LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[bobcat]

Wilshire Grand Hotel to be 70 Stories

http://www.latimes.com/business/mone...,4329990.story

With work set to begin soon on a $1-billion luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles, developer Korean Air revealed some details about the tower that is expected to dramatically alter the city’s skyline.

The skyscraper will be the second-tallest structure in Southern California at 70 stories, only slightly shorter than the US Bank Tower office building, said Yang Ho Cho, chairman of Korean Air.

The design is still a work in progress, but guests are expected to be whisked by high-speed elevators to the lobby on the 70th floor, where they will check in. The top floor will also have a restaurant, bar and infinity swimming pool.

Since there are no completed designs yet I'm not sure if the writer means it'll be "2nd tallest" by height or by number of stories (compared to US Bank Tower's 72) because they could easily add a spire like in the original plans to make the tower taller.

[Westsidelife]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

definitely a great weekend for Downtown LA. The sports marathon went of without a hitch and the traffic was minimal (just like it will be when Farmers Field is built)

Saturday had the Clippers, Lakers, Dodgers and Roger Waters all going
Sunday had the Amgen Tour of California ending at LA Live, the Kings, Clippers and Dodgers

All networks had great aerial coverage of Downtown and LA, and all of em were gushing over how it was an amazing weekend and how much fund they had

Everything ran smoothly in terms of logistics.

The actual games? Not so much. We went 2-4.

[Illithid Dude]

The only thing that worries me about the Wilshire Grand proposal is the 400,000 square feet of offices. Can the market really support that much new space? I mean, DT already has 18% office vacancy, and is struggling to get rid of that. I'm worried that anything more will destroy the market. Also, just saying, they now expect completion to be January 2017, though the start date is still the same. I guess it is because the building will be bigger?

[Mojeda101]

Originally Posted by bobcat

Wilshire Grand Hotel to be 70 Stories

http://www.latimes.com/business/mone...,4329990.story



Since there are no completed designs yet I'm not sure if the writer means it'll be "2nd tallest" by height or by number of stories (compared to US Bank Tower's 72) because they could easily add a spire like in the original plans to make the tower taller.

January 2017...So long from now, =/

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

The only thing that worries me about the Wilshire Grand proposal is the 400,000 square feet of offices. Can the market really support that much new space?

Well 400,000 sf isn't really that big, though, and 2017 is a long ways away. Don't be surprised if completion isn't until 2018.

Regarding height, if we go by the average floor heights of the original proposed hotel (750/45 = 16.67 ft), a 70 story building would be 1167 ft.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by bobcat

Regarding height, if we go by the average floor heights of the original proposed hotel (750/45 = 16.67 ft), a 70 story building would be 1167 ft.

If not taller, because office floor heights are often 20 feet or more. So, by my calculations the tower would be 1,233 feet, which is, if I say so myself, a damn good height.

[BrighamYen]

Image by Brigham Yen and TCA


"Ava Little Tokyo" Mixed-Use Project to Break Ground in Late 2012

Last Wednesday in a presentation to the Little Tokyo community leaders, developer AvalonBay Communities, Inc. detailed their latest plans to build two mixed-use projects (residential over commercial) on two parcels within the 6-acre “Block 8″ development site in Little Tokyo — bounded by 2nd, Los Angeles, and San Pedro.

...
http://brighamyen.com/2012/05/21/new...n-downtown-la/

[Illithid Dude]

Now that's a good way to start a week! I don't really have a problem with this project, because Little Tokyo is all mid-rise anyways. Now, if we can get some high-rise announcements for the historic core, it would be a perfect week. Which brings me to: why aren't we getting any high rise announcements for the historic core? I mean, it's the clear center of the residential boom in DTLA, you'd think there would be some proposals for the area or something. As far as I know, Zen Tower is the only proposal for the historic core. I hope soon that will change. I think the contrast between modern, tall, glassy towers and the older, pre-war buildings would be amazing.

EDIT: And is it just me, or would a lot of these projects be a lot more attractive if they had less color to them?

