[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Damn it!

[citywatch]

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.:whatthefuck:

It's bad enough that devlprs are facing labor shortages, soaring cost of materials & a cooling mkt. Then I read about how ppl like the owner of a new nightclub in Hollywood, because it was taking so long for city hall to get him his required permits, worried that the delays would bankrupt him. And I keep hearing about businesses that avoid LA not only because of things like that, but because of high fees & taxes, & instead move to Burbank or elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a huge protest march on Sat causes the first day of the DCBID's weekend housing tour to be cancelled. I wonder how many visitors saw "trash everywhere" (http://ginnycase.blogspot.com/2006/03/id-say-all-around-it-was-good-weekend.html) on Sun & thought, oops, now I'm not too sure if this hood has improved enough!

NYE started off with the Big Village event in DT being axed at the last minute, which prob spells doom for NYE events like that in DT in the future, & I continue to hope that's not a start of a trend for 2006.


I'd say all around it was a good weekend.

Everyday Saturday morning I like to turn on my laptop and read CNN. This Saturday I open up my laptop and find out from CNN that there's going to be a big protest downtown LA. I thought to myself - Hey - I live downtown LA and I like protesting - but I didn't know about the protest.

It was the biggest thing I'd ever seen. Look! http://la.indymedia.org/

Then came the loft tour.

(Let me just say that getting around LA during the protest was a nightmare, but it was all worth it)

So, my picks for top lofts (regardless of rent or mortgage needs)

1. PE Lofts (http://www.pelofts.com/)
Yes, it's where I live, but after all I saw this weekend, it's still at the top of my list.

2) Sky Lofts (http://www.skylofts.com)
Sweeping views almost made me tear up

3) El Dorado (I can't find the website)
Two Words: Charlie Chaplin

4) Packard Lofts (http://www.packardloftsla.com)
Porches, appliances, layout - all great.

So, there were a couple of big disappointments:
1) Needing to prequalify to get a tour of the place.
2) Not showing amenities
3) Downtown was T R A S H E D on Sunday. T RA S H E D.

There was trash everywhere. The Blue Line train had puke in a few seats, downtown had trash everywhere, and the port-a-potties had garbage out in front of all of them.

I'm not being sarcastic, but if you had 1 or 2 million people converge on downtown on a Saturday, then have the big housing tour the next day...downtown would look a bit wiped out.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ I don't know which Downtown that guy was looking at, but the one I went to (DTLA) was definitely not "trashed". Anyway, why would the Blue Line have puke on them from the day before? Those trains are cleaned every night as they come out of service.

DTLA looked like it does any other Sunday, w. the possible exception of the area immediately surrounding City Hall, which was a bit messy. Fortunately, that area was blocked off anyway, and has no residential developments around it.

I may be biased, but I came away with a better impression of Downtown's residential than I had before. Well, except for the fact that everything is currently out of my price range!!!

[yakumoto]

Why was it neccessary to remove the women's center, rather than building arround it?

[Art]

I drove down Broadway on Sunday, and can confirm it was actually cleaner than normal around that street. The only things i noticed were a neat pile of flags/banners against a trash can and some mud graffiti that said "illegal y que" but it was otherwise pretty clean(cant speak for city hall area). I heard them telling people to bring trash bags and clean up afterwards on mexican radio, I guess it fairly worked. I also noticed a very noticeable vibe of empowerment and pride today from Latino people on the streets, I hope this stays in the chicano psyche and snowballs into consistent political involvement. SI SE PUEDE!

[LongBeachUrbanist]

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.

No reason to panic, Medallion is slowly moving forward. The City is working right now to help the Womens Center relocate to a building at 5th/San Pedro. Not sure what the delay will be like, hopefully no worse than LAB's prediction. But I don't think that anyone should think Medallion has been stopped, if anything it sounds like an amicable deal has been reached, and progress is being made.

Here is the summary from a recent City Council file (http://clkrep.lacity.org/councilfiles/05-2838_ca_2-1-06.pdf), dated 2 February 2006:

Summary.
In a report to the Mayor and Council dated January 23, 2006 (attached to the Council file), the CAO states that the Agency requests authority to execute a Predevelopment Grant Agreement with the Downtown Women's Center in an amount not to exceed $500,000, adopt the Finding of Benefit Joint Resolution, and to amend the Agency Budget to establish a new Work Objective for the Downtown Women's Center and transfer $500,000 from the Bunker Hill Mixed Use Development to the DWC Work Objective.

The CAG reports that the Downtown Women's Center is located at 325-31 South Los Angeles Street - the future site of the Medallion project, a new mixed-use project that will include community-serving retail, parking, and market-rate apartments. The Medallon is bounded by 3rd, 4th, Main and Los Angeles Streets and encompasses the current Downtown Women's Center, which includes buildings and land owned by the center. Medallion also includes an adjacent parking lot used by the Downtown Women's Center, although the organization never owned or leased it. The Downtown Women's Center declined an offer to remain at the site. It was deemed more advantageous to relocate to a larger space which would allow them to expand their services and increase the number of homeless women served. Medallion's developer is paying the Downtown Women's Center $2 millon for the site property and is making a donation to the organization in the amount of $2 million.

According to the CAO, the Agency will facilitate the relocation of the Downtown Women's Center to the Renaissance Building site at 434 South San Pedro Street in the Central Industrial Redevelopment Project Area. The Renaissance Building is currently owned by the City and leased to the Skid Row Development Corporation. As part of the agreement to transfer control of the Skid Row Development Corporation to the Volunteers of America, the lease with the City wil be terminated. The City will then the South San Pedro site to the Agency, which in turn will sell the property to the Downtown Women's Center.

Prior to the acquisition of, and relocation to, the Renaissance Building, the Downtown Women's Center is requesting a grant in the amount of $338,400 to fund a variety of predevelopment activities to be completed prior to the adaptive reuse of the building to meet expanding housing and service needs. These activities include environmental analysis, pre-design services, cost analysis, property condition assessment, project management, entitlement, and permit and staff support.

On December 15, 2005, the Agency Board of Commissioner approved staff recommendations relative to a predevelopment grant with Downtown Women's Center, as outlined above. The CAO concurs with this action.

At its meeting held January 25, 2006, the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee discussed this matter with representatives of the CAO and the Agency. It was stated that should the Downtown Women's Center not move to the South San Pedro site, the City will retain ownership of the propert. The Committee recommended that Council approve the above recommendations relative to the Agency's predevelopment grant with Downtown Women's Center, and related actions, as recommended by the Agency Board and the CAO.

[colemonkee]

^Hmmmm. Interesting news, but not too recent. I wonder if all of this is still moving forward. A lot of moving parts to keep track of.

In better news...

Housing Starts Jump Sharply
Much of the increase in the state comes from a surge in condo projects in downtown L.A.
By Annette Haddad, Times Staff Writer
March 28, 2006

California builders started construction last month on nearly 8% more homes than a year earlier and 27% more than in January, thanks largely to a surge in condominium starts in downtown Los Angeles, data released Monday showed.

Los Angeles County saw a threefold increase in condos, town homes and other multifamily projects. Builders obtained 2,390 permits in February versus 818 in the year-earlier month, the California Building Industry Assn. said in its monthly report on statewide housing starts. Since the beginning of the year, nearly a third of the state's 9,800 multifamily units under construction have been in the county.

Statewide multifamily production jumped nearly 64% from a year earlier to 6,593 units, more than double the production levels in January, according to the builders trade group.

Meanwhile, starts for single-family homes dropped nearly 14% to 8,978 units from February 2005 and were down 1.4% from the month before.

Overall construction permits for single-family and multifamily homes totaled 15,571 last month, a 27% increase from the month before.

With limited available land and rising housing prices, developers in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties have turned to constructing smaller, attached units such as condos and town homes. They are typically priced below that of new single-family homes.

