LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0 - Page 144

pesto · #**2861** Posted: **Dec 22, 2011, 6:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch

the southern end of broadway around where the old UA theater bldg is located does show the greater promise to me. That's cuz it has fewer swapmeets, or more bldgs where the ground floor spaces are vacant.

however, there is a totally vacant bldg on broadway around 4th st, referring to the bldg that caught on fire several yrs ago. there's a walkway barricade around it, which gives one the hope that demolition will begin shortly. But so far, no such luck. the corner of that intersection is one of the few areas in all of dt where I actually wish there was a parking lot instead of a hollowed out & mostly burned down bldg. that's an example of just how many layers of

still has to be dealt with in the hood.

Same old story: it's easier to re-do completely dead areas than bustling bottom of the line areas. What might make more sense is to encourage uses such as swapmeets to move further northeast or southeast, where there is plentiful land and warehouses with minimal demand, and NO architectural treasures.

Hopefully, someone will take some parking lots and old low-rise and develop something nice in the area just south of there.

DistrictDirt · #**2862** Posted: **Dec 22, 2011, 8:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch

your friend's reaction pretty much duplicates my own response & that of my daughter, not to mention the non local relatives with us at the time, when we drove down broadway awhile ago. I at first expected----& was hoping----the street would be full of vacant storefronts. I wanted to point out to everyone that the street had lots of potential.....that it was like a blank canvas ready to be painted on. so when I instead saw block after block of grimy swapmeets, all still in business, I was truly disappointed.

broadway is one of the few streets in all of dt that I think would look better or show promise of a brighter future if most of its bldgs, or certainly the first floor spaces of those bldgs, were vacant.

I was in the hood yesterday & the one thing that never fails to hit me is how much of DT still needs lots of TLC. I think when many of us are talking about dtla like it's a lab monkey in a science experiment, we get so much into the small details that we forget the fundamentals. iow, when I'm actually in DT, I find it impossible to get worked up about matters like parking podiums on highrise condo bldgs, or new bldgs being too short, or malls being too burban, or bldgs not being architecturally fantastic enough, or projs not being geared to transit, when there still is a lot of grime & too many gaps & deadzones throughout the hood.

We can all point out specific details of what's wrong with Broadway right now (unkempt storefronts, bargain-basement businesses, a vacant lot here or there, etc.) But if you look, there is undeniable positive momentum in the right direction. Some new Broadway businesses in the pipeline that have been announced:

Umamicatessen / PIGG - 846 S Broadway (Early 2012)
Two Boots Pizza - 828 S Broadway (Any day now)
Figaro - 618 S Broadway (Mid 2012)
Los Angeles Brewing Company - 756 S Broadway (Opening soon? Hung up in permitting I think)
Clifton's swanky remodel - 648 S Broadway (2012)
Famima - 544 S Broadway (2012)
Ace Hotel - 933 S Broadway (2013?)

Unlike many of the existing businesses on Broadway, all of these places are solidly catering to a middle and upper class crowd (my unofficial unit of measure here: all of these places will undoubtedly be listed as '$$' or '$$$' on Yelp when they open...no '$' here.)

By the time they open, I have no doubt that there will be double or triple this number of new businesses in the pipeline slated to open. The ACE project alone will likely catalyze dozens of other new businesses around 9th and Broadway.

My point is, we can all nitpick all the things wrong with Broadway right now, but take heart: the revitalization of Broadway is in full swing already, even if you can't see it in Google Streetview shots.

bobcat · #**2863** Posted: **Dec 22, 2011, 11:28 PM**

More hotel news...

According to Brigham the Trinity may become DTLA's 2nd King & Grove hotel.

http://brighamyen.com/2011/12/22/tri...n-los-angeles/

Illithid Dude · #**2864** Posted: **Dec 23, 2011, 6:13 AM**

And in even more hotel news, tomorrow (December 23rd) is the last day that the Wilshire Grand is open. Up next: the biggest change to the downtown skyline in over twenty years.

JDRCRASH · #**2865** Posted: **Dec 23, 2011, 6:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

And in even more hotel news, tomorrow (December 23rd) is the last day that the Wilshire Grand is open. Up next: the biggest change to the downtown skyline in over twenty years.

