playing out in neighborhoods all over the Southland and elsewhere is amplified here. Every construction permit faces questions about parking, open space, blocked views, historic preservation and the stress on basic city services. To be sure, some outsiders may dismiss the concerns as grousing by people who don't appreciate how good they have it. After all, this is a neighborhood of growing affluence seeing an explosion of new entertainment venues and luxury housing and hotel rooms that would be the envy of much of Southern California.

http://www.latimes.com/media/graphic/2008-05/38544041.gif

Not just a neighborhood

Reinventing Hollywood is a challenge more daunting than most city centers ever face. "It's a place of dreams, a metaphor and not just a neighborhood," said urban expert Joel Garreau. People have so many different visions in their mind of what Hollywood is, he said, "you are going to get incredible culture clash, economic clash and political clash."

Since the days of Cecil B. DeMille, Hollywood has been larger than life and still holds a grip on people's attention and fascination with Southern California. Changes like those underway today come with protest, boosterism, second-guessing, excitement and angst.

With traffic already awful at many hours, fears multiply that congestion will make Hollywood truly unbearable if developers aren't reined in. Parking has become a fractious issue, too, as prices rise at a diminishing number of lots and local leaders debate whether to build more garages.

Between the traffic and parking difficulties, "it's not much longer that we are going to be able to come down there," said Hollywood Hills resident Daniel Savage. "There is a fantastic domino effect that happens when traffic backs up."

For many, it is all a mixed blessing. No one seems to miss the bad old days dating back to the 1960s, when the neighborhood started losing its luster as many prosperous residents decamped L.A.'s urban core for the suburbs. Entertainment industry businesses fled too as teen runaways, drug dealers and prostitutes populated the boulevard and traditional Main Street-style stores gave way to strip joints, tattoo parlors and touristy trinket shops.

The neighborhood's reputation was so bad by the 1980s, recalled honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant in an interview shortly before his death in January, that "it was tough to get people to come accept a star on the Walk of Fame." Grant's boosterism was a source of amusement, he recalled. "The big sport was laughing at me because I kept saying that Hollywood was coming back."

Observers stopped laughing a few years ago as investment exploded in Hollywood. Nearly 5,000 condominiums and apartments have been built or are soon to be underway in the blocks around Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, where a glitzy W Hotel is also under construction. Plans have been announced to add 10 stories of office space atop the historic Pantages Theatre to complete the original 1920s design. And nightclubs seem to be opening on every block -- there are, according to police, about 100 establishments in the core entertainment district licensed to sell liquor.

Meanwhile, crime in Hollywood is down 32% from 2003, said Capt. Clayton Farrell of the Los Angeles Police Department. "We don't have the endemic crime problems that Hollywood experienced in the '80s and '90s in spite of an increase in the number of persons coming to Hollywood for entertainment," Farrell said. "The nightclubs bring in alcohol and other issues but also a lot of affluence and people" who patronize other businesses.

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-05/38535136.jpg
With traffic already awful at many hours, fears multiply that congestion will make Holly-
wood truly unbearable if developers aren’t reined in.

'A little tawdry'

In the years after World War II, Hollywood was "a glamorous little town," said writer Milt Larsen, with chic nightclubs, elite restaurants including the Brown Derby and live theater. He enjoyed going from studio to studio to sit in the audiences of radio broadcasts by the likes of Jack Benny, Fanny Brice and Groucho Marx. Magicians still perform to crowds in the legendary Magic Castle that Larsen founded in Hollywood in 1963. But by then, he said, Hollywood Boulevard was "starting to get a little tawdry."

Now it's on the upswing again. In five years, the boulevard "will be a cross between Melrose Avenue and the Third Street Promenade" in Santa Monica, predicted developer Richard Heyman. He is working on a $12.5-million refurbishment of the Art Deco-style former Kress dime store that later became the flagship of racy lingerie seller Frederick's of Hollywood.

When the Kress opens in a few weeks, it will house a nightclub, restaurant, sushi bar, banquet room and rooftop bar. Owner Michael Viscuso also has acquired other property nearby, with plans to add more stores and to build a 15-story hotel-condominium. Viscuso said he had watched Hollywood for almost a decade but "the streets looked pretty rough." Around 2005 he could see change coming and wanted to get in on it. "It's amazing now."

