[LAMetroGuy]

Here some new Concerto renderings:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/rpulido/9th%20and%20Fig/untitled2Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/rpulido/9th%20and%20Fig/untitledSmall.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/rpulido/9th%20and%20Fig/untitled3Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/rpulido/9th%20and%20Fig/untitled4Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/rpulido/9th%20and%20Fig/untitled5Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/rpulido/9th%20and%20Fig/untitled6Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/rpulido/9th%20and%20Fig/untitled7Small.jpg

[citywatch]

If Concerto is under construction in the next few wks along with the Medallion proj farther north in the OBD, DT really will start to resemble a boomtown. At this time, anything else will seem like extra gravy (hey, there's Meruelo's tower supposedly breaking ground in March!!).

[danparker276]

What streets is this on? This is the first time I've heard of this building.
How many units? Does it have a website yet?

EDIT>Ahh it's the 9th and fig tower

[BrighamYen]

Very cool LAMG! Thank you for posting this.

[ksep]

wow, i really like this one. there will be groundfloor retail in this one, right?

[danparker276]

Fig is gonna rule once this and and Hanover building is built (And LA Live).
They should shut down fig street from around 3rd to 12th and just have some people movers and redcar or somethingthing. Maybe put a row of shops in the middle of fig.

[colemonkee]

Interesting news. LAB, don't you live there?

Pegasus Apartments May Go Condo

The Pegasus at 612 S. Flower St. could become the next Downtown apartment complex to be converted into condominiums. Kate Bartolo, senior vice president of development for property owner KOR Group, said the company is considering turning all 322 apartments in the 13-story building into for-purchase units. She said that renters in the structure, which has been open since June 2003, have been told of the possible changeover. "We don't know what we're doing or when we're doing it. We don't even know if we're doing it. What we're doing is preserving our options," she said. The idea of changing to condos was prompted by the strength of the market, she said. "The economics of owning an apartment are not as strong as owning a condominium," Bartolo remarked. If the conversion were to happen, she noted, it would need city approval, which could take up to nine months. Several Downtown apartment buildings have already gone condo. In just the past year, the 303-unit Savoy, 161-unit Little Tokyo Lofts and 217-unit Museum Tower Apartments have been transformed into for-purchase properties.

[BrighamYen]

Yeah, I don't plan on buying one either! lol

[citywatch]

These two new devlpts are totally unexpected news. Meanwhile, I'm still hoping for word on the Medallion proj at 4th & Main, & the Astani proj at 9th & Fig, which were supposed to have broken ground in Jan.

Creating a New Frontier

Three Years After Being Labeled 'Slumlords,' Downtown Hotel Owners Launch the Area's Most Surprising Renovation

by Kathryn Maese

Three years ago, Rob Frontiera was a man under fire. As part of a fierce crackdown on nuisance properties, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo held a press conference in front of the Frontier Hotel, a Historic Core property owned by Frontiera. In front of a phalanx of TV cameras and reporters, Delgadillo denounced the building owner as a "slumlord," slapped him with a 10-page injunction and ordered him to clean up the notorious drug den. In the process, Frontiera became the media symbol of all that could go wrong with low-income housing in Los Angeles. It ultimately resulted in a six-figure fine.

But that was then. Today, the property at the northwest corner of Fifth and Main streets is undergoing an unexpected transformation. With the media glare a fading memory, the open drug dealing, prostitution and rampant crime have been largely replaced by a multi-million dollar upgrade. Three modern art galleries light up and activate the ground floor, while the tidy lobby is patrolled by a licensed guard. A polite desk clerk welcomes visitors.

Now, Frontiera and his brother Joseph plan to take the transformation one step further. Starting from the top and working two floors at a time, they are turning the blighted hotel rooms into some of the most stunning loft apartments in Downtown. The 12th floor began leasing this month, and the next level is set to wrap in late March. Suddenly local leaders and property owners, who have long been critical of the shabby, dangerous corner, are praising the brothers for the turnaround.

"I felt like it's a major turning point," said developer Tom Gilmore, who ignited the Downtown Los Angeles residential revolution a block away at Fourth and Main streets. "I think [Rob Frontiera] is a good guy and found himself in a bad place and the world surrounding him didn't allow for a lot of change. He should take some blame because he became part of the problem, not the solution. But the injunction jumpstarted things and made him begin to rethink how the whole thing works. He's really changed his stripes."

Modern Amenities

Inside the 12-story building, which is also known as the Rosslyn Million Dollar Hotel because of the neon sign atop the roof, the changes are immediately evident. A new entrance has been created on Main Street, and a banner advertises the Rosslyn Lofts. The Beaux Art lobby has been painted, moldings restored and upscale furniture added. The backside of the original front desk now holds mailboxes for the 130-unit project. Zipping up the new digital elevator to the 10th floor, Joseph Frontiera - the usually behind-the-scenes half of the partnership - described how he and his 10-person crew are orchestrating the $12 million transformation. Unlike most adaptive reuse projects, where developers hire a team of expensive experts to update their decades-old building, the Frontieras are acting as architect, contractor and developer. The floor to floor progress allows them both to control costs and convert the building without evicting tenants.

Joseph tours the rough state of the demolished rooms that will eventually become 13 polished apartments. He points out that three hotel rooms are being combined to make one 905-square-foot unit; the open, loft-style layout includes a sleek marble and wood kitchen, an airy living room, a bedroom and a washer and dryer. Exposed brick (uncovered beneath two inches of plaster and paint) and polished concrete floors are found in nearly every unit, as are original Honduras mahogany moldings. So far three tenants have moved in. Rents at the Rosslyn Lofts are about $1.50 a square foot, compared to more than $2 a square foot for apartments in the Old Bank District at Fourth and Main streets.

"We always thought the building was on the wrong side of the railroad tracks," Joseph Frontiera said. "We looked at converting the hotel to a franchise hotel, we talked about senior citizen housing, and full-on federally subsidized housing.... We were probably one of the biggest skeptics and didn't understand exactly what [Tom Gilmore] was trying to do. The long and the short of it is that we have been watching him very carefully and saw that housing was the future for this building."

Joseph estimates each floor will take about four months to complete. As hotel residents check out, available rooms are consolidated to lower levels and another floor is converted. Existing tenants in the tiny rooms pay around $85 a week in rent.

Police Past

The shift to long-term, upscale housing is a big step for the brothers, who have owned and managed the troubled hotel for 26 years under their corporation, Zuma. The property, which their father gave them as an entry into real estate, declined over the years into what many considered a flophouse. Before the city injunction, it was an eyesore most people tried to avoid. Downtown office workers and residents routinely crossed the street rather than pass its entrance. Drugs were openly sold inside and in front of the building, and addicts shot up in plain view on the sidewalk. Police officers, who responded to hundreds of emergency calls, said they were assaulted with knives, bricks, urine and even frozen milk jugs tossed from upper story windows. The hotel was also plagued by its location near Skid Row and was surrounded by a fringe community of homeless, mentally ill, criminals and parolees who also inhabited other rundown area hotels such as the Barbizon, King Edward and Cecil.

After Gilmore began the Old Bank District in 1999, and other developers smelled the money and hopped aboard the housing bandwagon, the Frontieras began to feel the squeeze. As real estate prices inched and then surged higher, city leaders and police increased scrutiny of the area, and the problems that the brothers admit had gotten out of control finally caught up with them. As part of the settlement with the city, Zuma paid $250,000 in fines. The pair is reticent to talk about the injunction, believing that the city made an unfair example out of the Frontier at a time when illicit activity persisted all along Main Street.

"I'm not saying the Frontier didn't have faults," Rob Frontiera said. "It's a very hard population to house and manage. By all means if people are doing something wrong then arrest them. But they were having us clean up things happening in the rooms that were happening out on the streets."

Chilled Water and a Secret Tunnel

The shift in focus coincides with a change in scope. At one time Zuma, named for the brothers' favorite beach, owned 16 hotels across the city. Today, its holdings consist of the Frontier Hotel, a 300,000-square-foot office building in Long Beach and a property across the street from the Rosslyn Lofts. Confusingly, it is also known as the Rosslyn Hotel. The brothers purchased it nearly two years ago and plan to convert it into housing. In its heyday, the Frontier was a playground for the well-to-do and famous. Built in 1913 by Dwight and George Hart, the 430-room hotel was the tallest and reputedly the most splendid facility in the city, and featured an ornate dining room, kennels, a sundeck and high-tech amenities such as chilled drinking water piped into each room. It was such a success that the Harts built a 265-room annex across Fifth Street and linked the two via a marble tunnel. Though rarely used, the tunnel still exists.

As the Frontier undergoes restoration, there are small signs that the area - once an entertainment industry headquarters for the likes of D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin - is beginning to transition. The Frontieras have recruited three galleries to the ground floor, which frequently host openings and art walks. Though adult bookstores, homeless service agencies and cheap fast food eateries still dominate the area, the bright neon art and prints are bringing in new crowds.

"We could have put in 50-cent undesirable retail tenants like 99-cent stores or things you would see down on L.A. Street," Joseph Frontiera said. "We chose not to go that route. To start creating our own energy we gave away all the art gallery spaces. The flipside is that we feel their storefronts have helped turn this building into a better place."