Even Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where much of the single-family production has occurred in the last five years, is starting to see an increase in condos and town homes. Last month, the region reported a 62% jump in multifamily permits from a year earlier and only a 6% increase in single-family homes.

Downtown L.A. has seen an explosion of home construction, all of it in the form of for-sale condos and lofts or new apartments for lease. Since 1999, about 7,000 units have been built, and 9,400 are slated for this year, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

Much of Los Angeles' multifamily production last month was related to developments already in the pipeline, said Holly Schroeder, chief executive of the Building Industry Assn. of Greater Los Angeles and Ventura. "The projects we're seeing here were submitted [for approval] early last fall."

The city of Los Angeles has encouraged high-density housing by easing the process for developers to convert office buildings into condos or apartments.

What's more, the extension of Southern California's light rail lines has prompted so-called transit-oriented housing development within walking distance of rail stations.

Nevin and Schroeder were wary of reading too much into February's data. The month tends to be one of the year's slowest for new construction.

[Steve2726]

from Today's Wall Street Journal:

PLOTS & PLOYS
Forget Freeways

March 29, 2006; Page B6

As the housing market in downtown Los Angeles has boomed over the past few years, commutes for thousands of Angelenos have dwindled. One of the latest downtown projects could, for some, reduce their commute to an elevator ride.

Some 132 condos priced from $660,000 to $1.35 million are set to open to residents next month in the top 11 floors of a 22-story, 1980s-era building that will retain 10 floors of office space and add a ground floor of retail. Such mixed-use towers have become increasingly common in cities such as New York and Chicago, but the $170 million joint venture between CIM Group Inc. and Lee Homes, known as Sky, is unique in downtown Los Angeles.

While the Sky project, in the city's South Park neighborhood near the Staples Center, underscores a growing trend toward upscale living in downtown Los Angeles, developers continue to pursue conversion projects in downtown's older, grittier sections.

Today, Boston-based Colliers International Inc.'s Los Angeles office is expected to announce the $75 million purchase of three historic office buildings, including one most recently used for garment manufacturing, and a parking lot that together make up almost a city block. The buyer, private investor Barry Shy, plans to build residential units.

Since local leaders relaxed rules on office-to-residential conversions in 1999, some 6,500 residential units have been built in downtown Los Angeles and another 6,000 units are in the pipeline, according to Carol Schatz, chief executive of the Los Angeles Downtown Center Business Improvement District.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ It's fantastic to read an entire block of historic core will soon be developed into residential. But what gives me pause is the developer: Barry Shy. Everything I've read and seen suggests a guy who likes to do things on-the-cheap, with sub-par results.

[citywatch]

No ppl living in LA who visit SSP's boards & who could've given descriptions (even pics too) of the DCBID's open house event on Sun? Other than one blogger I found using google (& she wasn't even correct about the hood being full of trash?), I don't have any idea how many ppl showed up, how successful or not it was for the various new condo & apt projs they visited.

As for Barry Shy, I hope his willingness to become even more active in DT is a sign his current group of condo or apt projs have done well. But if he leaves behind a trail of bldgs that are poorly remodeled, & buyers or renters who end up feeling burned, that will come back & haunt the hood in the future.

[colemonkee]

Actually, his project at 5th and Broadway is failing pretty miserably. He put notices up in our building offering residents a $5,000 "referral fee" for friends or co-workers they refer who actually purchase a unit. I'm not really that surprised, those units are small, dark and overpriced.

[danparker276]

Oh yeah, does anyone know exactly what to make of this 1100 update ("MEP trades have started testing and are beginning the commissioning process") from the webcore construction web site:

UPDATE

The 1100 Wilshire project is approaching the finish line! We are framed up to the penthouse floors and MEP rough-ins are almost complete. We are drywalled up to the 36th floor, taping on the 35th and moving to the 36th floor, and interior finishes are beginning on the 33rd floor. Our MEP trades have started testing and are beginning the commissioning process. We have also begun our punchlist system with the Owner and have proudly maintained quality of finished units.

[Steve2726]

MEP= Mechanical/ electrical/ plumbing. Not sure if that answers the question or not.

[citywatch]

Actually, his project at 5th and Broadway is failing pretty miserably.
I wonder if that's the first sign of the ceiling being reached as to what ppl are willing to pay for a loft in DT?

Another question is how much of a profit margin, if it has to be reduced, do Shy or other devlprs have to toy with before their projs only break even or even move into the red?

I read recently that builders in some of the burban housing projs in SoCa are resisting the idea of lowering their sales prices, because they know that soon sets up future buyers for expecting no less. In turn, existing buyers, such as those at Shy's bldg at 5th & Broadway, will feel like suckers if they see new ppl coming in & getting better deals.



Developer Spends $75M for Spring Street Plaza Portfolio

By Bob Howard
March 30, 2006

LOS ANGELES-Developer Barry Shy plans up to 1,000 housing units and 60,000 sf of retail space at a three-building, 800,000-sf site called Spring Street Plaza that Shy has acquired for $75 million, according to Colliers International. The new development, which Colliers describes as one of the largest adaptive re-use projects Downtown, comprises almost an entire city block on Spring Street between Sixth and Seventh streets in the heart of Historic Downtown Los Angeles.

The three buildings in the portfolio include 650 S. Spring St., a 12-story 246,900-sf office building; 600 S. Spring, a 275,765-sf 17-story office building with three levels of subterranean parking; and 111W. Seventh St., a 223,131-sf, 11-story garment manufacturing building. The 650 S. Spring St. building is perhaps the best known of the three, having served in the 1920s as home to Bank of America and known for its ornate lobby, classical architecture and quality construction.

Michael Ross of Colliers International says that the central location of the portfolio will connect the development with adjacent projects in Downtown Los Angeles and “patch the hole in the tapestry of mixed-use projects now under way Downtown." Ross, Fred Cordova, Bret Hardy, Nathan Pellow, Steve Nanino and Richard Abdulian of Colliers International represented the seller, an entity of L & R Investment Co.

According to Ross, buyer Barry Shy has enjoyed success with other recent residential projects in Downtown Los Angeles and plans to begin construction immediately on the first phase of Spring Street Plaza. Cordova notes that the new project will join more than 4,500 residential units recently completed or under construction in the historic Downtown district.

David Damus headed operations for the Spring Street Plaza transaction on behalf of L & R, which is an owner and operator of parking facilities throughout Los Angeles and the US.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

No ppl living in LA who visit SSP's boards & who could've given descriptions (even pics too) of the DCBID's open house event on Sun? Other than one blogger I found using google (& she wasn't even correct about the hood being full of trash?), I don't have any idea how many ppl showed up, how successful or not it was for the various new condo & apt projs they visited.

I didn't take pics 'cause I was actually more focused on finding a place to live. And all of the places looked beautiful but were out of my price range.

I liked the Packard Lofts the best. These apartments were fairly standard, good workmanship though, and excellent location. I didn't care too much for all the Savoy's amenities, incl. the business center, sports lounge, yoga room, etc. Not that they were bad, just unnecessary. It misses the whole point of living in the city, IMO, to cocoon yourself up in your private community, rather than taking part in the greater neighborhood.

There were many, many people looking at every location. I would say it was successful, but I don't have the numbers, so I don't really know.

[citywatch]

I didn't care too much for all the Savoy's amenities, incl. the business center, sports lounge, yoga room, etc. Not that they were bad, just unnecessary. It misses the whole point of living in the city, IMO, to cocoon yourself up in your private community, rather than taking part in the greater neighborhood.Makes me think of the portion of an article I posted under the DT nightlife thread, about the differences between Sawtelle & Little Tokyo, where Savoy is located.