The heady pace of that change -- more than $2 billion worth of development since 2003 with an additional almost $1 billion approved and ready to start -- is unnerving people like Hollywood Hills resident Savage, who is also president of the Hollywood Knolls Community Club homeowners group. "It's all going way too fast for me," said Savage, who fears that growth will overwhelm roads, mass transit and other public services. "I'm not a Luddite," he said. "I generally believe in the free market, but I think someone needs to call a timeout and let the infrastructure catch up."

Pendulum swings

Hollywood has long been known for low rents and as a destination for starving artist types such as actors and musicians as well as home to a large number of immigrants. Losing such residents would reduce some of the "economic diversity" special to Hollywood, says City Planning Commissioner Michael Woo, a former City Council member. "I anticipate more concern about gentrification and people being pushed out."

But there is probably no stopping it. Hollywood is going through a type of dramatic change that is sweeping many of the country's city centers, said analyst Christopher Leinberger of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "What we are dealing with here is the pent-up demand in this country for walkable urban places."

By Leinberger's reckoning, there are two models for real estate development: "walkable urban" and "drivable suburban." After more than 60 years of focusing almost exclusively on the latter, the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living in the United States, and the Los Angeles region is woefully short of neighborhoods where residents can work, shop and entertain themselves on foot, he said. "Great urbanism attracts people," Leinberger said. "Places that do have it are going to have overwhelming demand."

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-05/38535135.jpg
When owner Michael Viscuso opens the Kress — a $12.5-million refurbishment of the Art
Deco-style former Kress dime store — in a few weeks, it will house a nightclub, restau-
rant, sushi bar, banquet room and rooftop bar. Viscuso has assembled other property
nearby with plans to add more stores and build a 15-story hotel-condominium.

Echo Park
May 6, 2008, 4:38 PM
I wonder what people mean when they worry about developments changing Hollywood's "flavor" or when Zev says something like condos ruining a hood's "character?" By character and flavor are they talking about all the ugly surface lots ? By "quaint and charming" do they mean all those run down one story buildings, tacky gift shops and suburban style strip malls? I wonder if provincial neighborhood councils have this much unwarranted power in other cities.

JDRCRASH
May 6, 2008, 4:55 PM
Echo Park, I went to www.abc7.com's "Ask the Mayor" link again; this time I asked why Zev Yaroslavksy appears to discourage high-rise density development anywhere in Los Angeles.

Quite frankly, this new development should be tied-in with historic landmarks.

circuitfiend
May 6, 2008, 4:57 PM
Hollywood had been neglected for so long and now it's finally seeing the development it was always envisioned as having. I find it hard to believe when groups or individuals talk about it losing it's "charm." I have lived in Hollywood since 1978 and I have to ask what were these people doing about it's "charm" then? Hollywood was run down and suburbanites were frightened to visit. Retail was abyssmal and the homeless, drug dealers and runaways ruled the streets. Some charm. Tourists would get off on Hollywood Blvd. and gasp, "This is it?!"

Now we have a wonderful subway and bus service. What area is better poised to take advantage of this infrastructure than Hollywood? These so-called community activists need to take a good look around and realize this ain't Kansas. Hollywood's time has come to take its place as one of the great urban centers of this country. Traffic is a problem all over LA County and is not exclusive to Hollywood. The homeowners in the hills can stay up there for all I care, they never did anything for those of us who live on the flats below, now they want to control its development in order to retain their suburban lifestyle in the hills, gracing our presence only when they have to go to the supermarket, movies and other amenities only found in urban centers. They should move to Santa Clarita.

citywatch
May 6, 2008, 8:09 PM
Tourists would get off on Hollywood Blvd. and gasp, "This is it?!"
That's been an often described reaction from many ppl visiting the hood written about in countless numbers of articles. In spite of that, there are a variety of locals who've made it sound like keeping Hollywood exactly as it's been was a good thing. And if the ppl in the hills, inc all the nimbites, had their way through the yrs, projs like Hollywood & highland never would have been built.

I notice the proj listed as no. 9 in the LA Times diagram, which is boulevard 6200, now is supposed to break ground in fall in 2008 instead of the previously predicted first or 2nd qtr of this yr. That's too bad cuz that proj will replace a lot of parking lots on both sides of Hollywood blvd, so it would be nice to see it under construction ASAP.