Pharmaka Gallery, the L.A. Center for Digital Art and the El Nopal Press are each being given a two-year lease for minimal rent. Bert Green, an arts leader who has a gallery on the ground floor of the Rosslyn Hotel, just moved into one of the new lofts across the street. He praised the Frontieras' retail strategy. "I think that if every landlord in Downtown L.A. did this with at least one of their retail spaces we would experience a major renaissance," Green said. "He's the only one with the guts to do this and has every storefront filled. Instead of trying to get [high rents] he's using the space while the area is in transition.

"In the year-and-a-half since I've been open, there's been a major change in the quality of life on Fifth and Main," Green added. "It's absolutely obvious. For people who don't know the area they may say it's still sketchy, but it was a billion times worse."

Joseph Frontiera noted that while his properties are still in the "crossfire of a rough area," the apartments are being geared to tenants like Green who are used to city living and want diversity. "There's enclosed, secured parking, but we feel people are going to be a little more urban," he said. "We're not the Pegasus crowd, we're not the Medici. Those people who rent there would break out in hives if they came down here."

Despite the improvements, Council-woman Jan Perry, who represents the area, said she is concerned about the long-term loss of housing for very low-income residents once the hotel becomes market-rate lofts. Perry is proposing legislation that would stop future conversions that deplete the affordable housing stock. "As people vacate units obviously he has legal rights to convert them," she said. "My concern is the preservation of existing housing. The interim control ordinance would put a hold on [single room occupancy] and low-income conversions and would deal with the preservation of 14,000 units citywide."

Still, the two buildings stand at what locals consider an important bridge in the corridor, one that will create an even bigger residential presence once the Rosslyn Hotel is redeveloped. "This building is a crucial link between the Pacific Electric and the Santa Fe," Joseph Frontiera said. "The two ownerships of those buildings, outside of sending their own crews to help us, they just can't wait for that gap to be mended. Then you have the Security and Rowan that are in the midst of their construction [next door]. We're envisioning another corner like Fourth and Main."

==============================================================


Corner of Plenty

With New Condo Complex, Arts District Intersection Will Have More Than 600 Units

by Chris Coates

The long sleepy Arts District continues its residential reawakening. Work has begun on an $80 million, five-story condominium complex at Second and Hewitt streets, the third ground-up residential project on the corner in recent years. Called Mura, the Japanese word for "village," the 235,000-square-foot project by Michigan-based Pulte Homes will add 190 market rate units to a diamond-shaped surface parking lot bounded by Rose, Hewitt, Third and Second streets and Traction Avenue.

Permits were issued Jan. 23 and the plot was fenced off. Rose Street has also been closed between Second and Third streets. Crews last week were working on the project's ground level and construction is expected to finish by next spring, said Miles Huber, vice president of infill development for Pulte Homes.

Plans call for four stories of condominiums arranged in two banks above a ground floor and a subterranean level of parking. The project will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom residences, in one- and two-level plans, ranging from 662 to 1,801 square feet. Some units will have a street stoop while others will feature a balcony or deck. The building will front Traction Avenue. Huber said that costs have not been determined for the units, although all will be market-rate. In other new Downtown condo buildings, prices have generally begun in the upper $300,000s, with top-shelf units soaring past $1 million. Mura has no affordable housing units, Huber said.

The project, designed in-house with help from local firm Togawa Smith Martin Residential, will also include a fitness center, pool, outdoor fireplace and barbecue area. It does not have a retail element.

Mura marks Pulte's first Downtown project. The 55-year-old company, one of the most active homebuilders in the nation, has numerous housing complexes in Southern California, including more than a dozen in Brentwood. Huber said the developer acquired the Arts District property from Trammell Crow Residential, which had planned to use the site to build the third phase of a nearby residential complex. Trammell Crow sold the first phase, the Savoy condominiums, at First and Alameda streets, to Intracorp Los Angeles for $114 million. It opens this month. The second phase, the Artisan at Second and Hewitt streets, is under construction and is still owned by Trammell Crow.

Huber said Pulte was drawn to the area because of the number of nearby projects. "We saw the Downtown market coming up," he said. "We see that part of town coming up strongly with different projects and improving over time. Plus, we're very positive about the overall Downtown market."

Changing Neighborhood

Since the mid-1970s, the neighborhood of warehouses and factories bounded by Alameda, First and Fourth streets and the Los Angeles River has been a unique enclave of artists and live-work studio spaces. Recently the area has received spillover from the residential resurgence in central Downtown, and several projects have popped up. The intersection of Rose and Second streets is now home to three ground-up housing developments: Mura on the southeast corner; the Savoy on the northwest corner; and Artisan on the northeast corner. Together, they will add 630 units to the neighborhood.

The ground-up trend continues further east; Polis Builders and McGregor Company could break ground as soon as this summer on a $65 million, 400-apartment complex at Santa Fe Avenue and Second Street. Developer Kor Group, meanwhile, is staying active on the Arts District adaptive reuse front with three conversions totaling 557 units, including the 297-unit Molino Hewitt Gallery Lofts at 530 Hewitt St. However, the sudden boost in residential projects - and the traffic and construction noise that come with it - coupled with a loss of parking lots has prompted some community opposition. Neighborhood groups have pushed for more park space, better public transportation and an arts center in the district.

Jonathan Jerald, a member of the Los Angeles River Artists and Business Association, said projects like Mura are a double-edged sword for the Arts District. While the neighborhood is in desperate need of housing, expensive condos will likely price out area artists, he said. "Obviously, housing is what's needed. The best possible use for that space, I believe, is housing," he said. "It's sad but inevitable. We're in the middle of a transformation."

Kathryn Hargreaves, a gallery owner, agreed, noting that many area artists are still renting. With the new projects, "Property values will go up. Rent will go up," she said. "But that's happening with every project. It's going to change the community."

page 1, 2/13/2006

[RAlossi]

This is great news. Thanks for posting, citywatch.

These residences are going to be in the unique position of being close to one, the ES Gold Line Little Tokyo station; two, the museums and cultural attractions of Little Tokyo; three, downtown's existing supermarket, Mitsuwa, on 4th and Alameda (I get angry when people say downtown doesn't have a supermarket. It does, it's just not a Ralphs or a Vons or what have you.).

There are still a couple "problem" lots around the area that I wish would be developed. For example, the huge lot on the NE corner of First/Alameda, the NE corner of Temple/Alameda (basically anything NE of the intersection of First/Alameda), and those areas south of Third Street.

The Industrial District/Arts District really has a lot of potential for housing and the natural expansion of Downtown's existing office and commercial sectors. Industry even has a place there, though I do wish it was more of a high-tech industry center.

[LAMetroGuy]

Is this on or near Olvera Street?????

Paseo Plaza
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Mixed-Use Development
Approximatley 200,000 sf of 2 story retail/entertainment.
4 levels of apartments over retail.
2.5 levels of subterranean parking.


http://www.ktgy.com/Images/Photos/ProjectPhotos/retail/multi%20level%20urban%20retail/mlur-paseo3.jpg

http://www.ktgy.com/Images/Photos/ProjectPhotos/retail/multi%20level%20urban%20retail/mlur-paseo2.jpg http://www.ktgy.com/Images/Photos/ProjectPhotos/retail/multi%20level%20urban%20retail/mlur-paseo1.jpg

Source: http://www.ktgy.com/Pages/Portfolio/Retail/MutliLevelUrbanRetail.html#

[ryanist]

Looks like its in Hollywood.

PASEO PLAZA
Developer: Continental Management
Location: 5601 Santa Monica Blvd.
A mixed-use project is in the early conceptual stages in the area surrounding Sears. (310)253-9998.

From the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce:
http://hwca.thechamber.net/business/econdev.asp

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

i like it! i hope all that is facing the street instead of inside. Anyone with an exact location or a timeline on this project?

[LAMetroGuy]

well, the sears is near Santa Monica and Western

[LongBeachUrbanist]

It looks very Grove-esque. Still, whatever faults I find in the Grove, I would let them slide here, given that area has so much missed potential.

The real problem in that area is the traffic. The traffic situation around there is horrible, and this will probably make it even worse. All the more reason to make this as ped- and transit-oriented as possible.

[cookiejarvis]

Old photo of the Sears building near Santa Monica & Western:

http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com/photographs/reg/Misc-1936-6.jpg

Except for the Spanish tower, the building is currently entombed in an ugly brown stucco makeover from the 1970s. Any improvement to that neighborhood is a welcomed sight.

[LAMetroGuy]

Wow... thanks for that photo. I am curious how much of the orginal architecture is still intact... hopefully they can restore it, would look great restored! Come on!!! Restore America!

[LAMetroGuy]

February 15, 2006 – Hovnanian Acquires New 103-Unit Pasadena Apartment Project for Condo Sales
Article Date: 02/15/06

http://rentv.com/news_images/5945.gif

Full Story:
An affiliate of New Jersey-based Hovnanian Enterprises Inc has purchased the recently completed Prado on Lake Avenue, an upscale 103-unit apartment complex located at the corner of South Lake Avenue and East Green St and plans to sell the units as condos. The project, which was completed in November 2005, is situated just blocks from Paseo Colorado. It was sold by The Hanover Company.

The development varies in height between four- and six-story elevations and offers over 30 floorplans, averaging 1.2k sf in size and ranging from one-bedroom/one-bath flats to two-bedroom/two-bath plus study townhome units. The units are expected to sell from around $500k to well over $1 mil.