It will be a letdown if the addition of a lot more housing to hoods in DT, such as around LT, doesn't create more balance between the city's west, where Sawtelle is located, & areas farther east, or around DT.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

I don't see how they say Shy's three projects "comprises almost an entire city block on Spring Street between Sixth and Seventh streets". It's really just the top and bottom of block, i.e., the western corners of 6th/Spring and 7th/Spring. In between these are three buildings unrelated to the Shy's project: the Stock Exchange (night club), City Lofts, and the Banks/Huntley Building.

It will make a nice continuous strip of development though. Hopefully all these new residents on Spring Street will soon start demanding streetscape improvements (nice sidewalks, new trees, etc.)

[ksep]

this year was a little bit of a let down imho; too many cheapo, valleystyle apartment buildings with thick carpeting and rustic wood cabinets like axis and savoy. i would rather shoot my left nut off than live in a woodframe apartment complex. the stucco, the drywall, the vertical blinds...good lord! :yuck: the one cool thing about the savoy though is when you exit through the front steps onto alameda and you're standing right there on the edge of little tokyo.
library court looks really good from the street, but inside it's just more of the same. i'm glad they have all their groundfloor retail taken care of. that surely will be an asset to the neighborhood.
metro 417 is alright - if that's your style. i really wanted to see that one penthouse there with that big terrace, but you have to schedule an appointment for that.
packard lofts didn't wow me eighter.
skylofts is pretty cool, but way out of my pricerange.
metlofts is by far the most modern and coolest building in los angeles to date.
that's all we saw cause the rest didn't have any real models to look at.

the savoy
http://static.flickr.com/36/120494570_5ec0405102_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/45/120494569_64444cbc19_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/56/120494568_15431fdef4_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/56/120494163_745031c77c_o.jpg

metro 417
http://static.flickr.com/49/120494161_36e96bf05c.jpg

the eastern columbia as seen from the skylofts
http://static.flickr.com/53/120494154_d6cd4007ce_o.jpg

the future hotel gansevoort from the skylofts. that rooftop bar will be nice.
http://static.flickr.com/34/120494152_e660def56d_o.jpg

market lofts
http://static.flickr.com/45/120494157_94323b1dbd_o.jpg

i promise i'll take more pictures next time.

[citywatch]

Thanks for the photos, ksep. The last one in particular is helpful because it shows that the site of Astani's Concerto condo towers, which was supposed to have been under construction by Jan or Feb, still is a....parking lot! :yuck:

That's why I'm a lot more easygoing than you about condo projs like Axis or Savoy. I recall what they used to be----deadzone parking lots----& I say "hallelujah!", they've been wiped out of the hood. So 2 down but, unfortunately, dozens & dozens more to follow, such as all the blacktop that still sits between the Skylofts & the Eastern columbia loft bldg.

[ksep]

:previous: oh sure. don't get me wrong. i am glad that they've build axis, savoy, medici etc. they are better than empty parking lots, and they seem to be some of the more successful projects in downtown, therefore bringing a lot of people into the neighborhood - they are just not my cup of tea to live in. i realize that not everybody can be, nor should be, as cool as i am. ;)

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ Same here. Of course I'm glad the parking lots are gone, replaced by living breathing residents. But its the suburban feel I don't like. That's not even just a matter of taste, it's a matter of the effect it will have on its environment.

Compare two examples. First, the new building at Second/Central (I can't remember its name, Hikari?). Dense building built out right to the street, with ground-floor retail, lighting, fixtures, etc. Will obviously interact well with its neighborhood.

Compare this to Savoy, a walled fortress with bars and barriers surrounding the first floor units. Fronting Alameda -- a carport. Fronting Rose Street -- well, there is no more Rose Street, since its been gated off and converted into a private driveway/dog walking area. This building is catering to the fears of suburbanites, rather than to people who actually want the real 'big city' experience.

[colemonkee]

ksep, great shots! Is it just me, or do those look like parking spaces on the roof of the Gaansevort?

[Steve2726]

Here is an interesting render from the Downtown BID interactive map of the Market Lofts:

http://dcbid.cartifactmaps.com/buildings/23.jpg

It is taken from this site:
http://www.downtownla.com/map6.htm
You need to select "Market at 9th and Flower & Ralph's".
I have no idea where they got this from but it is different from the one on the developers site so I doubt it is accurate:
http://www.market-lofts.com/

[citywatch]

I have no idea where they got this from but it is different from the one on the developers site so I doubt it is accurate:
That's definitely not the site of the Ralphs with the condos on top. It possibly is a picture of the bldg planned for the parking lot across the street, to the east, which is part of the devlpr's group of properties.



they are just not my cup of tea to live in.I'm still trying to figure out what many buyers or renters will favor the most or the least.

So far, the burban type apt bldgs developed by GH Palmer have leased up faster than the more urbanized conversion projs like metro417 or the Gas Co lofts. I think even City lights, the burban type of apt bldg east of the convention ctr, rented pretty quickly, even though it's in a pretty dead part of South Pk.

OTOH, the Pacific Electric & Santa Fe lofts bldgs have booked up better than I thought they would, even though their location near skid row certainly would be iffy to many ppl.



This building is catering to the fears of suburbanites, rather than to people who actually want the real 'big city' experience. However, the dilemma is there are a lot of homeless ppl & criminals released from the nearby jail often wandering around the streets of DT, esp near Alameda St in LT. The question is how can condos that have direct access to the sidewalk & street be designed so that potential break ins or, worse, home invasion type robberies be avoided?

Not a minor issue because latest stats indicate robberies have increased in the hood, & there continues to be way too many incidents like the one I saw on the news last night. Some guy was killed after running out of his apt & yelling at a guy who was trying to break into his car. That crime happened in the Mar Vista area, but I know a writer for the DT News described a similar occurance in DT a few wks ago, where he was looking out the window of a restaurant (which I think he said is located on 7th St) & saw some guy eyeing his parked car. But the would-be thief at least ran away when the writer said he stormed out of the restaurant & yelled something like "get the fuck away from my car!!!"

[colemonkee]

^ I think that "guy" was Sam Hall Kaplan.

[Easy]

I'd be careful before confronting a thief. I know a guy that saw a group of kids taking stuff out of his unlocked car. Two girls and two guys that he said all looked about 15 or 16 and looked relatively harmless. He told his co-worker to call the police and ran out to confront them. They got into an argument that lasted only a minute or two and then the police arrived. When they searched the kids one of the guys had a loaded pistol in his backpack. You just never know these days.

[citywatch]

^ I know some guy, who I believe lived in Bell (or some southeast LA county city like that), got shot & killed several wks ago after confronting a tagger who was vandalizing a neighbor's wall.

[bobcat]

ANALYSIS
Casden Forecasts Rising Apartment Rents Across Southern California

http://www.carealestatejournal.com/newswire/index.cfm?sid=&tkn=&eid=822901&evid=1

LOS ANGELES - Slow and steady gains in the overall Southern California economy will continue to push up apartment rents and occupancy rates that now rank among the highest in the country, according to the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast released by the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate.

Overall, almost 97 percent of apartments in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are rented and those occupancy rates should remain steady this year.

Rent increases of 6 percent to 7 percent can be expected in Los Angeles, where the average monthly rent at the end of last year was $1,416. Demand for apartments will continue to be supported by the addition of 45,000 to 60,000 forecasted new jobs. Los Angeles County leads the nation in multifamily development with 10,900 new apartments under construction at the end of 2005.

Downtown Los Angeles accounted for one-third of all apartments completed in the county in 2005. Occupancy rates downtown at 98.2 percent are the highest in the county and will continue to be tight.

Orange County renters also can expect a rent hike of 6 percent to 7 percent beyond the average monthly rent of $1,390. With some of the highest home prices in the nation and fewer apartment completions in 2005, Orange County's apartment market is poised for another stellar performance. Significant demand continues in both Anaheim (the most affordable) and Newport Beach (the most expensive). Irvine remains a dominant submarket with the greatest number of new apartments completed.