DowntownCharlieBrown
May 6, 2008, 8:50 PM
Well..The Real World is coming back to LA. Go egg their house.

http://www.realworldhouses.com/rw20aerialimage.jpg

So I caught a few episodes of "The Real World - Hollywood" this weekend. It was fun to play "I Spy" with the different clubs, restaurants, etc. in the background shots. But I also did a lot of cringing. If you know the area, then you will know that so many shots of them walking down the streets have them walking along big expansive parking lots. "Sigh"

Pali House, The W, Blvd 6200, much of Columbia Sq, and many other developments are being built on these huge parking lots. Anyone sad to see these go, or thinks losing these will change the character of Hollywood for the worst, lives in a Hollywood Fantasyland.

DJM19
May 6, 2008, 9:00 PM
Seriously, what falvor is hollywood losing? Nothing of importance has been torn down since this recent redevelopment began. Hollywood already lost all of its flavor long before Hollywood and Highland. You cant talk about the good old days with the Brown Derby, when there is no more Brown Derby. Instead of parking lots around the remaining iconic establishments, we have more stores and condos. Is this a bad thing?! I think not.

BrandonJXN
May 6, 2008, 9:23 PM
Unless it was the parking lot where you scored with Mary Jane Rotten Crotch after giving her $20 bucks, no one is going to cry over a parking lot.

DowntownCharlieBrown
May 9, 2008, 3:49 AM
Pics and comments from Curbed LA

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/05/rendering_revea.php?o=5

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2477695600_6e2b095b90_o.jpg

Certainly not every new Hollywood project can be seen here, but check out the new nighttime skyline of the booming neighborhood and its under-construction W Hotel & Residences. Is this rendering reality? The project will offer a 305-room hotel and 143 residences. Prices start at $800,000, sizes of the units start at 1,000 square feet and the whole thing will be finished by October 2009. A tour of the sales office to follow.
· W Hotel and Residences [Official Site]
· ConstructionWatch: Hollywood and Vine/W Hotel [LA Curbed]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2476883331_c7e8561864_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2210/2476883265_eac2c55705_o.jpg



I like the night rendering, but is it supposed to be during a blackout in Hollywood, and The W is the only building maintaining lights? Because... that's a good reason to buy there.:cool:

JDRCRASH
May 9, 2008, 4:45 AM
Oh god, that just has to get built!:hyper:

colemonkee
May 9, 2008, 6:02 AM
It is getting built. It's already two stories out of the ground.

JDRCRASH
May 9, 2008, 2:43 PM
It is getting built. It's already two stories out of the ground.

:yes:, but I was being sarcastic.

LAsam
May 9, 2008, 6:12 PM
Looks like the Metro station will be well intergrated with the project. Very nice.

Echo Park
May 9, 2008, 9:27 PM
i also love the massing of this building. its dense and tightly packed. I wish LA would stick to building projects of this height or smaller and not try to go for 35-40 story toothpicks on a podium.

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2354/2474020229_17ab22a0ba_o.jpg

DJM19
May 10, 2008, 7:01 AM
yeah. I've always loved that block after block of tightly packed ~10 story buildings look. Like berlin, or paris, or tons of european cities. Its very good human scale, and also very urban.

Quixote
May 14, 2008, 12:41 AM
Beverly Hills Council OKs Waldorf-Astoria Complex (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/05/12/ap4999124.html)

By JACOB ADELMAN
May 12, 2008

LOS ANGELES - The Beverly Hills City Council on Monday approved a plan to build a Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and two condominium buildings on the grounds of the Beverly Hilton, but area residents concerned about traffic vowed to derail the $500 million project with a petition drive.

The 4-1 vote to allow a zoning change was the final approval necessary for the project to go forward. It followed last month's approval of an amendment to the city's general plan that was needed by developers.

Opponents said they were gathering signatures to put the general plan amendment up for referendum on the November ballot.

"The campaign to put it on the ballot is to let voters decide if it makes sense to have three big high-rises at the busiest intersection in Beverly Hills," said Larry Larson, a leader of the petition drive and vice president of the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association.

Increasing traffic congestion has become a major concern throughout metropolitan Los Angeles.