The building, which deftly melds both classic and contemporary design elements, showcases the fit and finish of an upscale home plus the amenities of a boutique hotel, a desirable combination that has become the hallmark of The Hanover Company’s urban mixed-use and multifamily developments around the country. Premium features include a resort-style pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, screening room with stadium seating, Internet cafe, gourmet demonstration kitchen and business center with dedicated conference rooms. Prado on Lake Avenue was developed with strategic partner MetLife.

Kevin Batchelor and Eric Kenney are the development partners with Hanover. Marc Renard of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal. The price was not disclosed.

An increasingly active developer of one-of-a-kind, luxury rental buildings in California, The Hanover Company is currently building 717 Olympic, a striking 28-story tower adjacent to Los Angeles’ Staples Center and a new focal point to the city’s bourgeoning LA Live development. In late September, they announced the sale of the award-winning Prado Town Center, a mixed-use, multifamily Valencia, CA project completed in February 2004.

[colemonkee]

^ What does that picture have to do with the story?

[PeterJ]

that is a photo of the penthouse in the pacific electric lofts. i've been in it. it's a pretty mind blowing space. like a cross between a 19th century train station and a loft. with gymnasium height ceilings.

i don't know what the demand for renting a space like that is, but it was pretty cool to walk through.

[citywatch]

I believe that space in the PE lofts bldg originally was a ballroom, an area with lots of decorative molding & whatnot. I read somewhere that the current owners originally claimed they'd restore the top level for future use as a social gathering spot, but they appear to have instead stripped it down for conversion into more apartments.


An increasingly active developer of one-of-a-kind, luxury rental buildings in California, The Hanover Company is currently building 717 Olympic, a striking 28-story tower adjacent to Los Angeles’ Staples Center and a new focal point to the city’s bourgeoning LA Live development. I was curious where your article was from, so I googled "717 olympic" but instead found this recent item about the bldg. I like the last sentence because the devlprs don't look like they're going to be too tight with the budget on their bldg, which I'm worried the builders of the 2nd & Central apt bldg in Little Tokyo, who also are the same ones responsible for the Grand Ave proj, may have done with their proj:


Multifamily Executive, Jan 15, 2006

Big Dreams

Hanover proposes a high-rise in L.A. redevelopment area.

At 17,500 square feet, it wasn't much land to build a 156-unit, high-end multifamily housing project. But the land was at the northeast corner of Figueroa and Olympic in downtown Los Angeles, adjacent to the Anschutz Entertainment Group's Staples Center and smack in the middle of a 27-acre redevelopment project. The Hanover Co., a Houston-based developer, just had to have it.

"It was fairly obvious to us that this was the place to be," says Kevin Batchelor, a development partner with Hanover, noting that the $1.4 billion to $2 billion redeveloping area includes theaters, restaurants, and more than 1,300 multifamily housing units. "It is going to be the Times Square of downtown L.A.," Batchelor adds.

Hanover closed escrow on Oct. 2 and plans to have the 26-story housing project, called 717 Olympic, completed in two years. Batchelor would not disclose the project's cost or rental price. Hanover asked Daun St. Amand, vice president of the Los Angeles office of RTLK Associates, to make the building modern and dynamic, Batchelor said.

For his first project with Hanover, St. Amand says he studied the artsy, historical South Park District before designing a modern project that borrows top corners and window features from a neighboring 1920s building. He also used large windows to give the units more light and packed the project with high-end amenities.

"The main criterion that Hanover gave us was that it had to be very luxurious," St. Amand says. "They insisted on top quality."

–Erin Massey

http://imgs.ebuild.com/cms/MULTIFAMILY_EXECUTIVE_MAGAZINE/2006/Jan/New_Dev1.jpg

[RAlossi]

717 Olympic is the same as "Hanover Tower"? There are too many addresses in these projects... I get them confused.

[colemonkee]

I like the last sentence because the devlprs don't look like they're going to be too tight with the budget on their bldg, which I'm worried the builders of the 2nd & Central apt bldg in Little Tokyo, who also are the same ones responsible for the Grand Ave proj, may have done with their proj:
Related Co. is also responsible for the Block 8 project in Little Toyko. But they've also built some pretty high-end projects like Time Warner Center in NY, so we shouldn't just them solely on the 2nd and Central project.

[ThreeHundred]

717 Olympic is the same as "Hanover Tower"? There are too many addresses in these projects... I get them confused.

717 Olympic is Hanover's address.

:yes:

[ronson]

cool. nice design. concerto looks good too.

[danparker276]

http://www.labusinessjournal.com/industry_article.asp?aID=55383148.1335718.1264185.2962261.1504872.998&aID2=97236&cID=h

Downtown Building Boom in Full Swing

By HOWARD FINE

Los Angeles Business Journal Staff

The Downtown building boom is now in full swing, with 154 projects costing $12.2 billion either recently completed, under way or in the planning stages, according to a study released Thursday by the Downtown Center Business Improvement District.

The study conducted by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. says the construction alone should generate 174,000 jobs and $25.9 billion in direct economic impacts.

Once the building boom is completed, revenues generated by all of the new businesses and residents are expected to reach $8 billion a year. That in turn will pump $180 million in tax revenues into local government coffers, the study said.

“This economic impact study…not only confirmed but exceeded our expectations for the revitalization of Downtown and the impact it’s having on the city and county of Los Angeles,” said Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the Downtown Center BID.

When all the residential projects are completed, the study says an estimated 26,500 housing units will have been added, whose residents will pull in $2.3 billion in income. New business investment in the area will create 79,000 full-time jobs paying $2.2 billion a year in wages and salaries.

The study also detailed the rebound in downtown tourism, noting that 12 million day and overnight visitors came through downtown in 2005, up 30 percent from 2003. (2004 figures were not available) Those visits generated an estimated $1.2 billion in direct economic impact, including $28.7 million in annual hotel bed and retail sales taxes for the city of Los Angeles. They also supported about 13,200 jobs in the downtown area.

[danparker276]

The article in the downtown news:
http://downtownnews.com/articles/2006/02/20/news/news01.txt

About 7,000 apartments or condominiums have opened Downtown since 1999. More than 9,400 additional units are expected to come online by the end of 2007, with another 10,000 pegged for 2008-2015. Altogether, this would create 26,576 new housing units.

From bobcat's list (I think I added some things, i don't remember)
http://loftla.com/lofts/completelist.html
I had 26,563 pretty close to the city's 26,576.

Bobcat's first list was at 26.6k, I think he changed it (I can't find it)
Strange the numbers are so close to what the city came up with.
I bet they just copied bobcat's list.

[deehrler]

Here are a few pics of on-going construction in the Arts District

The Mura: is well under construction with the nearly finished Savoy in the background.
http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/1.3rd-Hewitt-NW.JPG

The Mura: North from Traction
http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/2.Traction-N.JPG

The Artisan: Excavation going on. Savoy behind.
[IMG]http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/3.2nd-Hewitt-NW.jpg

The Artisan: Savoy to the left
[IMG]http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/4.2nd-NNW.JPG

Related Cos. 128 unit complex, slowly under construction, is 2 blocks away in Little Tokyo (Second & Central)

[IMG]http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/5.Traction-Rose-NW.jpg

[BrighamYen]

^ Nice pics,Thnx

[deehrler]

Here are a few pics on Sunset, between Chinatown and Echo Park. There are many in-fill projects being built around Downtown that get little or no attention. Here are a few.

This is a 30+ unit building going up on an empty lot at the Dodger Stadium "Elysian Park" entrance on Sunset....1330 W Sunset Blvd, 90026
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1330+W+Sunset+Blvd,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90026&ll=34.072195,-118.250935&spn=0.004212,0.010793&t=h
http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/6.ElysianPk-Sunset-SW.JPG

Another view:
http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/8.Innes-Sunset-NW.JPG

Another empty-lot housing block going up a block away at:
1401 W Sunset Blvd, 90026
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1401+W+Sunset+Blvd,+90026&ll=34.074799,-118.252426&spn=0.004212,0.010793&t=h
http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/7.Sunset-NE.JPG

[POLA]

nice photos, we must have crossed paths deehrler, I was at ground works this morning on traction and I passed both those projects on sunset. the infill is coming along nicely!

[ksep]

packard lofts now has this cheap banner/billboard put up on their front corner. i don't like it a bit. i was hoping for something a little more classy. hopefully this just something temporary until they get that neon sign they've been talking about.
http://static.flickr.com/35/101865121_2d581fce04_o.jpg

[LA21st]

What is the "Mura" development?

[colemonkee]

The Mura development is a 5 or 6 story condo development just south of the Savoy and the Artisan on the border of Little Tokyo and the Arts District. It's being developed by Pulte Homes.

On another note, I drove around yesterday and was surprised to see all the under construction projects full of life, despite yesterday being a holiday for many people. The two exceptions? Brockman and Coulter-Mandel lofts were silent. :no: Hopefully it's just because they gave them the day off, but something tells me these projects have stalled.

I would have taken pictures, but something's wrong with my camera. I put brand new batteries in it, but it won't power up. It's too early to throw it an after-funeral party, but the prognosis doesn't look good...

[WesTheAngelino]

^ Wasn't Brockman supposed to be finished yet? I thought they started on that project back in late '03/early '04?

[citywatch]

i was hoping for something a little more classy. hopefully this just something temporary until they get that neon sign they've been talking about.]That looks like a canvas banner stretched over a steel frame. The renderings at the apt bldg's web site show a shorter sign in that same location with only the words "packard lofts" on it, in which I'd think the sign prob would be in metal, not canvas.