In the near term, the Inland Empire's available supply of apartments may exceed demand so that rent increases could become more tempered this year, with the rate of growth at 5 percent. Southwest Riverside County, including Temecula, Murrieta and Wildomar, is the market leader in new construction with 3,000 units under way. The Foothill area, close to job centers in Los Angeles and Orange counties, should continue to have the most expensive rents, and the trade-based submarkets near Ontario Airport continue to be strong, helping the entire region hold on to the title of California's fastest-growing urban area over the next 10 years.

"The recent run-up in home prices makes apartment living more desirable," said Delores Conway, director of the Casden Forecast. "And the tight supply of land coupled with more condo conversions means fewer available units. That translates into higher rents and occupancy rates for the next couple of years."

[Easy]

ksep, great shots! Is it just me, or do those look like parking spaces on the roof of the Gaansevort?

They do look like parking space lines, but if you look closely you can see that they actually connect to the ledge. They must be cables supporting something like maybe a billboard or sign.

[sbocguy]

Here is an interesting render from the Downtown BID interactive map of the Market Lofts:

http://dcbid.cartifactmaps.com/buildings/23.jpg

It is taken from this site:
http://www.downtownla.com/map6.htm
You need to select "Market at 9th and Flower & Ralph's".
I have no idea where they got this from but it is different from the one on the developers site so I doubt it is accurate:
http://www.market-lofts.com/

That rendering has been floating around for a while... I believe it's actually depicting WaMu's new Seattle HQ and at some point got mistakenly attributed to Market Lofts on either the architect's or developer's website. The folks at Cartifact evidently are going off of that info and never got word that it was incorrect. Minor error, really, considering the rest of that map is friggin' awesome...

[ksep]

They do look like parking space lines, but if you look closely you can see that they actually connect to the ledge. They must be cables supporting something like maybe a billboard or sign.

i'm pretty sure those are metal bars supporting the ledge itself. like for earthquakes and stuff.

[ksep]

That rendering has been floating around for a while... I believe it's actually depicting WaMu's new Seattle HQ and at some point got mistakenly attributed to Market Lofts on either the architect's or developer's website. The folks at Cartifact evidently are going off of that info and never got word that it was incorrect. Minor error, really, considering the rest of that map is friggin' awesome...

look, it's been fixed.

[sbocguy]

Cool... the map improves as we speak! :D

[LAMetroGuy]

April 5, 2006 – New Mixed-Use Project Springs to Life in Historic Downtown LA
Article Date: 04/05/06

Full Story:
A private investor acquired a three-building portfolio consisting of more than 800k sf of commercial space in downtown Los Angeles for $75 mil. In addition to the three buildings, a 63.7k sf surface parking lot was included in the portfolio, which comprises almost an entire city block on Spring St between 6th and 7th Streets in the heart of Historic Downtown Los Angeles.

The buyer, Barry Shy, plans on developing a mixed-use project, to be called Spring Street Plaza, on the property. The development is slated to contain up to 1,000 new homes and 60k sf of retail. Construction on the first phase is expected to begin immediately.

The Spring Street Plaza Portfolio is comprised of:

• 650 S. Spring Street -- a 12-story, 246k sf office building. In the 1920's, the building was home to Bank of America and is famous for its ornate lobby, classical architecture and high quality construction.

• 600 S. Spring -- a 275.8k sf, 17-story office building with three levels of subterranean parking.

• 111 W. 7th Street -- a 223.1k sf, 11-story garment manufacturing building.

• A 63.7k sf surface parking lot on Main St. The parking lot is a pay-to-park public parking lot.

"The Spring Street Plaza Portfolio is a noteworthy transaction as it represents the largest adaptive reuse redevelopment opportunity to date in Historic Downtown Los Angeles," said Michael Ross, Managing Director at Colliers International. "With the central location of the portfolio, this development will connect the adjacent projects and patch the hole in the tapestry of this burgeoning community with a vibrant and dynamic mixed-use concept."

Michael Ross, Fred Cordova, Bret Hardy, Nathan Pellow, Steve Nanino and Richard Abdulian represented the seller, an entity of L & R Investment Company, in the transaction. David Damus headed operations for the Spring Street Plaza transaction on behalf of L & R, an owner/operator of parking facilities throughout Los Angeles and the U.S.

[colemonkee]

^ The good news: three properties will be redeveloped into residential by a developer that has the money to pull it off. The bad news: that developer is Barry Shy, who is notorious for cutting corners and promising much more than he delivers. There are also a lot of legitimate claims that he has reneged on contracts in the past with potential buyers. I only ask you to look at his property at 5th and Broadway as an example.

[citywatch]

The bad news: that developer is Barry Shy, who is notorious for cutting corners and promising much more than he delivers. I know that Shy was the one who took the risk of buying & restoring your bldg, & for the sake of the hood I hope he's not as much of a slickster as some make him out to be. If not, there's a risk he'll be making parts of the hood vulnerable to falling apart all over again in the future. Then again, I hope his willingness to hand down $75 million means he's in it for the long run, or that he's smart enough to know that if he screws things up in DT, he'll be screwing himself up in the process.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

I hope his willingness to hand down $75 million means he's in it for the long run, or that he's smart enough to know that if he screws things up in DT, he'll be screwing himself up in the process.

The story I remember about Shy was about him doing things on the cheap, then claiming no responsibility once he sold the units. That would indicate he wasn't interested in the long run, but rather taking quick advantage of the current market and leaving behind some bad units.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

Here's an article from a year and a half ago, about the slippery Mr. Shy. I don't know what happened to these cases.

Trouble at the Higgins Building
As Project Goes Condo, Residents Spar With Developer
by Jason Mandell

One of Downtown's highest profile loft buildings is engulfed in turmoil, with residents battling the owner as he attempts to convert the property into condominiums just one year after it opened.

Tenants in the Higgins Building at Second and Main charge that owner Barry Shy has exhibited a pattern of deceit and intimidation. Among the accusations are that Shy overstated the size of their units to lure them into the building, and that he promised in writing to sell units for tens of thousands of dollars less than he is now asking. Many charge Shy with bullying them into purchasing their units before they are legally required to do so.

Shy maintains that he is following legal procedures, and argues that certain tenants are being "unreasonable." He accused residents of stealing and fabricating the numerous documents they are now using against him.

While tension has been rising inside the building for months, a series of incidents over the past few weeks has pushed the conflict to new heights.

Early this month, Shy asked each tenant in the building to commit to buying his or her unit. He posted notices - copies of which were provided to the Los Angeles Downtown News by Higgins residents - asking tenants to sign documents confirming that they would purchase their units at the prices and under the conditions he was asking. Tenants were told to deliver a $3,000 deposit in order to reserve their units.

The notices said residents had to sign the papers by Sept. 10, or else Shy would begin selling their units to the public.

The notices spurred outrage. Many tenants complained that Shy was pressuring them into buying their units, without giving them the amount of time to make a decision that is required by law.

Robert Cummings, a senior deputy at the California Department of Real Estate who is overseeing the Higgins conversion, said that under state law Shy cannot force tenants to sign the documents. Cummings said Shy first has to obtain final approval from the department. Once he does, he has to provide tenants 90 days to review the documents.

"If he has no waiver from the city, then in my opinion he is not complying with the government code," said Cummings, who added that he has contacted Shy's lawyer.

In an interview last week with the Los Angeles Downtown News, Shy argued that "this law [the 90-day notice requirement] does not apply to me." He said that since all of the tenants who moved in knew that the building would be converted into condos, he was legally exempt from giving them 90 days notice.

Emily Gabel-Luddy, a deputy at the city's planning department who oversees condo conversions, said that while she has yet to examine the situation at the Higgins Building, she is not aware of any exemption from the 90-day notice requirement. She said it would be up to the City Attorney's office to determine if Shy is complying with the law. The City Attorney's office has not investigated the situation.