[LA/OCman]

Yesterday was a great day in Downtown with all of the activity generated by sports fans. A few observations. I met a friend on the EXPO line and took the train into Downtown. So great to have this link into Downtown. Mostly full of King's fans from the Westside...but also families exiting at the museums across from USC. The ride into Downtown was painfully slow, expecially from USC to Pico. The article in the LA Times today talks about the potentially unsafe rail just south of the Pico Station. The ride back was much faster.

LA Live was vibrant. Outside beer halls were busy, the Amgen Bike race was awesome, bike valets outside Staples were full. They say 10,000 cicylists took advantage of the route prior to the Tour of Calif teams.

We walked up to Bunker Hill to get a better look at the race. Very quiet up there...few spectators compared to the thousands near LA Live. Took a peek at the new Civic Center park. It looks great with a lot of full grown trees. I am very excited about it. The other notable find was the Broad museum. Wow, it is really taking off.

The Yard House was packed during the King's game. They really do well when LA Live has events. The Sunday Times has an article about how Downtown is just like LA in general. A lot of different neighborhoods that are disconnected from each other. Let's hope for better connections in the future.

The traffic seemed minimal. So many rail lines leading into Downtown..there is absolutely no reason to drive. The kids on the EXPO line were loving it. As a kid who grew up in Redondo Beach, I never had the opportunity to take rail because there wasn't any. The next generation is very lucky to have an alternative to the auto!

One last comment. I absolutely believe the best way to connect the Downtown neighborhoods is to support the LA Streetcar. The Streetcar almost follows the route of the Downtown loop during the Amgen race yesterday...except that the Streetcar will go down Broadway instead of Hill. To me, this connection is one of the many missing links for Downtown.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LA/OCman

The Yard House was packed during the King's game. They really do well when LA Live has events.

I've been there on days when no major event was taking place & pleasantly surprised at how busy they were. things like that, along with the success of the large restaurant on the ground floor of the brockman bldg, or the ralphs, or the regal cinemas, are among the reasons I started to realize the hood finally was & is coming into its own.

and now news about the revised wilshire grand?! along with news about the devlpt of the huge parking lot at 2nd & LA sts?!



I recall walking out of the new otani hotel several yrs ago, looking south of 2nd st, & seeing this huge gap....


maps.google.com

That's a big reason ppl have traditionally felt not too great about LA & less than thrilled about walking around dt. So replacing that parking lot with new devlpt deserves:

But why is the wilshire grand tower not going to be finished until 2012?

And although the end of the yr will come faster than expected, I still wish the new apt bldgs in LT would break ground right now instead of late 2012.

give ppl like me an inch & we demand a mile.....

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

The only thing that worries me about the Wilshire Grand proposal is the 400,000 square feet of offices. Can the market really support that much new space? I mean, DT already has 18% office vacancy, and is struggling to get rid of that.

that is the ONE thing that continues to lag in dt. It's a sign that the hood's economy still is weaker than it would be if the area had never lost so much of an edge to begin with. It's a problem even several yrs after transit, esp the red line, was finally created & gave dt an advantage over other hoods in LA.

dt is more accessible than areas farther west, & yet many businesses still gravitate towards those hoods instead of dt. Ppl need to remember that when they believe that transit is the magic elixir that will transform LA & bring $$ back to dt. Or that a lack of modern rail lines yrs & yrs & yrs after the old big red cars were shutdown is THE reason the hood went into a serious decline.

I wish things were that simple & easy. But ppl fixating on transit remind me of someone telling me over 10 yrs ago that the reason dtla wasn't attractive was cuz it wasn't near the ocean like SaMo is. I had to tell her that pasadena is even further inland...even further from the coast....& yet it's considered a nice part of town, & even revived its dt some time before dtla was no longer one huge deadzone.

transit is important, but it's only ONE of the many improvements that a successful city needs.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

If not taller, because office floor heights are often 20 feet or more. So, by my calculations the tower would be 1,233 feet, which is, if I say so myself, a damn good height.

but it said it would be the second tallest after library tower, so it will be well shorter unfortunately, hopefully still 300 meters.

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

but it said it would be the second tallest after library tower, so it will be well shorter unfortunately, hopefully still 300 meters.