However, some of the other apt bldgs in DT that have been around for over 10 yrs still have canvas signs hanging on them, with messages like "if you lived here, you'd be home by now." I hope that won't be the case with Packard's current sign.

[citywatch]

It seems like the Brockman has been under construction for over 3 yrs. The Brockman & Coulter-Mandell bldgs have got to be victims of shortages of qualified workers or material. Either that, or their contractors must be sleeping on the job.

[BrighamYen]

The Brockman is coming back!

First move-ins expected in late June.

[danparker276]

Market lofts updated their website, added 2 levels
It almost looks like the apts on sunset and vine.

http://www.market-lofts.com/assets/images/autogen/Home_NBanner.jpg

http://www.market-lofts.com/assets/images/Banner_amenities04.jpg

[danparker276]

How many stories is this thing?

On the front drawing there are 6 stories of windows above the super market.
On the Pool drawing there are 5 stories of windows above Ralphs. And on this older version they had, there's only 4 stories.

http://loftla.com/lofts/Market/sm_Market_CIM.jpg

[BrighamYen]

It'll have 6-stories above Ralphs.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

LAB anything brewing that we dont know about? how about that tall proposal from a while back or the sixth south tower? any news on those? Metropolis? anything!

[Joel Kotkin]

yeah quit giving us blue balls here, briggs!

[LongBeachUrbanist]

On one point I agree with CW, Medallion on Main Street is the single most critical project in terms of its potential within its neighborhood. This is a project that needs to happen. Brig, if you've got any info on this, please let us know!!! Otherwise I may have to start doing this: :brickwall: :brickwall: :brickwall: .

[colemonkee]

The Brockman is coming back!

First move-ins expected in late June.

So they're almost 1 year behind of the original quote they gave me last May. But good news to hear their back on track nonetheless.

Market Lofts look okay, but not very exciting for their location. But it's what's on the inside - Ralph's - that counts.

[citywatch]

Here are a few pics of on-going construction in the Arts DistrictI just saw your photos right now. Thanks!

Because of them, I now realize that the Artisan condo proj is not extending all the way north towards 1st St. Its footprint is smaller than I first thought it would be. However, I'm sure owners of condos at the Savoy that are facing east will be happier looking through windows that overlook another new condo bldg instead of a bunch of deadzone parking lots. The smaller size of Artisan's site also explains why I don't recall seeing big changes to the south side of 1st between Alameda & Rose, because some of the old bldgs around there are still are standing.

[citywatch]

Market lofts updated their website, added 2 levels
It almost looks like the apts on sunset and vine.
Your heads up about new changes to that site made me visit the proj's web page:

Market Lofts (http://market-lofts.com/)

It looks like the top floor has been extended in size. If you hadn't said something about the redesign I might not have noticed it, although the new version of the bldg does look taller.

[citywatch]

Brig, if you've got any info on this, please let us know!!! Otherwise I may have to start doing this: :brickwall: :brickwall: :brickwall: .HA! However, after seeing an article a few days ago about how overbuilt the housing mkt is becoming in Chicago, Miami & San Diego, I find I'm more patient about things right now (although not too much).

The DT News is supposed to have their quarterly update about projs in DT this wk, & so I'm hoping we'll get some new info there. However, I still recall that paper never listing the proposed USC dorm proj next to Staples as being cancelled, so sometimes it's hard to know who really has the best or most reliable angle on devlpt in the hood.

[ferneynism2]

[QUOTE=colemonkee]The Mura development is a 5 or 6 story condo development just south of the Savoy and the Artisan on the border of Little Tokyo and the Arts District.

This bother's me when you build something this low on prime real estate. What ever happened to "Air Rights"????

[colemonkee]

Both of these sites are just east of Little Tokyo, which is by-in-large a low-rise district. They are prime real estate, but not necessarily prime high rise sites. The only way they would become prime high rise sites is if the LA River park project actually comes to fruition and that land is rezoned. But I'd rather have these projects there now than wait for that to happen.

On another note, I passed by the Pan American Building today, and they had removed most of the graffiti from the front of the building. The building is quite handsome without it, and it appears they did it without painting over the bricks. Sorry, no pics as my camera is still on the injured reserve list...

[LongBeachUrbanist]

I think mid-rise development is working for LT. True, there aren't yet any high-rises there, but look what they do have. Little Tokyo is the only real neighborhood in Downtown L.A. I mean in terms of having both the size and enough of a sense of community/identity that it can guide its own future. It's a well-planned neighborhood with good healthy growth. It is also well-organized politically and features annual cultural events. I'd like to see this mid-rise development spread east all the way to the L.A. River. There's plenty of empty lots in other parts of DTLA for high-rises.

[yakumoto]

Hey, my questions might be answered when the development issue comes out, but there are some projects I’ve seen that haven’t been discussed, and I'm curious if anyone has any information on the following projects...

-On pictures in the Visconti website, construction is visible on the southwest corner of third and Bixel. It also looks like something is brewing directly north of the Visconti.

-Directly to the west of the Mayfair on 7th I’ve seen pictures of some sort of new building. What's the status of the Mayfair conversion btw?

-That huge ass field just north of the Artisan and Savoy, it looks like they're excavating or something...

something big...
-Someone is seeking permits for an 875 unit condo building Grand Ave, in that giant parking lot just south of the Brockman...

I would be much obliged if any of you fine young gentlemen could give me a hand.

[formersocaler]

I think mid-rise development is working for LT. True, there aren't yet any high-rises there, but look what they do have. Little Tokyo is the only real neighborhood in Downtown L.A. I mean in terms of having both the size and enough of a sense of community/identity that it can guide its own future. It's a well-planned neighborhood with good healthy growth. It is also well-organized politically and features annual cultural events. I'd like to see this mid-rise development spread east all the way to the L.A. River. There's plenty of empty lots in other parts of DTLA for high-rises.

I agree, Downtown LA is such a vast area, it will be neat to have a variety of housing types. High rises for the young professional, empty nesters, and low rise neighborhoods around Little Tokyo that would be great for families. I think townhouses would also be nice. Maybe a sort of Playa Vista type development near the river with walkable neighborhoods near the revitalized river.

[cookiejarvis]

I notice they've been tearing down that two story 1960s-era Motor Lodge on Figueroa just south of the parking lot for the Pantry (9th St, I believe). What's planned for that spot? I'm too lazy/busy to scour through the old posts...

[citywatch]

This bother's me when you build something this low on prime real estate. What ever happened to "Air Rights"????Developer Richard Meurelo, who is supposed to build a condo tower at the NW corner of 9th & Flower, said the same thing. The only reason I can't relate to that opinion is because there remains so much land in DT that desperately needs new devlpt.

Now it would be great if demand for housing, hotels, office space, stores, etc, ends up being so huge that the supply of that land runs out quickly. But let's be realistic. When (or if) the time comes that the hood has too few parking lots & other assorted deadzones left for new devlpt, we'll prob be old & gray or maybe even 6 ft under.

Another example of where there still is a lot of land, & maybe not enough demand...



I notice they've been tearing down that two story 1960s-era Motor Lodge on Figueroa just south of the parking lot for the Pantry (9th St, I believe). What's planned for that spot? Another change to the hood that I otherwise wouldn't know about without SSP!

Based on this shot of the site at local.live.com (http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=34.045762~-118.264187&style=o&lvl=1&scene=3609575), I bet the owner just wants to take advantage of the need for more parking in the immediate area, due not just to LA Live or the Hanover bldg removing a lot of existing surface lots, but esp if work begins shortly on projs like the Astani condo tower across the street.

[cookiejarvis]

^ Yeah Citywatch, thanks for the bird's eye view. I was hoping the tear down was part of some Hotel Figueroa expansion. I guess it could be anything at this point.

[colemonkee]

-That huge ass field just north of the Artisan and Savoy, it looks like they're excavating or something...
The signs along the west face of that site are for the Eastside Goldline extension, so I wonder if that's the tunneling or a station there.


something big...
-Someone is seeking permits for an 875 unit condo building Grand Ave, in that giant parking lot just south of the Brockman...
The only thing I've ever seen that looks like part of this site is a study/model from the DeStefano + Partners web site (the architects of Concerto at 9th and Fig). It reads as follows:

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/3932/grandaverender8og.jpg

Grand Avenue Mixed-Use Development
Located in downtown Los Angeles this urban development is a combination of high and mid-rise residential buildings accommodating over 800 units with 100,000 sf of ground level retail space. Parking is included and residents have access to a raised urban garden with a pool and downtown view. The site provides a mid-way passage, lined with shops and outdoor cafes, connecting Grand Avenue to Olive Street. The site is a link between the business district and the developing residential neighborhood.


I emailed this office before, and they responded pretty quickly with heights for the Concerto, so I'll shoot them an email and see if they can release any renderings to us, if they exist yet.

[citywatch]

^ That's one of those sites in DT that desparately needs to be filled in. Right now it's a big gap wedged between 7th St & areas farther south, & ppl in the Brockman & Coulter bldgs will deserve something better than a parking lot, which sits mostly empty during off hours, as a neighbor.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

That huge ass field just north of the Artisan and Savoy, it looks like they're excavating or something...

All of that is pegged for residential development some day in the future. Emphasis on some day. In the meantime, the light rail will be built along both the First and Alameda edges of that huge lot. Also, part of that lot has been recently paved. This section will temporarily serve as a parking lot for LAPD vehicles, while Hollenbeck Station in Boyle Heights is being rebuilt. ("I ain't no Hollenbeck girl!!!")