Tension inside the building reached a boiling point a few days after the notices were posted when Shy sent letters to 30 tenants asking them to vacate their units in 60 days. Ryan Miller, who moved into the building last summer, said he received a letter even though he plans on buying his unit.

Miller said that when he approached the building's management about the notice, he was told that it was a mistake. Shy said that he sent eviction notices only to month-to-month tenants who did not intend to purchase their units, although a few notices were sent out in error.

"Our answer was, 'We apologize,'" said Shy. "I don't want them to move out if they want to buy. Forget if I'm a good man or a bad man. I'm a businessman. I want to sell the units."

Miller charged that Shy's actions were strategic, not accidental. "It's a pressure tactic to make me sign the escrow papers," said Miller. "They're trying to jam it down our throats. They're threatening to sell the apartment out from under us."

Mike Esparza, another Higgins resident, said Shy is using "scare tactics" in order to secure deposits from tenants.

"He's acting like a guy who's cash poor and willing to do a lot of unscrupulous stuff in order to achieve his ends," said Esparza.

Size Matters

The Higgins Building opened in summer 2003, and helped usher in Downtown's housing boom. Shy and development firm Albion Pacific converted the 1910 structure into 135 units. (Albion president Andrew Meieran said he divested most of his interest in the building once it was occupied. He said he is now overseeing the ground floor retail while Shy handles housing management.)

The building filled up quickly. Shy promised that tenants would be able to purchase their units. He said that half of each tenants' rent would be applied toward up to five percent of the purchase price. These facts are not in dispute.

However, many tenants - who believed they were getting into Downtown's rising real estate market on the ground floor - now say they were misled on other issues.

One major complaint is the size of the lofts. Residents say that Shy inflated the size of the units by hundreds of square feet in order to woo customers. Christopher Balding, who moved into the Higgins in January, said he received promotional material that listed his unit as 1,123 square feet. However, in the homeowners budget that Shy distributed to tenants earlier this year, Balding's unit is listed as only 916 square feet.

Nelson Lee, who moved into the building one year ago, said the promotional material, which he says was also featured on the building's website, listed his unit as 1,152 square feet. Shy's homeowners budget details it as 1,032 square feet.

Higgins residents provided copies of the documentation listing the square footage to the Los Angeles Downtown News. There is a 15% to 20% overall discrepancy in the size of the building's units between the older documents and Shy's current figures.

Shy acknowledged that the building's website provided different square footage than what he says is the actual size of the units, but the developer argued that he cannot be held responsible. He said a former business partner created the website.

"He put all the information there," said Shy. "I tried to remove it. I don't own the website, so they didn't let me remove it."

Shy said he cannot be held to the square footage listed on the documents cited by residents. While he acknowledged that the documents exist, he said tenants were never given the papers.

"If somebody stole them from the desk , I cannot control it," said Shy.

$300 Question

Another charge being leveled by residents is that Shy promised to sell their units to them at a certain price, and is now asking tens of thousands of dollars more in most cases. Numerous tenants said that upon moving in they were either given or shown a letter stating that when the building was converted into condos, the units would cost no more than $300 per square foot.

A letter provided to the Los Angeles Downtown News by residents of the Higgins Building states, "Selling price is less than $300 per square foot. Exact price will be determined at the time of sale." The letter has Barry Shy's signature at the bottom.

Shy is asking well over that price for most, if not all, of the units. Lee, who says he was shown the letter by building management, stated that Shy wants $350,000 for his unit - which amounts to nearly $340 per square foot.

"He told us something and he's just not honoring it," said Lee.

Shy responded that the letter promising a $300 per square foot cap is a fake.

"Somebody fabricated the letter and spread it to the tenants," said Shy. "It's not my signature."

Next Steps

Shy is fast on his way to becoming one of Downtown's most prolific residential players. He is developing or co-developing three other loft buildings in the area; the projects contain a combined 585 units and total at least $45 million. Shy said he is currently accepting deposits at the Bartlett Building on Seventh Street, which he says will contain 140 condominiums.

Meanwhile, the Higgins Building is in flux. Shy has yet to receive the final report from the Department of Real Estate that will enable him to close escrow on the units and convert the building into condos. Cummings, who has to sign off on the report, said Shy still must submit key information. Cummings said that in earlier documents, Shy listed several amenities at the Higgins - such as a swimming pool and spa - that do not exist.

"It was a typo," said Shy, who blamed the title company he hired to produce the document. Shy said the information would be corrected in the final report.

Higgins tenants are divided over how to proceed. Some do not want to pay Shy's asking prices, while others say the escrow agreement is slanted against them. Balding said he is meeting with city and state officials, who he hopes will help straighten out the situation. If not, Balding said he may take more serious action.

"It would only be a last ditch effort to bring litigation," said Balding. "I will not rule anything out."

Other residents worry that if they fight Shy, they could be putting their investment in jeopardy.

"We feel like if we try to challenge this guy, he'll kick us out," said Lee.

Shy argued that most of the tenants in the building are happy; he said 80 of them have delivered deposits to reserve their units. He asserted that a small group of tenants are "playing games."

"They try to force me to sell it to them for much lower than market price," said Shy. "They try to dictate the prices."

Miller, who has yet to deliver a deposit to Shy, said he objects to the escrow agreement, not the price of his unit. He said Shy is the one responsible for the conflict.

"He's creating a tremendous amount of ill will," Miller said. "He's making it an absolute nightmare for everybody."

[I]Contact Jason Mandell at jason@downtownnews.com.
page 1, 9/20/04

[bobcat]

The bad news: that developer is Barry Shy, who is notorious for cutting corners and promising much more than he delivers.

More bad news: They will all be given confusingly similar names. (ShyBarry Lofts, ShyBarry Tower, Barry's Lofts, SB1, etc.)

[LA420]

This is my first time here and been reading alot of your posting's, very interesting. Well i am sort of concerned with my city LA (DTLA) and the reason why is i have been reading other posting from other cities (ssp High-rise) and it seem like we are really slow in building high-rise's and when i mean high-rise i am not talking about 11 to 24 stories, i am talking about the really thing. WHY aren't we building anything taller then 55 stories? Can someone please help me understand why we are getting so excited about 11 stories or around that ball park when New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and yes Miami, their building higher while we are building less then 55 stories. I know its not the earthquake reason, so what is it. Miami such a small city (hurricane country) and am not saying anything bad about Miami but come on their building a whole lot of real skyscrapers and not these little baby building that LA is building, jezzzzzzzz how sad what a joke :jester: . I am not trying to sound negative. Does anyone agree or am i just retarded in thinking higher and densely :shrug:

[bobcat]

Don't know much about the situation in Atlanta, but Chicago and NYC have dense cores that require high density high rise development. Las Vegas and Miami have been overrun with speculators and, IMO, are very overbuilt.

Because of the high price of construction, there's really no reason to construct supertalls except as a civic ego boost. What DTLA has been doing instead is converting millions of square feet of empty office space into housing. Now that convertable office space is mostly gone you will start seeing more truly highrise development, assuming the housing market doesn't collapse, of course.

[LA420]

Hum well i guess their just moving really slow because when i was in high school in the 90's nothing was built but now that things are improving i would think they would be moving quickly but to my surprise they are lagging seriously really lagging but then again i am not an architect. Well Hahn didn't help bringing shit to this city, hum I think Villagrossa will do very well in building up LA there so many places in downtown that are undeveloped and he's talked about it so will see. One other thing does anyone know what's going on with the Grand Ave thing? :worship:

[LongBeachUrbanist]

L.A. as a region isn't doing that bad compared to other markets. It's specifically Downtown L.A. that's struggled for so long.

DTLA was fucked up pretty bad by the city's monied interests back in the 50's. They wanted the city of the future, which itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. The bad thing is how they went about getting there. They bulldozed Bunker Hill, one DTLA's old neighborhoods. This got rid of residents. They removed lots of historic buildings like the Old Courthouse, in order to straighten out streets. They sliced up Downtown by criss-crossing it with freeways. The critical final blow was the dismantling of region's system of rail transit, which radiated from Downtown.