Larson said construction foes began their signature drive on Saturday and that he foresaw no problem collecting the 2,200 signatures needed by the May 29 deadline.

Hilton Hotels Corp. (nyse: HLT - news - people ), which owns the Waldorf-Astoria brand, plans to demolish all structures on the nine-acre Beverly Hilton property except the existing hotel's main eight-story tower, said Beverly Hilton Vice President Corinne Verdery, who is in charge of the project.

In their place would stand a 170-room, five-star hotel, two luxury condo buildings with a total of about 100 units and a conference center, as well as a landscaped garden studded with public art works that would be accessible to the community, Verdery said.

Larson and other opponents said the condominiums would draw more traffic to the already cramped streets and that workers at the hotel-and-condo complex would take up parking spaces on nearby streets.

But Verdery said the hotel's plan to move all parking into an underground structure would add some 1,300 new parking spaces to the Beverly Hilton's existing 818 spots. She said an extra lane would also be cut out of each edge of the triangle-shaped property in order to alleviate traffic.

"We've taken a very close look at parking and traffic," she said.

Beverly Hilton officials also said the project would add more than $750 million to Beverly Hills' coffers over 30 years and would draw new customers to local shops and restaurants.

The Beverly Hilton complex will be the chain's first Waldorf-Astoria on the West Coast.

DowntownCharlieBrown
May 14, 2008, 10:32 PM
From Curbed LA
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/05/weho_affordable.php?o=7


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2492667669_1ff8ae0457_o.jpg

Ground-breaking takes place next week on this new affordable housing development on Sierra Bonita and Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood. Affordable housing never looked so good--we're digging the exterior skin. Designed by Tighe Architecture, the project is a five-story mixed use development with 42 one-bedroom units. Retail will be located along the ground floor, and the project is expected to comply with Weho's recent Green Building Ordinance. The project is being developed by the West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation , and according to their site, there are plans to rent one third of the units to seniors on fixed minimal incomes, another third to disabled persons, including many people living with HIV/AIDS, and the remaining units to families with limited incomes.
Tighe Architecture [Official Site]



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2306/2493489626_34a8cb7e3a_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2492667779_89a1a5c274_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/2492667839_e728d9d0a7_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2493489764_5b7cd7838e_o.jpg
All photos: http://www.tighearchitecture.com/Residential-SierraBonita2.html

WonderlandPark
May 14, 2008, 11:23 PM
^^^ fu¢k yes!

hope the materials are quality

colemonkee
May 15, 2008, 12:48 AM
That does look pretty nice. Funky, even. Apparently the tenants won't have much furniture, though.

Quixote
May 16, 2008, 3:41 PM
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-05/38926619.jpg
REVAMP: Vine Street Tower, an eight-story office
building, is planned for Vine Street and Selma
Avenue.

L.A. Agency Plans Low-Income Homes, New Offices for Hollywood (http://www.latimes.com/la-me-hollywood16-2008may16,0,2676415.story)

CRA commissioners approve a five-year revitalization plan for the area.

By Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 16, 2008

Denser, taller and less-pricey neighborhoods are ahead for Hollywood under a revitalization plan approved Thursday by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency.

Agency commissioners voted unanimously to help finance a series of residential and commercial projects that backers say will add much-needed low-income housing and "first-class" office space to the area by 2013.

The five-year development plan will add 404 low- and moderate-income apartments for families that otherwise would be priced out of the housing market. It also provides space for programs that cater to the homeless and to young runaways who often flock to Hollywood Boulevard.

The approval came as some Hollywood residents complained of a looming lack of adequate parking for newcomers and others decried the growing nightclub scene, which has become an important element of the emerging "new" Hollywood.

But the clubs also are helping turn the area into what was described to commissioners as "Alcohollywood" and a growing site of mysterious arson fires.

There was largely praise for the five-year plan, however. During a two-hour public hearing held at one of Hollywood's clubs, the Music Box, a parade of supporters thanked the agency for its role over the last two decades in aiding the community's resurgence from half a century of decline.

City Council President Eric Garcetti, who represents a portion of Hollywood, said $2 billion in private investment already has been poured into the area, turning blighted parts of town into showcases.