[colemonkee]

^ mmmmmmm. Gwen Stafani.

[cookiejarvis]

^^mmmmmm. El Tepeyac.

[yakumoto]

("I ain't no Hollenbeck girl!!!")

Your geek index just increased by 200%

[z1sthies]

Have they made any progress on Metropolis???

[deehrler]

Orsini II Groundwork complete (foreground). Foundation work started. Completion of this 600+ unit complex scheduled for Spring 2007. The Orsini I, less than 300 units, can be seen in the background.
http://www.localturf.netherweb.com/images/2006-2-19/10.Orsini.JPG

[BrighamYen]

Was there a Burger King there before?

[POLA]

BK is still there.

[citywatch]

Completion of this 600+ unit complex scheduled for Spring 2007. The Orsini I, less than 300 units, can be seen in the background.
Your photo makes me realize the Orsini II site is larger than I thought it was going to be. I originally believed it was going to cover only the western side of that block. This shot of the location (http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=34.061706~-118.245171&style=o&lvl=1&scene=252846), taken a few yrs ago when Orsini I still was under construction, reminds me of how grungy & lonely that area once was. And if you take your pointer & move the photo sideways you'll see that the Burger King is located on the next block over from the new apt proj.

[deehrler]

The photo was taken from the BK parking lot. The entire block between Fig, C Chevaz and Boston is a big hole. BK is still flipping burgers.

[BrighamYen]

The new police headquarters by the Caltrans still hasn't demolished a few 1-story retail shops (obviously vacated by now) on the NE corner of the site right across the street from Caltrans District 7. What gives?

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ I think about that every time I pass by there. I think it's just one little burger joint. The way city business gets done, I'd guess the demo of the burger joint will be done under a separate contract. ($$$)

[citywatch]

I can't believe they still haven't torn down those few grungy little bldgs at the SW corner of Main & 1st St yet. They're so flimsy, I think a runaway truck could hit them, meaning the city then wouldn't have to hire a demolition company.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

[edit]

[Art]

All of that is pegged for residential development some day in the future. Emphasis on some day. In the meantime, the light rail will be built along both the First and Alameda edges of that huge lot. Also, part of that lot has been recently paved. This section will temporarily serve as a parking lot for LAPD vehicles, while Hollenbeck Station in Boyle Heights is being rebuilt. ("I ain't no Hollenbeck girl!!!")


I would love to see a highrise building around the LT goldline station like that one they did in DT San diego.

LBU is the man for that hollenbeck girl comment.:worship:

Something funny about that song, my sister in law looks just like gwen stefani, and actually was chosen to remake that video for an MTV show. Stefani's people cancelled it because they didnt want anyone "imitating" her likeness and style. The Irony in that is that Gwen copied a lot of her style from chicanas and cholas, my sister is from the hood (El Monte)and grew up in the culture that Gwen bit off of, specifically the chicano punk scene. I remeber in the early 90s when she blew up and every rocker girl in the eastside immediately adopted that style.

[citywatch]

It's bad enough that a shortage of skilled workers & soaring prices of construction materials are putting a big crimp on new devlpt. And so when I read things like this (http://www.safari-sams.com/mambo/), I'm even less surprised (but no less ticked off) that the Medallion proj at 4th & Main, &, as the clock keeps ticking, Astani's Concerto proj at 9th & Fig have yet to break ground.


:dunno: :irked: :irked:


Twenty-three months ago I dreamed of opening a new Safari Sam's club in Hollywood - a venue that would provide a stage to great performers and where we could commingle art, music and theater.......So, I bought an adult strip club that had been a thorn in the cities side, and closed it. I then hired an architect, a facilitator for our conditional use and alcohol permits, as well as a consultant to help me move through the different city departments. All I wanted to do was increase the bathroom space, renovate the kitchen, add a mezzanine and put in a second bar.

I like to think that city government is our friend and is there to help us achieve our desired goals. I have a few friends who work in the LA city government and a few other cities like Las Vegas, NY and Huntington Beach. They all told me that my biggest hurdle was the "cover your ass" mentality and process of each department personnel I came into contact with. To my chagrin and amazement they were correct. The city is not there to help people open new businesses, they are there to create hurdles of increasing perplexity that is like moving through a vat of molasses. Most of the people I have talked to that are also trying to open a business would just shake there heads and reply, "It is what it is." I would think that after spending over $900,000 on opening a club (and of which only about $400,000 has gone to actual construction vs. city fees, filings, permits, etc.) I would be open by now. And yet I am not.

Is it the fault of the permit process that has been established? Probably. Is it the fault of inspectors who seem to find innocuous problems and then take their time to return to make further inspections of our corrections? Probably. Or is it the fault of the goal that as a community we have set to make everything in life completely safe from anything that may happen? What price do we pay as a city when we reduce the opportunity for citizens from affording to open new businesses? The price is reflected when we see mostly national chains and franchises open their doors. Who else can afford the wait?

[BrighamYen]

WHAT A SAD CASE

LA can't be the only city that makes it this hard for businesses to open can it? Is NY or Chicago or DC that much easier?

This is very embarrassing. I seriously felt this man's anguish and hopelessness and the big bad guy was the endless line of inspectors who really do seem to be more pedantic than necessary. :(

[citywatch]

^ That's why you folks at organizations like the DCBID are so important. You're among the few who can lobby to keep the ppl at city hall aware of these problems & to make sure keep pressure is always on them to implement improvements.

Because too many ppl (other than NIMBYites) have been busy with their own problems & consequently even less likely to put up a good fight for the city in general, things got really bad in hoods like DT to begin with.

[citywatch]

Intracorp Buys Condos in Downtown L.A.
LA Times, March, 3 2006

Intracorp Southern California has acquired the Savoy, a recently completed condominium complex formerly known as the Alexan Savoy in downtown Los Angeles, from Trammell Crow Residential. Newport Beach-based Intracorp Southern California paid $100 million for the 303-unit complex at the southeast corner of 1st and Alameda streets, according to real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. It was completed late last year at a cost of about $65 million. More than 200 units have been sold. Asking prices range from $400,000 to $850,000.

[citywatch]

Another classic old bldg in the OBD, the El Dorado near 4th & Spring Sts (http://eldoradolofts.com/), that's finally getting long overdue TLC.

[danparker276]

I updated the loftla.com site, so you can add your own photos and all that. If you make an album for a building, I can assign it to that building also.
I have a lot of bandwith so there should be no problem viewing all the pictures, I think the space is enough too.
You can create an account and upload pictures of your unit if you want too.

It's also easier to navigate, and has a sortable list of all the apts/condos.

Did this cus I'm trying to learn ASP 2.0 programming language, and want something to test things out on. It still needs a bit of work, and there is a lack of photo albums for now, but the old links are still there.

www.loftla.com

[citywatch]

LA Times, March 12, 2006

The New Faces

Suburban malaise, curiosity, a desire to mingle brought them to loft living. Or maybe they were just closet artists all along.

Not so long ago, when people would ask Qathryn Brehm where she lived, she would answer, without excuse or elaboration, "I live downtown." Invariably the question would be followed by another: "You live where?" And that would be the end of it. In the last year or so, she's noticed a shift. "Now they say, 'Oh, you live in a loft?' Then all of a sudden people want to talk about it."

Brehm's neighborhood, the Arts District, is hot. So, too, are the surrounding neighborhoods of South Park and the Old Bank District. "There's just been this whole influx of folks," says Brehm. Lofts are filling up, though not necessarily with the sort who first settled them.

Back in the late '70s, when Brehm, a painter, moved to a building at 8th and Spring streets with a bathroom down the hall, the loft was the province of fine artists who needed the psychic and physical space—sun-flooded windows, high ceilings, work-worn floors—to be able to create. Many of the units were raw. "You'd have to put in your own walls and your own plumbing," Brehm recalls. Artists living in quarters zoned only for working would hide their bed linens and hot plates, fearing unannounced fire marshal inspections. These days, "not everyone is a painter or a sculptor," says Brehm, who moved to a converted warehouse on Traction Avenue in the mid-'80s. But they are creative nonetheless. "The new direction seems to be people who work in the fabric industry or work in the digital world, people who work in music—not so much musicians, but they're sitting at keyboards mixing music."

You'd think there would be some resentment among the old guard, a sense of squatters' rights entitlement. And there is, especially when art-for-art's-sake types are priced out of the neighborhood. But Brehm's take is devoid of bitterness. "I'm kind of enjoying this new wave, seeing people find it, because you see it through their eyes," she says. "All of this has given the neighborhood a cachet. . . . It's nice to get respect."

The space between art and "artsy" is fraught.

Nowadays, a loft isn't simply a brick-and-mortar dwelling; it's a different kind of construction, a new marketing niche. There are "Trendy Lofts," "Designer Lofts" and "Creative Living Spaces." There are evocative billboards near stacked-up freeway entrances, enticing soft-focus magazine ads: a beaming couple arranged on a love seat surrounded by their upscale, up-to-the-moment trappings—CDs, DVDs, a plasma TV and a city view spilling out like jewels on velvet. Even squeezed within the brevity of classified blurbs or agent listings, the message is clear: Lofts are "edgy," "New York-style," "light and airy" and most of all "hip"—with exclamation points!—and priced at sums that very few would-be Ruschas can afford. No wonder so many of these places are being snapped up by thirtysomething investment bankers and trust-fund kids. For them, an "artist's loft" may very well be the latest fashionable accessory, like "an iPod or a BMW or a Chinese baby," as one exasperated real estate agent puts it. For others, loft spaces have become a solution to being shut out of a brutal housing market. "Landing a loft" sounds a lot hipper than "settling for a condo."