What they wound up was a Downtown with no residential base and an Financial District (Spring Street) emptying out for cheaper locales (e.g. Glendale). This lead to the closure of many great retail locations, lots of empty streets, and the expansion of Skid Row.

IOW, Downtown sat pretty much dead for ~40 years, w. the exception of a small area west of Grand Avenue, due to bad planning and cheap land values elsewhere in the region.

From that perspective, I think what is happening now is excellent. You need people, businesses and investment money before you can justify new skyscrapers. That's what's happening now in South Park, Little Tokyo, the Historic Core, etc. The return of the Metro was a key factor in this renewal. As the area's problems get fixed, we will eventually see increased interest in building the huge towers you're looking for.

[ocman]

More bad news: They will all be given confusingly similar names. (ShyBarry Lofts, ShyBarry Tower, Barry's Lofts, SB1, etc.)

Are you being serious? That's so "used car dealership".

[LongBeachUrbanist]

Well Hahn didn't help bringing shit to this city

Hahn didn't do much, but I do credit him with one thing: expanding the adaptive reuse ordinance in DTLA. (Not that it was his idea, but anyway.) This made it possible for old office buildings along Spring Street to be converted into residential units. Along w. Staples Center, this ordinance sparked the current residential boom in Downtown L.A. And all those new residents have led to numerous restaurants and stores to open in DTLA.

[LA420]

Thanks for the info i guess i didn't know much about it, i am learning LBU and can someone tell me something about the Grand Ave project? are they going to start soon are there planing this project in hundred years LOL :haha: I heard at the end of the year why so long, could it be the parking lot contacts and stuff like that and i think its the worst time of the year to break ground that's rainy season duh. damn red tape!

[bobcat]

Hum well i guess their just moving really slow because when i was in high school in the 90's nothing was built but now that things are improving i would think they would be moving quickly but to my surprise they are lagging seriously really lagging but then again i am not an architect.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with what's going on downtown, but if you look at beginning of this thread I list all of the planned and completed residential projects in downtown and the number of residential units they represent. There are over 10,000 units recently completed or under construction, with nearly 20,000 more proposed. Everyone is so excited about the current projects, regardless of their height, because building a residential base is key to creating a 24 hr community. There was numerous skyscrapers built during the late 80's but downtown was still dead because they were all office towers.

[bobcat]

Are you being serious? That's so "used car dealership".

I'm just guessing for now, but that's been the pattern with his other projects. Since I have to maintain the list at the start of this thread I have a decent familiarity with all the residential projects downtown. However, even I have trouble keeping straight all the Barry Shy developments.

[bobcat]

can someone tell me something about the Grand Ave project?

Check out that project's main thread.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=68324&page=19

There's supposed to be news coming up in the next few weeks, with some announcements about the park as well as Gehry's designs.

[citywatch]

More bad news: They will all be given confusingly similar names. (ShyBarry Lofts, ShyBarry Tower, Barry's Lofts, SB1, etc.)Sure seems like the guy has no lack of ego. Therefore, I hope he won't want his name attached to a bunch of bldgs that end up with a bad reputation.

I'm only giving him the benefit of the doubt right now because if he leaves behind a trail of ill will & failed projs, that's gonna hurt the entire hood. And it's not like there aren't other problems that will pop up now & in the future.

[citywatch]

Can someone please help me understand why we are getting so excited about 11 stories or around that ball park when New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and yes Miami, their building higher while we are building less then 55 stories.
Because for ppl in LA or particularly DT, for yrs & yrs we've been like wanderers trapped in Death Valley, lots of problems & not a lot of good news. And so that bottle of warm, moldy water lying on the side of the road starts to look pretty good after awhile, because, as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers.

And if you think things are slow right now, or nothing much ambitious is underway, you don't wanna know what things were like as recently as 5 to 14 yrs ago, esp the few yrs right after the 92 riots.

[citywatch]

DTLA was fucked up pretty bad by the city's monied interests back in the 50's. The problems or weaknesses predate that by decades. I think it was during the discussion about the problems with Pershing Sq that someone noted that Bunker Hill, as one example, started becoming a slum as long ago as the 1920s. And the hood, going back way before the 50s, for a variety of reasons, has never inspired the kind of respect or cheers that many ppl have given to cities like NY, Chicago or SF.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ It depends on what you call a slum. Sure parts of downtown were rundown, but at least they were rundown neighborhoods. And Broadway in the 50's wasn't rundown.

Old neighborhoods can be rehabilitated. Look at NYC, lots of old poor neighborhoods have been rehabed into very expensive housing. In L.A. we're basically starting from scratch.

Anyway, the knee-jerk, slash-and-burn reaction to these 'slums' is what got us into this predicament. The result was blank walls, surface lots and unwalkable streets. If anyone has something positive to say about that, I'd like to hear it.

[citywatch]

^ It depends on what you call a slum. Sure parts of downtown were rundown, but at least they were rundown neighborhoods. And Broadway in the 50's wasn't rundown.
Ppl with $$ started abandoning the hood in growing numbers beginning around the 1940s. I think streets like Broadway were even more vulnerable to eventually falling apart because they never were surrounded by much money & many nice locations to begin with. And if you look at the history of NYC since the 1950s, referring to Manhattan, esp around Battery Pk, & esp because of large landfill work near the now gone WTC, a lot of what's there today wasn't there as recently as 20 to 50 yrs ago.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ Are you kidding? Broadway was the place to be up until the 1950's. All the major department stores were there, and the streets were filled with middle-class shoppers and movie-goers.

And if you look at NYC, you'll see that so much of Downtown Manhattan, places like Tribeca, Soho, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Little Italy, etc. were very sketchy areas in the not-so-distant past. Now they are among the most expensive places in the country to live.

My point being, its so much more feasible to rehab than to start over from scratch. You retain the bones of the neighborhood that way. When they flattened the west side of Downtown, they figured people would come pouring back in. Guess what, they didn't. The ones who did come didn't care about making the streetscape interesting. Hence the fortress-like feel of the current Bunker Hill.

[citywatch]

Broadway was the place to be up until the 1950's. All the major department stores were there, and the streets were filled with middle-class shoppers and movie-goers.I'm aware of that, but I think it was even easier for those ppl to walk away from the hood because much of DT in general wasn't that nice or nice enough to begin with. For instance, I know the once important business dist of Spring St had been a neighbor of skid row dating back well before the 1950s.

I've long been struck by how quickly a person enters & leaves the nice parts of the hood, often a matter of just a few streets in either direction. But then I suddenly realize some of what's gotten better, such as the OBD, or around Pershing Sq, or around Staples, or even around the Palmer apt bldgs, was still a shambles as recently as 5 yrs ago. It's then that I'm reminded at how really miniscule the good things were in DT not too long ago.


And if you look at NYC, you'll see that so much of Downtown Manhattan, places like Tribeca, Soho, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Little Italy, etc. were very sketchy areas in the not-so-distant past. Now they are among the most expensive places in the country to live.But the muscle of NYC, both in terms of $$, culture, tourism & publicity, has long been midtown & to a lesser degree DT, or the hood around Wall St. If you took those powerhouse hoods out of the equation, which DTLA never had to start with, & replaced them with deadzones & slums, or what unfortunately has comprised much of DTLA for over 60 yrs, it's anyone's guess what NY would be like today.