He cited a $14-million mixed-use development at Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue as one of the successes. The CRA contributed $3.7 million to the project, which consists of 60 affordable rental units -- most of which are occupied by what the agency calls "very low-income households."

The Hollywood and Western corner "has taken away the stigma of affordable housing," turning what once was an eyesore into one of the city's "most dynamic" intersections, Garcetti told commissioners.

Low-income projects planned over the next five years include the $7-million Villas at Gower, which will offer 70 "very low-income housing units" along with supportive services for homeless families and what the CRA calls "transitional youths."

Part of the W hotel complex under construction at Hollywood and Vine Street will by 2010 include 375 rental units, including 74 classified as "affordable to low-income."

Four historic bungalow courts in Hollywood and 10 in east Hollywood will be rehabilitated. Several other sites labeled by the CRA as "blighted" will be used for 220 single-occupancy units for very-low income residents and for 87 market-rate rentals.

By 2011, an eight-story, glass-sided office structure called the Vine Street Tower is planned at Vine and Selma Avenue. "Blighted conditions addressed by this project include economic stagnation due to a shortage of first-class office space and space for entertainment uses," a redevelopment agency report states.

Representatives of social services organizations and nonprofit groups that have received assistance from the agency or that are in line to in the future praised the five-year plan. Several said the new projects represent "smart growth" and the dictum of "building up, not out."

But critics included longtime Hollywood activist John Walsh, who chided the agency. "Welcome to Alcohollywood. The CRA invented it," he said of what he complained is an over-concentration of nightclubs and alcoholic beverage licenses in the area.

"The CRA's Hollywood is the unsolved arson capital of the world," Walsh said, citing recent fires that have destroyed several clubs and a landmark church that a developer had tried to turn into a club.

Longtime Hollywood AIDS clinic operator Miki Jackson worries that not enough planning is being done for future parking needs. She suggested that the redevelopment agency has outlived its usefulness and that its estimated $726.3-million budget for the coming fiscal year might be better used to offset the city's fiscal deficit.

"There are times when you just don't make sense any more, and I think the CRA has arrived at that," Jackson said.

Ziggy Kruse, manager of a shop that was closed when the agency initiated eminent domain proceedings against 30 small businesses to clear the way for the W hotel project in 2006, said she still has not found a new job.

"I'm living proof your plan doesn't work," Kruse told commissioners.

The panel did not respond directly. But board member Alejandro Ortiz counseled CRA staff members to pay heed.

"A lot of times the criticism is harsh, but it's correct. So stay open" minded, Ortiz advised.

Quixote
May 16, 2008, 3:47 PM
^ Another deadzone to be eliminated. It should form a nice little urban wall.

Echo Park
May 16, 2008, 5:57 PM
Yup, and I hope that most of those projects slated for the 5 year plan rise up along Selma. Thats a key street in maintaining connectivity and flow between Sunset and Hollywood. I'm also glad they're bringing office space to Hollywood, helping the hood become more well rounded. Right now Hollywood is combination of a club/bar corridor and tacky tourist hood. But once more amenities come in like the Whole Foods at the W, as well as office space for workers, we'll see Hollywood emerge as a full fledged hood, a type of Pasadena but with more edge/glamour.

BrandonJXN
May 17, 2008, 11:28 PM
^ Which is what it should be. Keep it hip. Keep it edgy. Keep it 'Hollywood.' But make it much more well rounded.

And as far as this is concerned: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2492667669_1ff8ae0457_o.jpg

I'm poor as shit. Can I live there?

Quixote
May 18, 2008, 2:18 AM
A larger rendering of the proposed building at Selma and Vine...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2231/2498116367_7a2513120a_o.jpg

colemonkee
May 18, 2008, 5:26 PM
The Selma and Vine project looks nice (it's currently a surface lot with a mom and pop burger stand), but what's with the huge blank wall on the right? I hope that's just a "place filler" for what could go next door and not the face of a parking garage.

Quixote
May 18, 2008, 8:00 PM
^ It's the facade of an existing theater.

LosAngelesBeauty
May 18, 2008, 10:24 PM
Hollywood is one of the most amazing places to be at night anywhere in the United States. I've been to Vegas, Gas Lamp, New York, Chicago, lived in SF, but there is something, a vibe, that's really amazing about Hollywood. My friend who's from Manhattan came out a few weeks ago and said he's so amazed how much Hollywood has changed (he hadn't been back since 2003). He said it was "distinctly L.A." because it was nothing like New York or anything. It was interesting to hear that from a New Yorker's mouth.