But for some downtown denizens, the open floor plan tugs at buried yearnings, life paths not taken. A loft can telegraph: "I'm an urban professional, but that's not all I am." Whether fashion designers, chefs, actors or webmasters, these are people tapping the creative spirit within. And they're often doing it with a twist—exploring the long inviolable space between art and commerce.

Elizabeth Kramer wanted to do a teardown. Rebuild her life from the bottom up. She was miserable working as a real estate appraiser and living with a group of people in a house in the San Fernando Valley—until the owner sold the house out from under them. There had always been something about a loft, downtown in particular, that interested her. "Instead of being in suburbia, where it's kind of lawyer, doctor, Indian chief, you come downtown and it's photography, graphic design, just all the arts rolled into this great little neighborhood."

Eight years ago, she found an unfinished space in an industrial building in the heart of the hardscrabble Arts District and began to play around with things: buying castoffs, experimenting with what went where, because there was no dedicated floor plan. "I liked the fact that there were no walls," she says. "That everything was open. Open and up for grabs. You could do whatever you wanted. You could live the way you wanted and not be confined by any drywall."

The move unlocked many ideas and emotions. "My family is basically full of closeted artists. They all wound up doing jobs that did not facilitate their creative talents. . . . I think part of winding up down here is an affirmation that you are really trying to pursue that part of your life . . . that you are following your passion." She's constantly delving into something new—dipping into glove design, dabbling in interior decorating and furniture design, fashion and photojournalism, and now branching into writing. Living in the Arts District has allowed her to collaborate with other downtown dwellers—textile and porcelain designers, photographers, graffiti artists. "My mind," she says, "is a million miles a minute."

Over time, the live/work loft she shares with her husband, Robert Heller, became a reflection of what was transpiring inside. Their space is a conflation of styles, moods, textures and eras—part Parisian bordello, part English Victorian sitting room, part turn-of-the-last-century Los Angeles. Bolts of colorful fabric bloom from pots, as if exotic flora; mannequins are draped in elegant works-in-progress; grainy black-and-white urban landscapes hang in clusters on the walls. While everything on display is the palette from which she works, the loft has also become a showroom/atelier where visitors can purchase what they see.

Kramer's husband, a real estate broker, also took to the environment almost immediately. After a long career in the fashion industry, he too was slogging it out in real estate in the Valley, "doing average commercial work." He needed "a new frontier." His trek led him downtown, which coincided with meeting Kramer. Taking it all in, the rising skeletons of new construction, the intricacies of restoration, Heller hit on a logical progression: "the creative office." It's a concept he's targeting toward people who live in these spaces, particularly the crude industrial spaces. "People," he explains, "who don't want to work in a glass office building and get in an elevator with a hundred people and go up to the 13th floor. They want to experience the same aura at work as they do at home. So that's where I'm headed. I'm creating workspace for that same crowd. . . . I'm chasing that mind-set."

"The person who will think a loft is heaven is either an artist or a romantic," says John Lindauer, who is, it quickly becomes clear, a fanciful mix of both. "I'm a city mouse, and I never felt at home in Los Angeles because of its sprawl. But I'd always kind of looked over here at the tall buildings and thought, 'I wonder what that's like?' " He's situated several floors above Main Street in a building that the folks in developer Tom Gilmore's office refer to as "Blade Runner-ish," with its glowering exterior, dim hallways and dark floors. On a recent smogless day, the point of view from Lindauer's huge wraparound windows approaches that of a cockpit. It has augmented his perspective. It's helped him appreciate the city more.

Lindauer, who studied animation and documentary filmmaking at Harvard and now directs television commercials and videos, is just finishing up at his computer, which sits at the center of an imposing hulk of a desk that's long enough to be a formal dining room table. It's a striking antique that recalls another moody film, "Citizen Kane." The 2,200-square-foot space is accented with all manner of personal touches—an old dentist's chair, Lindauer's own blown-up, close-up pin-screen portrait of a crazed Karl Malden from the film "Baby Doll." "His expression changes when you pull out or push in the pins," he says. "I like Karl Malden."

At street level, Lindauer has a different sort of inspirational view: a neo-noir version of an evolving Main Street, where City Hall workers mix with mumbling street people and harried film crews. Some days, residents awaken to a sidewalk they barely recognize—one with a fake newsstand or new café on a spot that only last night was still for lease. There is something about the uncertainty of what is real and what is not, coupled with the street energy, that Lindauer likes.

After a bad stint in Westwood and a short stint in Venice, Lindauer found his way to the Arts District seven years ago, when a convergence of factors—mostly finances—had him seeking more moderately priced digs. "There was a very active art scene happening . . . some real artists making real art," he recalls. "As a commercial director—in L.A.—that was something I didn't really see often. Fine art is something you see at an opening, hanging on the wall to be sold or bought. You don't see it being created all the time. It was super-inspirational to have people around who were making great, fun, amazing art."

After sorting out his finances, Lindauer relocated to one of the high-rise buildings in the Old Bank District. "My old loft was more of a loft loft. It had 18-foot ceilings, and it was completely raw," he says. "I think that if a loft is any more finished it becomes an apartment. You lose the ability to paint, you can't sculpt or operate any machinery." That's one of his biggest concerns about the recent shifts in loft living: that the craze—and the high prices that have come with it—might completely douse the energy that ignited it all.

"It seems in some ways there's a step missing now," he says. "Essentially, the loft I was living in was an entry-level situation . . . a person who was entering the marketplace could live well, create art, have a space, have a community.

"When you make an 'artist's loft' you hope to attract artists, and artists, you know, aren't known for making a lot of money. That's why they're known as starving artists. And when the price shoots up, the only people who can move in are lawyers, doctors and investment bankers—and I don't know many investment bankers who want to live in a raw space and paint for a weekend.

"Maybe some do. God bless 'em."

You'd think he's a visiting dignitary, for all the commotion his mere presence is kicking up. In a way he is. Robert Sweedler, bearded, his longish dark hair threaded in silver, looks every bit the philosophical survivor. He chats it up with a few old buddies—men attired in grubby T-shirts, stretched-out sweaters—ranged around the long bar that runs through the narrow space at 410 Boyd. That's both the café's name and its address, on the edge of the Arts District. For 26 years Sweedler ran the neighborhood's only architecture and art supply store, Roark, just a couple of doors down. That is, until last December, when he finally decamped and set up shop closer to USC. "I think in life it's good to examine everything," he says.

When he takes a seat in one of the booths to settle in for a chat, a succession of old friends and store regulars drift by.

"I wondered where you've been."

"I thought you were just closed for the holidays. So what gives?"

Sweedler fills each of them in on the quick details of the move. Each time, he fishes out a business card, strikes through the Boyd Street address in black ink and carefully writes in the new one. Like Lindauer, Sweedler knows the import of having a point of entry, or better, a launching pad. He is concerned about how few are left.

He had gravitated here in the early days, the late '70s, when artists were staking claim to the district and burrowing into long-abandoned warehouses on streets that could feel both desolate and desperate. The risk was worth it: It gave them room to create not just art but a community. His shop was in tune with the neighborhood. "It was," Sweedler says in a voice sanded smooth of sentimentality, "very rustic and rusty." There were storefronts across the street occupied by painters and sculptors. Around the corner, muralists and ironworkers. "That original group, they were tough guys. Afraid of nothing. It was really dynamic."

Back then, this café went by another name—Cocola—and the bar was often packed end-to-end for openings, parties and face-offs. "It was like a speak-easy. The third place," the place between home and work. It wouldn't be uncommon to see, say, a sculptor wander in, still in bathrobe and slippers, to order a Scotch and grab lunch. Someone covered in paint or plaster might drop by his shop looking for a brush, a T-square, an extension cord. "Back then, nobody was marketing it. There were no advertisements. It wasn't about being hip," he says. "Now it's a lifestyle. The lofts are 'cool,' 'creative.' It's a little bit like what you drive."

This is not just an L.A. phenomenon, Sweedler concedes. "It's comparable to what's going on in other cities. It's just that what we had was such a neat experience—and that's now over. The larger phenomenon, all this 'excitement,' essentially made my community go away."

In a different life not so long ago, Roy Montibon and his fiancée, Julie Tumblety, lived in a high-rise condo on the Westside, many floors above Veteran Avenue. They felt as if they were living in a bubble. "No one spoke to anyone. No one even seemed to come out of their places—ever. It might have been pretty outside, but it was not friendly inside," says Montibon. "One morning my fiancée woke up and said, 'I had this dream that I wanted to tell you about. . . .' In her dream, she saw herself sitting by a window, reading a book in a friend's loft. There were these beautiful buildings outside and we were high off the ground. And, she said, 'I felt really at home.' "

That afternoon they headed downtown and drove around. Within four hours they found a space in the San Fernando Building. Met with the leasing agent. Signed the papers. By the end of the day, "Everything was done."

They were home.