[LA420]

I'm not sure how familiar you are with what's going on downtown, but if you look at beginning of this thread I list all of the planned and completed residential projects in downtown and the number of residential units they represent. There are over 10,000 units recently completed or under construction, with nearly 20,000 more proposed. Everyone is so excited about the current projects, regardless of their height, because building a residential base is key to creating a 24 hr community. There was numerous skyscrapers built during the late 80's but downtown was still dead because they were all office towers.

bobcat thanks for the info (Grand Project) :tup: Trying to learn all this so your input and everyone else helps me, jezzz i guess i am a little naive. I guess i am fast forwarding to what i wish it should look like. The problems LA had in the past slowed things down i didn’t think about that so it's a good start and maybe in 30 years LA will look like (Blade Runner) "yeah right" that was an awesome movie without the rain of course. :yes:

[danparker276]

They're really moving on Hanover. (sorry I just have a camera phone)

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=203&Size=L

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=204&Size=L

[z1sthies]

^^^ Hey I didn't even know they had the foundation down for that! their really moving forward with it.

[danparker276]

Yeah, it's hard to believe those are actually pictures of Hanover.

Here are some pics from the open house at 1100. The have the furniture on the skydeck.
http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=216&Size=L

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=212&Size=L

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=208&Size=L

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=210&Size=L

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=215&Size=L

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=223&Size=L

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=225&Size=L

More photos here:
http://loftla.com/loftla/Building.aspx?bid=1&bname=1100%20Wilshire

[ThreeHundred]

Man..1100 is nice. Lol..when people move in there, it'll be the first time that I have seen lights on in that building since..well..ever!

[danparker276]

Also, 1010 Wilshire is putting windows on the west side of the building

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=240&Size=L

[Easy]

Thanks for the update Dan.

I agree that Hanover (717 Olympic) is really progressing. That's great to see. Really most of the construction seems to be going at a pretty good clip downtown. Of the new projects, it's really only the Ralph's (Market Lofts) that seems to be taking their time and even they seem to have stepped it up over the last few months.

[danparker276]

Ralphs seems to be doing better now.

Here's from 4-07

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=202&Size=L


Here's at 2-12

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=51&Size=L

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ The pics aren't showing, DanParker. But since I was there last night, I can report that the Market Lofts is about four levels above ground now. There is activity all over Figueroa and Flower Streets now, projects in all different stages. It's pretty awesome.

[PeterJ]

hey, where is the parking going to be for the Hancock building?

and anyone have any news on when gansevort west is gonna break ground?

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ From the renderings of Hanover, it suggests 7 levels of parking structure and then the rest of the actual living space will be built above that.

[colemonkee]

They definitely seem to be in a better groove on the Ralph's project, building one floor about every 3-4 weeks, but the pace is still slow. That being said, though, it would make sense the pace would be slower than other projects. The overall size of the lot is larger, which makes pouring and curing the floorplates a longer process, and instead of building vertical columns like Elleven, Luma, Hanover and Colburn, they are pouring the entire outer walls, which also extends the curing time. Progress is still good though.

[ThreeHundred]

Hm..so when Astani (I refuse to call it Concerto :yuck: ) breaks ground in May, that's going to be alot of activity within a 4 block circle. I get all giddy thinking about walking down Fig towards LA Live.

:banana:

[citywatch]

After looking at the city photos forum, I want to raise the point that to the ppl moving to DTLA, or thinking of doing that, who aren't too sure what the hood will be like several yrs from today, I'll say that if this is true of SF (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=1986794&postcount=14), then DTLA also prob will always have a lot of rather quiet, ped free sidewalks. But ones that hopefully won't be made even quieter by as much killjoy NIMBYism as there is in SF. However, we're already more of a "car town" (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=1986919&postcount=20) than they or almost any other city in the US is.

So if even SF, which doesn't have a fraction as many parking lots as DTLA does, is becoming more car oriented, then I don't know if our town's autocentric culture will be noticeably different in the future.

The full overview of the thread (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=103090) where the links come from also shows that CA's traditionally most complimented hood, which also has been most frequently cited as CA's or the west coast's most urbanized hood, does include many parts that have a lower density look & feel, or an environment that reminds me of the So CA beach towns of Hermosa & Manhattan Beach.

Considering all of this, & what's going on in San Diego too (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=1976706&postcount=1242), I'd say we can judge the DTLA environment as, in some ways, not as deprived or hopeless as some critics & the press often have made it out to be.

[citywatch]

instead of building vertical columns like Elleven, Luma, Hanover and Colburn, they are pouring the entire outer walls, which also extends the curing time.
That makes me realize the condos will be sitting atop a large area that cannot have too many columns, or what's required for a large space leased to a supermkt. I wonder how the engineering of that bldg deals with the need to keep those condos upright, esp in earthquake country.

I remember experts back in 94 saying that apt bldgs---at least wood framed ones---that sit above parking garages, which have fewer columns, are less rigid than bldgs where the ground floor has many interior walls & columns. Then again, large dept stores have upper floors that sit above large expanses with few columns or interiors walls.

[danparker276]

There is a lot of open space/pool area that sits on top of ralphs. Most of the units are on the edge of the building.

http://loftla.com/loftla/Handler.ashx?PhotoID=241&Size=L

[ThreeHundred]

Aside from Ralph's, what else is going to be at Market Lofts?

[ksep]

here is a picture of that glasstower sign at the north-east corner of eleventh and grand. now, i'm not sure if this is good or bad news, since they are apparently still looking for a developer with deeper pockets who can actually build this thing.
http://static.flickr.com/54/126594472_0ca0e3d74b_b.jpg

[ksep]

Aside from Ralph's, what else is going to be at Market Lofts?
Other specialty shops will include The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cold Stone Creamery, Quiznos Subs, the UPS Store, and more.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

The Glass Tower sign says "Blocks from Blue Line Metro Station".

I would reword it as "Blocks from Metro Center Station (Red and Blue Lines)".

Metro Center is about the same distance from Glass Tower as Pico station. So I'm surprised they're not mentioning the Red Line, which is arguably the higher-value line, at least in terms of destinations for potential Glass Tower residents.

[Steve2726]

Here is a link to an interesting article on the current owner of the Glass Tower property: (The owner is a 25 year old Kid!) It sounds like he is trying to flip it for a quick profit.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_43_27/ai_n15875788

When Amir Kalantari paid 30 percent above the going rate for a half-acre lot at the corner of 11th Street and Grand Avenue, downtown property owners scoffed.

Two years later, Kalantari may be having the last laugh. After getting the plot entitled for the 25-story Glass Tower--and its 128 condominiums--the 25-year-old has the land for sale and is getting bids that are more than double what he paid.

"I wasn't influenced by what everybody else was saying," Kalantari said. "I saw where the market was going and I had confidence it would carry through."

A number of investors who paid above-market rates for downtown L.A. land a few years ago--and got approvals for projects on the sites--are now selling the entitled land to builders with deeper pockets.

Land brokers say a cottage industry has developed involving entrepreneurs buying land and spending up to $1 million to get entitlements before flipping the site for up to a 100 percent profit.

"They are selling to companies that don't want to take the risk," said Mark Tarczynski, first vice president at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., who has the Glass Tower listing. "Mainly those are the larger Wall Street-type development firms."

Downtown entitled land has fetched as much as $575 a foot, and most brokers believe that the amount could rise to more than $600 by year's end. Most of the sellers paid less than half as much.

"A lot of guys who own land are finding that their property has appreciated so quickly they can sell their land and still get 80 percent of the profits they had been anticipating," said Richard Plummet, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

Kalantari, who came to Los Angeles to get a master's degree in business administration at Loyola Marymount University, got swept up in L.A.'s real estate market. After learning of the scope of development downtown, he put off his graduate degree and joined the fray.

To get started, Kalantari's father--a real estate investor based in Austin, Texas--came in on the deal. While the senior Kalantari put up most of the money, the son spent most of the last two years getting the condo project approved.

"Look at the market today, and there's such a scarcity of entitled land downtown," Kalantari said. "There's all this energy downtown and for the first time institutional builders want to be there, so of course you're going to see a drastic increase in the price of these lots."