As far as the "lack of parking" goes, I ALWAYS take the subway there, so I don't have to deal with the parking, so my experience is always better than someone who drives there. Bring on the Vine Street Tower!

colemonkee
May 29, 2008, 12:00 AM
LAofAnahiem, I moved your last post into the downtown thread, since the University Gateway project is largely considered to be downtown, along with USC. I'll also add that project to the front page of that thread when I get a chance.

Quixote
May 29, 2008, 1:58 AM
The Carlyle

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2294/2530957757_f252ff2eb8_b.jpg
From Flickr, by lacurbed


Wilshire Comstock

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/2530931289_0b3f2f2aae_b.jpg
From Flickr, by lacurbed


Wilshire Margot

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2124/2531827970_4d5820362e_b.jpg
From Flickr, by lacurbed

Tanster
May 29, 2008, 2:03 AM
^^ Wow thats a nice building like the way it corners on the block. These kinda buildings would be nice all over Los Angeles... It gives that low rise Paris look..

LosAngelesBeauty
May 29, 2008, 2:41 AM
^ The kind of buildings popping up in the wealthy areas of LA are the kind of buildings you see that are "normal" in some other major cities.

WonderlandPark
May 29, 2008, 3:56 AM
yeah, I agree with LAB on this. One of the more expensive areas of the city and this is what we get? Looks like a rental that could go anywhere in Ontario or Costa Mesa. Architecturally, it doesn't engage the corner at all. The right side of the photo shows some attention to at least giving lip service to the neighboring balconies. The corner is undistinguished at best. Overall, cheap, cheap, cheap.

DJM19
May 29, 2008, 5:09 AM
Im not a fan of those kinds of setback with what is essentially a front lawn for the building, but one that few if any person uses. I think it just seperates the building from the urban environment.

bjornson
May 29, 2008, 6:11 AM
Looks like a rental that could go anywhere in Ontario or Costa Mesa.

Unfortunately what we get here in Costa Mesa is worse than that cheapo unengaging building. That's just sad. That said, I agree with you and LAB. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.

LosAngelesBeauty
May 29, 2008, 6:18 AM
^^ That's because that corridor through Wilshire is NOT an "urban environment" in the SSP sense. It's not really walkable because the distance to anything commercial is dreadfully far. And it's not meant for people to really walk because there is zero realistic transit options. We don't have a culture of riding bikes either. If people in this city rode bikes everywhere, then taking a short little hike to Westwood wouldn't be that big of a deal on a bike. Alas, this city has a pervading complex where people feel inferior or out-of-place when they're not in a car getting from point A to B - whether that be across town or even to the local post office 1 block down.


A good solution to this vexing problem is building a substantial subway line that hits a lot of the major key spots in LA that can really be convenient enough to woo drivers out of their cars, and to shut those fucking critics up that always say the subway in general is a drain on the tax dollar (ever thought about what the rate of return is on the freeway system, paid for by tax payers?).

That substantial line is the extended Purple Line.

Quixote
May 29, 2008, 6:50 AM
Architecturally, the Wilshire Margot is pretty generic. However, I do not find it cheap looking. The windows, use of stone, and metallic finishes are a nice departure from the faux, stucco-clad Tuscan architecture of the Orsini/Piero/Medici. Los Angeles could certainly use more Wilshire Margot's. Its design is simple and solid. Not every building has to be unique, innovative, or inspiring. Chicago, for instance, has a countless number of bland brownstones/bungalows. The same goes for New York, London, and Paris. I won't even mention Tokyo.

LosAngelesBeauty
May 29, 2008, 6:54 AM
^ I never said it looked cheap. I just said I think this caliber of "architecture" and style is very normal in other cities. It ain't the worst thing, but it's nothing great. I would rather have more projects like this (with retail of course), than something like GLO. But then again, I'd rather have more projects like Hanover or Met Lofts, which aren't bad IMO.

bjornson
May 29, 2008, 7:22 AM
^I concur. I will also mention Mura and Artisan on Second which scream Orange County to me. I would say Irvine but Bryne entitles only fake stucco McTuscany projects like WSL mentioned. If it's done well enough to look like what was done at UCLA in the early 20th century, then like LAB said, "people might actually think Los Angeles is beautiful." But hell I'd take Wilshire Margot over Geoff Palmer any day.