Their building, in the Old Bank District, is buzzing with painters and designers and other creative folk like Montibon, who heads his own design business, Montibon Co. There are also politicians, audio engineers, comedy writers, composers, jewelry makers. "Just because this is the business core doesn't mean that everybody is a businessman," says Montibon, "just like everyone in the Arts District isn't an artist. I don't want to deny anyone's creativity—because someone has made a career choice doesn't mean that they don't have a second life, that doing art or writing poetry doesn't come out of their hearts on the side."

One of the things that had attracted Montibon to loft living was the idea of a porous lifestyle. He quickly found it. Not only is there a synergy among the creative types he runs into in the hallways or at the sidewalk cafés, but there is also a collective open-mindedness and proactive engagement that he found missing from other communities he'd lived in. "I think that people here are very open, and it has created some cross-pollination. There are a lot of creative, professional opportunities that a neighborhood like this presents."

Not long after he arrived downtown, a next-door neighbor invited him to a meeting, and before long he was involved in community improvement projects and organizing events such as the first Bank District Art Walk in 2002. He's been running it ever since. "In the beginning there was a tremendous bit of scoffing," Montibon says with a laugh, "that people who lived in the Old Bank District, in these old office buildings, weren't artists. The first year there was scoffing, but not now."

He's seen a new generation of multidisciplinary artists—audio engineers who are also composers, painters who are also commercial designers—begin to collaborate on independent projects as well as professional endeavors: Flash website developers and audio engineers producing art videos; commercial artists and fine art photographers designing commercial websites. "In my building, this little zone down here, that's really common."

Their open loft has even expanded the way that he and Tumblety—whose day job is at UCLA Extension, but who moonlights as a photographer and art director—work at home. "I would say doing this live/work thing, using it as a flexible studio, you tend to have your projects out . . . so we've ended up producing things together, music and art events."

Part of loft living is about stretching. "For me, it's been a good place to find out what kind of person I am," says Montibon. "I have much more of a community activist soul than I thought. And a lot of that has to do with the dynamic interchanges that are going on down here." While it's long been said that people come to Los Angeles to reinvent themselves, downtown is offering another template for living. "It's not like a community you put on like a coat and wrap yourself in its attributes, like certain other ZIP Codes," Montibon says.

It's just the opposite. In reinventing themselves, people are reinventing downtown.

[citywatch]

An outsider gets a good feel for the hood near the OBD when reading first hand accounts like this (http://5thandspring.blogspot.com/2006/03/20-minutes-before-first-fuck-you-was.html), about a major old bldg at 5th & Spring Sts.

Work on the Alexandria is no less important to the hood than totally new devlpt like the Elleven or any proj that's 100% oriented to renters or buyers with $$, such as the metro417 or 1100 Wilshire. That's because any bldg that's allowed to fall apart in DT hurts everything around it.

[colemonkee]

Speaking of Metro417, I drive by there every night on the way home, and the parking garage is getting more and more full of cars (a lot of really nice ones, too). LAB, do you know what their latest lease numbers? They have to be over 50 or 60% by now.

[citywatch]

^ Your newest post in the DTLA thread at the city compliations board (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=1938310&postcount=1175) definitely needs a link here.

You certainly scooped LAB on a major bit of news.


Meanwhile, ppl can track the ongoing sales rate at this proj. Over 30 units have been sold since around 3-3-06.



Karla Milton, the lead sales agent for Savoy, a 303-condominium project that recently opened at First and Alameda streets, said she has been told that as many as 10,000 people could show up. To handle the crowd, and with just 62 units available (the others have been reserved), about 20 sales agents have been called in for the two days.

[colemonkee]

That's great news on the Savoy. I hope they can move them in shortly. That should give a great boost to an already happening neighborhood.

It's funny that you mention LAB, because I saw him out at Bar107 right after I ran into Gilmore. But it's no contest, we all work together here. ;) BTW, Bar107 was absolutely packed last night. You could barely move.

[citywatch]

BTW, Bar107 was absolutely packed last night. You could barely move.
For us outsiders, that place (http://bar107.com/index.html) deserves an explanation (http://paravonia.blogspot.com/2005/12/ollies-sport-shop.html)!

[colemonkee]

For you outsiders, that place deserves a visit! There's a photo update in the DT LA thread.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

Hey citywatch, do you ever get a chance to check out Downtown in person? It's much more interesting in person than on the Internet! :)

W. regard to Bar 107 being packed last night, I think almost every bar in the city had great business last night. I was at the Beanery in SaMo, it was packed, and every bar on Main street was full to the gills. Finn McCool's had a line of people at 11:00pm, waiting to get in and pay a $15 cover. :shrug:

[Wright Concept]

It's bad enough that a shortage of skilled workers & soaring prices of construction materials are putting a big crimp on new devlpt. And so when I read things like this (http://www.safari-sams.com/mambo/), I'm even less surprised (but no less ticked off) that the Medallion proj at 4th & Main, &, as the clock keeps ticking, Astani's Concerto proj at 9th & Fig have yet to break ground.


:dunno: :irked: :irked:


[i]

This is the reason why "affordable housing" funding ideas need to look at streamlining the process and make it EASIER and less cumbersome to actually stimulate business activity in the city. I bet you this city can have affordable housing within the rules if it loosened some of the restrictions.

[citywatch]

Hey citywatch, do you ever get a chance to check out Downtown in person? It's much more interesting in person than on the Internet! I now live quite far away from that hood, closer to santa Barbara than DT. And my kids are still young enough that urban roaming & certainly checking out the bar scene for me also now are things of the past. That's why your or Colemonkee's or other SSPer's comments about visits to DT or the latest changes to the hood are a lifeline for some of us.


W. regard to Bar 107 being packed last night, I think almost every bar in the city had great business last night. Well, no wonder. D'oh! I now realize it was St Patrick's wkend!

[citywatch]

I bet you this city can have affordable housing within the rules if it loosened some of the restrictions.
No one is even sure if Astani's Concerto condo proj at 9th & Fig, which was supposed to have been underway by Feb, has been delayed by problems similar to what the nightclub owner encountered.

It's almost the end of March & as far as I know the deadzone parking lot at the SE corner of 9th & Fig still is a parking lot.

I've been wondering if the owner of the small motel across the street has timed its current demolition with start of work on the Concerto, which would result in the loss of another major parking lot in the hood? Prob not, but everyone can only grasp at straws right now.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

Here are some shots of the crane over the Roosevelt Bldg, pilfered from Eric Richardson's downtown blog, blogdowntown.com:

http://static.flickr.com/47/114312444_3f1728378f.jpg?v=1142718707

http://static.flickr.com/36/114312374_0c2d7680e1.jpg?v=1142718736

http://static.flickr.com/39/114312468_eb989e11ca.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/45/114312295_41f7a25c2e.jpg?v=1142718761

[citywatch]

^ When bldgs like that are being removed from the supply of existing office space in the hood, there's even less excuse for the amt of vacant space to be still as high as it is or it has been.

[citywatch]

This has more to do with the space around condos or apts, & not just the ones in DT. But it still says a lot about how creating successful commercial space in urban hoods, esp near the new condos or apts of DT, can easily succeed or fail...


Avoiding Clashes Is Consideration in Organizing Spaces

By RACHEL BROWN - 3/20/2006
Los Angeles Business Journal Staff

Lured by the beach, a convenient dry cleaner and trendy restaurants, Mark Weinstein snatched up a condo in the mixed-use Venice Renaissance Building, famous for its ballerina clown facade, when it first became available in 1989.
At his third-floor unit, Weinstein had a loft, two bedrooms and an impeccable ocean view, with little disruption from retail on the street below. Lower-level tenants weren’t so lucky. Restaurant smells frequently crept into their units, and vibrations shook the walls every time weight lifters at a ground-floor gym dropped heavy dumbbells.

Weinstein, president of Santa Monica-based real estate company MJW Investments Inc., remembers that tenants griped so vociferously about the gym that it eventually left. Years later, when he developed his own mixed-use property, Santee Court in downtown’s Fashion District, he was careful to avoid similar problems. A small gym at Santee Court is insulated and tucked in a corner near a courtyard. “The challenge is the mix of uses,” Weinstein said. “There are a lot of difficulties you have in organizing the spaces so that the uses don’t interfere with the tenants.”

Mixed use may be all the rage in Los Angeles, but the fact remains that putting together a successful project can be far trickier than erecting traditional – and separate – residential, commercial and office structures. A good mixed-use project isn’t just about slapping retail square footage onto housing or vice versa. Instead, it’s about seamless convergence of the various uses – a convergence that creates its own set of unique issues and can set residents against retailers and other tenants. Also complicating matters: whether a mixed-use project is going up from scratch or adapting older structures.

The buzz of the city attracts people to dense mixed-use buildings. However, that buzz is a turnoff when it becomes cacophony. Restaurants, for instance, have to be situated in such a manner that kitchen and customer noises don’t travel into the units, and smells are properly ventilated. Even in space that contains a bookstore, Weinstein said he added restaurant-quality ventilation. That way, if an eatery moves in at a later time, the space is already set up to handle restaurant odors. And trash placement is important: stinky dinner remnants can’t sit right outside units’ windows. “You try to anticipate things. We do a lot of preemptive customer service,” Weinstein said.

Competing priorities

Still, concern for residents has to be weighed against the needs of other users. Tom Cody, a principal with The South Group, which has three projects under construction at 11th Street and Grand Avenue, said retailers are especially finicky when it comes to how space is laid out. The South Group is a partnership of Portland-based developers Williams & Dame and Gerding/Edlen. “Retail, like housing development or industrial, has its own sort of nuances that are critical. If you miss any one facet, it may be enough to lead to vacant space,” he said.