By buying entitled land, builders minimize the risk that the market will sour between the time they take on a project and finish construction. Getting entitlements in L.A. can take a year and a half and going through planning and permitting another six months. Construction of a high-rise can take about two years.


COPYRIGHT 2005 CBJ, L.P.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

[Steve2726]

The photo of the sign has a goldmine of info, just found this:

http://www.theglasstower.com/

http://www.kalantarigroup.com/theglasstower/images/side_2.jpg

http://www.kalantarigroup.com/theglasstower/images/north_west.jpg

[danparker276]

I wonder why hanover tower doesn't have a website yet.

[citywatch]

After getting the plot entitled for the 25-story Glass Tower--and its 128 condominiums--the 25-year-old has the land for sale and is getting bids that are more than double what he paid.

Downtown entitled land has fetched as much as $575 a foot, and most brokers believe that the amount could rise to more than $600 by year's end. Most of the sellers paid less than half as much.

"A lot of guys who own land are finding that their property has appreciated so quickly they can sell their land and still get 80 percent of the profits they had been anticipating," said Richard Plummet, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

As with flipping of condos, this flipping of land, which is prodded on by good old greed, is distorting mkt conditions. It means there's less likelihood that condos in the future can be sold at reasonable prices, which then means there's a greater possibility that a lot of inventory will end up sitting unsold, which will spook devlprs, which then will put a damper on new devlpt in DTLA all over again.

If new condo or apt projs offer their units at a low enough price, they'll probably do well. But as what's happened with metro417, or some of the overly $$ penthouse units at the Eastern Columbia or 1100 Wilshire bldg (& certainly what's available in Miami, Chicago & San Diego), asking prices are starting to get way out in front of actual demand.

I'd like to know how much profit is currently built into the prices of many of the condos or apts in DT? IOW, if devlprs in upcoming months find a lot of resistance from potential buyers or renters, how much can they lower their sales prices or rents before they're merely breaking even or certainly going into the red?

[LA420]

Hum i thought this building was going to be at least 32 floors, i read somewhere it was 32 floors, wait a minute i read it on the Nadel website. Did they change there mind and decided to make it shorter? :( . Well if they do build it i hope it will be 32 floors, the higher the better. :tup:

[LA420]

Hum i thought this building was going to be at least 32 floors, i read somewhere it was 32 floors, wait a minute i read it on the Nadel website. Did they change there mind and decided to make it shorter? :( . Well if they do build it i hope it will be 32 floors, the higher the better. :tup:


Sorry i forgot to mention Glass tower :slob:

[colemonkee]

^ You're thinking of the Olive Street tower, a different proposal for 32 floors. Glass Tower has always been 25. The Web site is owned by the Kalantari Group, so looks like the original owners are still involved. Hopefully Amir plans to use some of his father's real estate money to partially fund the project and kick off sales. I think with the whole South neighborhood taking shape, this project could be a huge success.

I sent them an email posing as a very interested condo buyer to sniff out their construction timeline, if they even have one. We'll see if they answer.

[LA420]

^ You're thinking of the Olive Street tower, a different proposal for 32 floors. Glass Tower has always been 25. The Web site is owned by the Kalantari Group, so looks like the original owners are still involved. Hopefully Amir plans to use some of his father's real estate money to partially fund the project and kick off sales. I think with the whole South neighborhood taking shape, this project could be a huge success.

I sent them an email posing as a very interested condo buyer to sniff out their construction timeline, if they even have one. We'll see if they answer.


Hum well i went to the web site again and it says Glass Tower with the same image and it states 32 floors here is the link check it out i don't think i am going crazy but if someone has a better explanation of floor confusion to this please tell. http://www.nadelarc.com/ :shrug:

[colemonkee]

^ If you count the floors (and count the top floors as double floors, like they say, it comes out to 25-28 floors, not 32. I'm not sure where they're getting the 32 floors, unless that is an outdated rendering. Guess we'll have to wait until this thing starts rising to tell.

[citywatch]

The Web site is owned by the Kalantari Group, so looks like the original owners are still involved.
Now I'm really curious if Kalantari still is connected to the site because he either hasn't found bidders willing to pay enough $$ or because he'd like to be joint partners on any new devlpt. It will be good if he's finding that land flipping isn't so lucrative any longer, because overly high prices will sabotage the hood's momentum in the next few yrs. IOW, the more a devlpr has to charge buyers of units in the Glass Tower, the less likely it will be sucessful.

Making things tougher, devlprs just a few yrs ago weren't able to build highrise condos in DT because the rate of return wouldn't have been high enough. So unless a fine balancing point is reached & held onto, devlprs of new housing projs will be damned if they do, damned if they don't.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

So lets add the Two new towers to the list!! 50 and 60 stories.

[bobcat]

I'll update when we learn the number of units.

[LAMetroGuy]

1. The City House - 60 Stories

2. Hilton Tower - 55 Stories
3. Metropolis Tower 3 – 55 Stories
4. The Olympic - 50 Stories
5. Zen Tower - 50 Stories
6. Grand Avenue Tower 1 – 50 Stories

7. Metropolis Tower 2 – 46 Stories
8. Metropolis Tower 4 – 42 Stories
9. 8th & Grand Tower 1 - 40 Stories
10. Fig Central Tower 1 - 40 Stories
11. 9th & Flower Tower - 40 Stories
12. Grand Avenue Tower 2 – 40 Stories

13. Olive Street Tower - 35 Stories
14. Herald Examiner Tower 2 – 34 Stories
15. Fig South Tower 1 - 34 Stories
16. Fig South Tower 2 - 34 Stories
17. Metropolis Tower 1 – 30 Stories
18. Pacific Stock Exchange Tower 1 - 30 Stories
19. Pacific Stock Exchange Tower 2 - 30 Stories
20. Grand Avenue Tower 3 – 30 Stories

21. Fig Central Tower 2 - 27 Stories
22. Hanover Tower - 27 Stories
23. Concerto Tower 1 - 27 Stories
24. Concerto Tower 2 - 27 Stories
25. Glass Tower - 25 Stories
26. Grand Avenue Tower 5 – 25 Stories
27. Grand Avenue Tower 6 – 25 Stories
28. Hope Street Condos - 25 Stories
29. Evo - 24 Stories
30. 8th & Grand Tower 2 - 24 Stories
31. Herald Examiner Tower 2 - 24 Stories
32. Little Tokyo Block Eight Tower - 20 Stories
33. Grand Avenue Tower 4 – 20 Stories

34. FIDM Tower - 19 Stories
35. Luma - 17 Stories
36. Federal Courthouse - 16 Stories

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Beat me to it LAMG! i was gonna do the same thing.

How About herald Examiner 1 at 34 stories and the Third Fig South Tower? im not sure of its height but its definitley being built because in my email from South yesterday, the map showed three towers being built at the new site. maybe its the 60 story tower that LAB once mentioned for South!?!

[LAMetroGuy]

I thought that the Herald Exm was 24 stories (it is listed). I haven't heard anything about the third Fig South tower in terms of height or floor count

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Herald examiner is two towers, one at 33 the other at 24 stories.

[LAMetroGuy]

fixed

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Fantastic thanks! By the way, according to the Cityhouse/olympic website, it will be the tallest residential on the west coast! that means it has to be at least ______ how tall?

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Thom Mayne towers have been scrapped for now.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Really? why?

[ksep]

Thom Mayne towers have been scrapped for now.

oh no :( i've been really looking foreward to those.

[edluva]

quite an impressive list. If the 1st 12 buildings are built as proposed, the inventory of downtown skyscrapers of at least 40 and of at least 50 floors in height will have increased by 70%. The result will be a less toothpicky skyline in many of the most popular postcard angles.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ We'll finally have a closer to reality impressive-skyline!

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

I'll update when we learn the number of units.


The City House - Approximately 751 feet high.
Offering 182 market rate condominiums.

The Olympic - Approximately 567 feet high.
Offering 149 market rate condominiums.