I think it's a stretch to say the 750' tower will have a bigger change on the skyline than the Ritz has. Now the 1250' supertall... that would certainly be the biggest.

citywatch · #**2866** Posted: **Dec 23, 2011, 7:32 AM**

since there's lots of talk about hotels right now-----both totally brand new & rehabs of old bldgs-----it is very fitting to post a story I just read in today's paper.

it's harder to know what the future will be like without knowing where we've been, without knowing what the past was like.....

Quote:

Gene R. Summers, an architect and developer who undertook the first major renovation of the historic Biltmore Hotel, reviving interest in downtown Los Angeles and helping to spark its revitalization, has died. He was 83.

A former associate of modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Summers and business partner Phyllis Lambert were planning to build a new hotel downtown when the Biltmore came up for sale in 1976. They bought the run-down Beaux Arts-style building for $5 million and spent millions more, reversing years of neglect.

They restored the hotel's ornate ceilings, which had been hand-painted and carved by Vatican artist Giovanni Smeraldi for the 1923 grand opening. Other changes reflected Summers' love of modern art: He furnished the grand lobby with Mies' iconic Barcelona chairs and filled walls with pop artist Jim Dine's heart lithographs.

"I recall with pleasure the design aesthetic that Summers and his business partner, Phyllis Lambert, introduced to the Biltmore — an historically accurate restoration, with an overlay of 20th Century design sensibility," said Margaret Bach, founding president of the Los Angeles Conservancy. "It was a daring and prescient project for its time."

Lambert had experience with architectural renovation, so when Summers told her about the Biltmore, "she was all for it," Summers said in a 1987 oral history for the Art Institute of Chicago.

At the time, downtown L.A. was struggling. The Bonaventure had not yet opened. A few blocks away, the Biltmore's neighborhood at Fifth and Olive streets was in a sad state, with Pershing Square a magnet for derelicts and panhandlers who scared away the few tourists who stayed in the once-majestic hotel across the street.

The Biltmore "was sitting there almost empty and in very bad condition, but Gene was able to see what it could be," said Joseph Woodard, who was president of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau when Summers and Lambert acquired the hotel; he later became the Biltmore's president. "He was also an exceptionally talented architect. He supervised every aspect of the work personally, from the design and construction to picking out the soap."

The three-year renovation earned the Biltmore a National Trust Honor Award in 1981 and top ratings from travel groups. The Biltmore's rejuvenation, Woodard said, sparked "a lot of the work that started going into downtown Los Angeles."

Lambert and Summers managed the Biltmore until 1984, when they sold it.

^ $5 million for the biltmore was nothing. that's scarily inexpensive, even by the standards of the 1970s. that should tell everyone just how

the hood had become. TG we're alive & living in 2011 & not when someone like the former owner of the biltmore was still in his prime.

over 30 yrs later, the pieces are starting to come together. I wonder what Lambert & summers would think of a sight like this.....

victoriabernal, flickr.com

pesto · #**2867** Posted: **Dec 23, 2011, 4:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch

since there's lots of talk about hotels right now-----both totally brand new & rehabs of old bldgs-----it is very fitting to post a story I just read in today's paper.

it's harder to know what the future will be like without knowing where we've been, without knowing what the past was like.....

^ $5 million for the biltmore was nothing. that's scarily inexpensive, even by the standards of the 1970s. that should tell everyone just how

the hood had become. TG we're alive & living in 2011 & not when someone like the former owner of the biltmore was still in his prime.

over 30 yrs later, the pieces are starting to come together. I wonder what Lambert & summers would think of a sight like this.....

victoriabernal, flickr.com

Great shot; brings a tear of joy to the eye.

Rehabs of the UA and Trinity buildings are great news as well. But I wonder where the demand for all this auditorium space is coming from. Maybe conventions? Maybe ballrooms, with the seating removed?

all of the trash · #**2868** Posted: **Dec 23, 2011, 9:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch

broadway is one of the few streets in all of dt that I think would look better or show promise of a brighter future if most of its bldgs, or certainly the first floor spaces of those bldgs, were vacant.

Really? No one likes the current retail at Broadway right now, but they ARE businesses and they do attract pedestrians (just not the type of pedestrians you prefer.) If you really wanted to see vacant storefronts maybe you should have taken your relatives to skid row after sundown where there aren't swapmeets but rather homeless and crack dealers, and then try to sell them your vision. Your mentality strikes me as possibly racist but definitely privileged, and I see similar attitudes across the LA forum a lot.