Cody said retailers frequently come to a project with specific ideas about signage, parking or the placement of entrances and exits. For retailers with a national reach, these details are analyzed almost scientifically. Where retail is placed within the development can also be an indicator of success.

Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the Central City Association, said that some of the most prosperous downtown mixed-use developments are based on original, pre-World War II layouts that incorporated retail on the street with office units above that are converted into residential.

Mixed-use developments sometimes are worse off when they play with alternative layouts. At the Orsini downtown – a new development – retail that’s not directly on the street has had vacancies. It’s the same problem at the Sunset + Vine complex at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood; retail on the thoroughfares has fared well, but side street space remains empty. These problems reveal why, even under the best conditions, national retailers are cautious about moving into mixed-use developments. They typically want to be shown demographics. But mixed-use developments are often built in emerging communities, where retailers have to take a chance on an influx of moneyed residents.

“You are seeing retail, but you are not seeing the major department stores, you are not seeing the high-end clothing stores,” said Elizabeth Peterson, land use consultant and a principal at hospitality and entertainment company Sweet Freedom LLC, speaking about downtown. “That stuff is going to come last.”

The road to bustling retail can be particularly bumpy for pioneering developers going into an area without a strong residential base. For Tom Gilmore, manager of Tom Gilmore and Associates LLC, which has developed mixed-use properties in downtown’s Old Bank District, filling the retail space has been significantly tougher than securing tenants. Across Gilmore’s Hellman, Continental and San Fernando buildings, 240 residential units have had barely any vacancies since they starting renting in 2001. By contrast, 40,000 square feet of the 60,000 square feet of retail still is unoccupied, although Gilmore will soon use the vacant space for his own projects.

In part, Gilmore said retail proceeded slower because he was selective about the entrants. Rather than going with a restaurant that wasn’t quite right, Gilmore opted to come up with the restaurant concept himself based on eateries in New York. He felt the area needed a joint that “was hip, but not tragically hip” with a good bar. In that vein, Pete’s Café & Bar opened.

Cody stressed that mixed-use developments can fail if developers don’t have the patience to pick appropriate retailers. The difficulty is finding retailers that can mesh with the environment, the tenants and customers in the general vicinity. Developers could go wrong if they put a Toys R’ Us in a building appealing to empty nesters or working singles, just as a nightclub wouldn’t be a good fit for a family project. “Retail has the potential to add tremendous value, or tremendously devalue the use above it,” Cody said. “You have to be cautious about your retail because it can make or break your housing above.”

Ideally, a mixed-use development would include a blend of retailers that serve tenants and draw consumers from the surrounding community. Without both those elements, stores may not have enough foot traffic to survive. “If they do token commercial, it tends to underperform. They have to make sure there is a market for the commercial on its own so it works,” said Jeffrey Lambert, a planning consultant and former planning director for Santa Clarita. “Having an empty storefront doesn’t work for a mixed-use project.”

To make retail work best, mixed-use developments should be situated in commercial corridors close to neighborhoods already with substantial foot traffic. Gerding/Edlen is going forward with a mixed-use development on Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Koreatown, right near a Metro subway station. That proximity drives traffic at the site and gives it flexibility to juggle a wide array of retail concepts. Cody expects a prominent anchor retailer plus a variety of other tenants, such as cell-phone shops, cafes and small markets.

Proximity to transit is consistent with mixed-use developments’ goal of getting tenants out of their cars. In the heart of the city, they can walk to work, walk to get their daily chores done and even walk to their nighttime amusements. If that is accomplished, traffic in and around the complex can be reduced. Even with accessible public transit, residents need to hop in their cars if local retailers don’t meet all their needs. So parking can play a large role in a project’s success. And that can be tricky too.

Mixed-used projects are unlike most where parking is set aside only for commercial or only for residential. At mixed-use projects, parking has to serve several uses. The amount of parking needed for all those uses would be extraordinarily high and cost prohibitive. Cities have become more willing to adjust for mixed-use, but it takes work. “You have to do a lot of gymnastics and work hard for that flexibility,” Cody said.

In the end, Gilmore said that developers must grasp urban living. Otherwise, they risk creating mixed-use projects with suburban touches, like elaborate internal gardens and swimming pools, which limit tenants’ interaction with the outside environment. At mixed-use projects, he said, the city is the amenity, and developers must treat it as such. “If you are going to do mixed use, real mixed use, you have to be an urbanist so that you love cities,” Gilmore said.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

^ When bldgs like that are being removed from the supply of existing office space in the hood, there's even less excuse for the amt of vacant space to be still as high as it is or it has been.


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP!! i cant take it anymore! the vacancy rate has been shooting down very rapidly and consistenly for about 5 - 6 quarters now and it stands at 14.5, much better than the 19 percent two years ago. companies are moving back to downtown and existing tenants are expanding.

i must confess though, i was driving around DTLA and i went by the medallion site and that area has gotten SO much better and that development will change EVERYTHING down there. it will be great.

[RAlossi]

I was down in the Little Tokyo/Old Bank/Historic Core/El Pueblo/Artists' District this past weekend with the BF and some out-of-town guests, and I was so surprised to see how clean it was. I was also happy that my friends were impressed with LA.

We checked out the Savoy condos, and my god, they are beautiful. The units themselves look like they're kind of cheaply built -- the kitchens, especially -- but the common areas are very nice. That's going to be an excellent location to live in once Mura and Artisan are built. [EDIT: and it's a good investment because of the future Gold Line station right across the street]

On the other hand, though, I noticed that my group and I were some of the only ones out walking. That was discouraging until I realized that it was the LA Marathon that day.

Every time I would go down there, I would think "Damn, this place is going to be great -- just give it a few more years!" Now, it's really starting to come together. Maybe by the end of this year it'll really be happening. Once the Gold Line Eastside opens, that Little Tokyo stop will help the community.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP!! i cant take it anymore! the vacancy rate has been shooting down very rapidly and consistenly for about 5 - 6 quarters now and it stands at 14.5, much better than the 19 percent two years ago. companies are moving back to downtown and existing tenants are expanding.

i must confess though, i was driving around DTLA and i went by the medallion site and that area has gotten SO much better and that development will change EVERYTHING down there. it will be great.

Hehe, now you know how I feel! Anybody who gets a chance to walk around downtown for an hour or two can see how much positive change has taken place. Quality of life issues can't be reduced to vacancy statistics.

Just looking at the OBD (near Medallion within a block of 4th/Main) you have: Rocket Pizza, Warung (Thai food), Pete's, Bar109 (I think its called), Banquette Cafe, Lost Souls Cafe, a video store, a small grocery, a burger joint, a clothes store, a new Vietnamese restaurant, and an art gallery.

I think it just has to be done right. Gilmore has done it right.

Now where has it not happened right? Well, Seventh Street hasn't got the mix down yet. Part of it is the indoor mall sucking retail customers off the street. And part of it is some building owners refusing to get their acts together and make their buildings attractive from the street.

Hope Street across from Grand Hope Park is another such location. Those retail spaces have been empty since they were built over a decade ago. I think the influx of residents will help, but I again think if the storefronts were made just a bit more attractive (brighter awnings and for God's sake some decent lighting), stores would be willing to move in.

[citywatch]

much better than the 19 percent two years ago. That 19% is even more ridiculous when I see the recent article posted in this forum that indicates DTSF already has gone from a similar, if not higher, level, to a point that's close to DTLA's. Hell, since owners of bldgs in DTLA have been forced to deal with high vacancy rates for over 15 yrs, then the landlords in SF deserve just as much fun.



Well, Seventh Street hasn't got the mix down yet. That's why it's even more important to get the Coulter/mandell & Brockman bldgs completed & up & running, along with the Roosevelt across the street.

Hope Street across from Grand Hope Park is another such location. Those retail spaces have been empty since they were built over a decade ago. Just think of what that hood was like a few yrs ago, when I walked on Olive near 8th St northward towards Pershing Sq. Not only were there quite a few vacant ground floor spaces, but the Coulter bldg was an abandoned mess & it still would be quite awhile before even the idea of converting that or other such bldgs was more than a pipe dream, & the Ralphs proj was no where to be seen.

That's why, & based on Ralossi's descriptions too, I'd hate to get into a time machine & end up back in, for example, the yr 1999, much less 1987.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

A little more about South Park's retail. Until very recently South Park consisted primarily of a couple of large complexes: Skyline, the Metropolitan, the Renaissance, all clustered around Grand Hope Park. Hope Street was envisioned as a promenade acting as the spine of the neighborhood. So of course across from Grand Hope Park was a natural place to put retail space.

Unfortunately, growth along Hope was very gradual. Hope south of Olympic has finally developed in recent years. And Flower and 11th Streets have recently become clusters of activity due to Staples Center.

In another couple of years, we'll finally see all of the developments, from the 110 to Olive, from Seventh down to Pico, merge into one big complex community. I think then it will be important for the community to revisit issues of integration: which retail/restaurant/entertainment uses are appropriate where, how lighting and landscaping can be used to unify streets, etc.

[BrighamYen]

Just a little update...


Medallion is stalled because of the Women's Center. Until that is completely resolved, the city will not allow the project to go forward. We're looking at breaking ground earliest in Sept 2006.

[colemonkee]

As long as it moves forward sometime, I'm good with it. Thanks for the update, Brig!