To me it sounded like the writer simply assumed it would be shorter because it had fewer stories than US Bank Tower. According to the article they haven't even chosen a basic design for the building yet so I don't think they would know for sure if it would be shorter. If they keep the spire from the original design it would easily be taller

[LA/OCman]

Originally Posted by citywatch

that is the ONE thing that continues to lag in dt. It's a sign that the hood's economy still is weaker than it would be if the area had never lost so much of an edge to begin with. It's a problem even several yrs after transit, esp the red line, was finally created & gave dt an advantage over other hoods in LA.

dt is more accessible than areas farther west, & yet many businesses still gravitate towards those hoods instead of dt. Ppl need to remember that when they believe that transit is the magic elixir that will transform LA & bring $$ back to dt. Or that a lack of modern rail lines yrs & yrs & yrs after the old big red cars were shutdown is THE reason the hood went into a serious decline.

I wish things were that simple & easy. But ppl fixating on transit remind me of someone telling me over 10 yrs ago that the reason dtla wasn't attractive was cuz it wasn't near the ocean like SaMo is. I had to tell her that pasadena is even further inland...even further from the coast....& yet it's considered a nice part of town, & even revived its dt some time before dtla was no longer one huge deadzone.

transit is important, but it's only ONE of the many improvements that a successful city needs.

One thing that is never really talked about is how many people live/work in their lofts. Jewerly makers, clothing designers, artists, event planners, private chefs etc....I can tell you both the Rowan and the Eastern Columbia have quite a few people taking advantage of the live/work opportunity. Also, it would be interesting to find out the Class B vacancy rate. The building that houses "The Last Bookstore Downtown" has a lot of entertainment companies and small firms...as well as a great little cafe upstairs. The small businesses operating in the Historic Core are so important to Downtown. If I am not mistaken, the company that produces "Project Runway" is located in the building I mentioned at 5th and Spring.

[dachacon]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

If not taller, because office floor heights are often 20 feet or more. So, by my calculations the tower would be 1,233 feet, which is, if I say so myself, a damn good height.

Only creative office spaces have very tall roof heights, traditional office spaces have roof heights of 15ft. to 16ft. but since its hotel don't expect anything over 12ft. so 70*12= 840ft. With AON at 860ft. its gonna be a very very close second or third. Like 2 Cal and Wells Fargo and Gas Company Tower, all are separated in height by 1ft.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by dachacon

Only creative office spaces have very tall roof heights, traditional office spaces have roof heights of 15ft. to 16ft. but since its hotel don't expect anything over 12ft. so 70*12= 840ft. With AON at 860ft. its gonna be a very very close second or third. Like 2 Cal and Wells Fargo and Gas Company Tower, all are separated in height by 1ft.

The old hotel was to be 750 feet with 45-50 stories, I doubt a 70 story mixed use tower will wind up below 900 feet

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by dachacon

Only creative office spaces have very tall roof heights, traditional office spaces have roof heights of 15ft. to 16ft. but since its hotel don't expect anything over 12ft. so 70*12= 840ft. With AON at 860ft. its gonna be a very very close second or third. Like 2 Cal and Wells Fargo and Gas Company Tower, all are separated in height by 1ft.

Nowdays, office towers have higher ceilings. This is because higher mean larger windows, which means more light and thus, less energy spent on lighting related expenses. Because office towers are now all LEED certified and such, they all have taller ceiling heights. Moreover, creative office space is what is 'hot' right now, which raises the chances of the 400,000 square feet of office space being 400,000 square feet of creative office space.

[RuFFy]

I'm no expert (like citywatch) or nothin', but is it possible that some, if not most, of the 400k sq ft of office space will be occupied by that airline that flys to Korea?

[ThreeHundred]

Originally Posted by RuFFy

I'm no expert (like citywatch) or nothin', but is it possible that some, if not most, of the 400k sq ft of office space will be occupied by that airline that flys to Korea?

That would be my guess.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by bobcat

To me it sounded like the writer simply assumed it would be shorter because it had fewer stories than US Bank Tower. According to the article they haven't even chosen a basic design for the building yet so I don't think they would know for sure if it would be shorter. If they keep the spire from the original design it would easily be taller

It was the chairman of Korean Air who said that, but alas he is not the architect.