Buh bye...
The operator of this machine is a true artist, able to maneuver the bucket to within an inch of the adjacent building but not damage it in any way:
What is interesting to note is that the building next door is older than this one, and also that whatever previously occupied the One Hawthorne lot must have been a one story building. I'll be curious to go back and see what the whole sign reads:
I spent some time talking to the boss of this operation, who told me some interesting things:
- They didn't need the wrecking ball
- However nice looking the building was it was seismically sensitive; poorly put together
- Construction will commence immediately upon completion of demo work
- They will dig down 44' for three levels of underground parking
- They have an L shaped plot extending behind the building next door
- The owners of the building next door wanted a ridiculous sum to sell
- Those owners are now screwed because they have only a tiny plot on which nothing can be easily built
- It costs $900 a square foot to build the thing, which is why it will cost $1,000 a square foot