DowntownCharlieBrown
May 30, 2008, 5:58 PM
Larchmont Chronicle

http://www.larchmontchronicle.com/ArchiveDetail.asp?ArchiveID=854

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2085/2536166749_0bf5279e58_o.jpg

BRE Properties proposed a seven-story, mixed-use project at the southeast corner of Wilshire Blvd. and La Brea Ave. at a community meeting last month.

The Art Deco-style development includes 562 studios and one-and two-bedroom units as well as retail space, said BRE development director Dave Powers. The commercial space would be under a third-story podium.

A revised Environmental Impact Report for the project is due this summer with public hearings to follow.

Input from the community and Councilman Tom LaBonge’s office resulted in a more streamlined building—the original proposal was as high as 18 stories with 654 units, Powers added.

The building will taper to three stories with townhomes built on Sycamore Ave. Public green space is planned at Eighth St., added Liz Fuller of the Sycamore Square Neighborhood Assoc.

The 3.4-acre, block-size project by Thomas P. Cox Architects will include largely underground parking. A start date is targeted for early 2010 with an opening date in 2012.

Echo Park
May 30, 2008, 8:36 PM
Wow they really shrank that thing. Ugh, fucking NIMBs. It is true that it was massively out of proportion with some of its surrounding environs but isn't most of Wilshire? It's a spine of high rises surrounded by lower density tracts throughout a lot of its course. I liked the original renders, the ground level presence had a very nice and large feel to it. Now it looks like every generic 6 story condo building going up in L.A. Balderdash.

DJM19
May 30, 2008, 11:43 PM
OMG...they ruined it! I loved the original! This is truly sickening.

Quixote
May 31, 2008, 5:14 AM
In terms of scale, the new design is much more appropriate. In terms of design itself, what a shame!

Quixote
May 31, 2008, 5:59 AM
Jefferson @ Hollywood

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2024/2526897846_85d7a1b25f_b.jpg
From Flickr, by Atwater Village Newbie


Madame Tussauds

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2405/2526099945_cd3972d5cd_b.jpg
From Flickr, by Atwater Village Newbie

DowntownCharlieBrown
May 31, 2008, 6:20 AM
^Great above Hollywood shots, Westside.

The crane for Madame Tussauds' appears to be really tall. I didn't think the building itself was that tall?

LosAngelesBeauty
May 31, 2008, 7:16 AM
Wow, that's one of the best aerial views of Hollywood I've ever seen.

colemonkee
Jun 1, 2008, 11:28 PM
Those are pretty sweet. Here's the Century from last Monday. Starting to make it's presence known. Jacaranda trees in full bloom.

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4227/century200805261ai3.jpg

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/102/century200805262pi1.jpg

DJM19
Jun 2, 2008, 4:06 AM
Universal Studios Backlot is on fire! Hope they rebuild the burnt sets (there was a similar fire in 1990, and they rebuilt those)

LosAngelesBeauty
Jun 2, 2008, 7:45 AM
I wish The Century was built right smack in the middle of downtown. OR I wish Century City had a subway stop.

StethJeff
Jun 3, 2008, 4:39 AM
I wish century city was in south park. :(

JDRCRASH
Jun 3, 2008, 4:57 PM
I wish century city was in south park. :(

Yeah, I wish there was some way we could combine all of the L.A. skylines into one!.:banana:

BrandonJXN
Jun 5, 2008, 9:51 PM
I wish The Century was built right smack in the middle of downtown. OR I wish Century City had a subway stop.

I wish The Century was built on Wilshire next to those other towers with that weird similar design (The Californian, The Diplomat, The Remington, The Somerset). The design of The Century is very 1989.

Quixote
Jun 14, 2008, 6:01 AM
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/2562731236_af2e610fe7_b.jpg
From Flickr, by Atwater Village Newbie

DowntownCharlieBrown
Jun 19, 2008, 7:58 AM
Yeah, I wish there was some way we could combine all of the L.A. skylines into one!.:banana:

Then it might look something like this:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=95748&page=6

StethJeff
Jun 19, 2008, 8:00 PM
Then it might look something like this:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=95748&page=6

for years ive wondered what it would like! that image you made on page 7 is awesome. :tup:

JDRCRASH
Jun 20, 2008, 4:37 AM
IMO, we beat Houston any day.

DowntownCharlieBrown
Jun 20, 2008, 7:27 AM
^in some things yes, in some things no. But it's not a competition, right?

for years ive wondered what it would like! that image you made on page 7 is awesome. :tup:

Thank you for saying so. I have always wondered myself. I finally had time, pictures, and know-how to put it together.

Steve2726
Jun 20, 2008, 2:51 PM
Here is a new render of 10000 Santa Monica Blvd, Jean Nouvel designed:

http://bustler.net/index.php/article/winners_of_the_38th_annual_los_angeles_architectural_awards/

http://bustler.net/images/uploads/38_la_arch_awards_32.jpg

DowntownCharlieBrown
Jun 20, 2008, 6:02 PM
This one is already under construction in Beverly Hills:

From CurbedLA:
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/06/say_hello_to_th.php#more

Say Hello to the William Morris Building Again
Thursday, June 19, 2008, by Dakota


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2595105269_1dbf234fd7_o.jpg

A construction shot of the forthcoming William Morris building in Beverly Hills was featured earlier this week; here's the rendering. It's not a new rendering, but perhaps you forgot what the building looked like. It is expected to be done by the end of 2009 or spring 2010. This is the view from Beverly Drive and may we suggest re-visiting that LA Times article on the talent agencies' competitive architectural nature. [Image via Gensler]

WonderlandPark
Jun 20, 2008, 7:44 PM
Just drove through the valley and noticed that the 15 story office tower in Burbank is topped out, there is a 7 story office job that looks to be topped out in Glendale along the 138 and behind that, I think it is the Embassy Suites or something may be topped out, too. I will up load the snap of the Burbank one soon.

Echo Park
Jun 20, 2008, 8:45 PM
Here is a new render of 10000 Santa Monica Blvd, Jean Nouvel designed:

http://bustler.net/index.php/article/winners_of_the_38th_annual_los_angeles_architectural_awards/

http://bustler.net/images/uploads/38_la_arch_awards_32.jpg

Build. This. Now.

JDRCRASH
Jun 20, 2008, 8:53 PM
:iagree:

Considerably skinny, but very beautiful nonetheless.

alexjon
Jun 20, 2008, 8:58 PM
Living walls are gorgeous.

Are there many examples in the world? They're becoming the rage up here in the PacNW

JDRCRASH
Jun 20, 2008, 9:11 PM
I just saw this Midtown rendering on curbed:
http://la.curbed.com/uploads/2008.06.midtowncim.jpg


Oh gawd, are those parking spaces on the top?! People are going to go apeshit about the traffic FOR SURE!

circuitfiend
Jun 20, 2008, 9:17 PM
There has been activity on the Nouvel tower site, but it appears to be soil sampling (I'm guessing on this) and that was last week. Still, it is more than what has been going on with it the last several months. Alas, it is still a weed-covered parcel.

JDRCRASH
Jun 20, 2008, 9:22 PM
City Paying To Finish CIM's Midtown Crossing Project

http://la.curbed.com/uploads/2008.06.midtowncim.jpg

Friday, June 20, 2008, by Dakota

Our Curbed tipster was absolutely correct: Just after yesterday's mention of the slow-to-completion CIM Midtown Crossing project, that mixed-use development at Pico and San Vicente, comes a Los Angeles Times story that looks at how the city is pumping money into the project to get it completed. Via the paper: "To complete Midtown Crossing, Villaraigosa's appointees at the Community Redevelopment Agency recently recommended that the City Council increase the size of the project's subsidy from $5 million to $14.3 million." And there's more: City officials are trying to help establish the area as a sign district-with "supergraphics"--to drum up money (a similar sign district has been suggested in Koreatown). So you may be getting ugly signage, area residents. But the paper paints a cozy relationship between CIM and the city: Two city pension boards are putting city employee retirement dollars in to CIM funds; plus, CIM has received "financial help with projects in at least three other neighborhoods," according to the Times