Quote:

I was in the hood yesterday & the one thing that never fails to hit me is how much of DT still needs lots of TLC. I think when many of us are talking about dtla like it's a lab monkey in a science experiment, we get so much into the small details that we forget the fundamentals. iow, when I'm actually in DT, I find it impossible to get worked up about matters like parking podiums on highrise condo bldgs, or new bldgs being too short, or malls being too burban, or bldgs not being architecturally fantastic enough, or projs not being geared to transit, when there still is a lot of grime & too many gaps & deadzones throughout the hood.

Things like parking requirements, building's design at a street level and transit oriented projects ARE the fundamentals. All this grime and gaps and surface lots you love to complain about are the symptoms of bad planning, not the cancer.

all of the trash · #**2869** Posted: **Dec 23, 2011, 9:35 PM**

I don't think we have to wait for towers to go up on empty surface lots for downtown to look better. Beautification projects are affordable investments in comparison. Trees would drastically soften the blight on some of the more notorious deadzones, and its take to get rid of the fugly tile on Broadway's sidewalk. Also it would have been cool to have raised medians with landscaping on those buffer zones between the street and the new bike lane on Spring, but I'm pretty grateful that bike lane is even there now (Though people are still riding on the sidewalk!

)

Illithid Dude · #**2870** Posted: **Dec 25, 2011, 3:42 AM**

So, Rumor has it, in addition to building a Botique Hotel at the old Embassy Hotel, Chetrit is also going to build condos across the street. Well, folks, looks like we are back in the development buisness. Let's go over what should start construction next year, shall we?

-Marriott Hotels across the way from L.A. Live

- Hampton Inn in South Park

- 2 7 story towers in South Park

-750ft tall 'Blade Runner' hotel tower (hell yes)

- Astani Project on 8th and Grand

- Clark Hotel King and Grove Botique Hotel

-Ace Hotel on Broadway

- King and Grove Hotel in the old Embassy Hotel

- 19 Story Apartment Tower next to The Broad.

-The Broad (I don't count the parking deck as construction)

- One Santa Fe should start any second now

Looks like it will be a good year for construction. Finally, something to talk about on the forums! And also, we can finally stop fighting each other like so many dogs over table scraps. I mean, god, look at the discussion on the old L.A. Forums, and it's all constructive. Even Edluva had good things to say. Now, it's just bickering and name-calling. Maybe some new construction will put everyone back into good spirits.

RST500 · #**2871** Posted: **Dec 27, 2011, 4:45 AM**

What is the status on LA Central?

Illithid Dude · #**2872** Posted: **Dec 27, 2011, 4:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RST500

What is the status on LA Central?

Nothing yet, but rumors have it that they are either:

A) downsizing it

B) keeping it the same size, or phasing it, but making it be apartments instead of condos and making the hotel component much larger. This sounds plausible, because there is a demand for both apartments downtown and convention hotels, and since there will be electronic signage it will be easier to take risks while still making a profit.

And thanks for posting in the downtown thread.

ziggy331 · #**2873** Posted: **Dec 27, 2011, 6:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Nothing yet, but rumors have it that they are either:

A) downsizing it

B) keeping it the same size, or phasing it, but making it be apartments instead of condos and making the hotel component much larger. This sounds plausible, because there is a demand for both apartments downtown and convention hotels, and since there will be electronic signage it will be easier to take risks while still making a profit.

I really hope it's option B and I hope it happens soon. LA Live needed to expand yesterday. Hopefully the Farmers Field momentum will carry this project through.

colemonkee · #**2874** Posted: **Dec 27, 2011, 7:13 PM**

LA Central still needs to get financing. And it won't be getting financing for the residential portion - apartments or condos - anytime soon. The retail and hotel portion may be able to go ahead in the next 12-24 months, but I wouldn't hold my breath on high-rise residential development for a little while.

JDRCRASH · #**2875** Posted: **Dec 27, 2011, 11:22 PM**

After visiting it, I just thought of something: We really need a Panera Bread, preferably in the Historic Core!

Illithid Dude · #**2876** Posted: **Dec 27, 2011, 11:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

LA Central still needs to get financing. And it won't be getting financing for the residential portion - apartments or condos - anytime soon. The retail and hotel portion may be able to go ahead in the next 12-24 months, but I wouldn't hold my breath on high-rise residential development for a little while.

Start holding your breath. The Wilshire Grand Hotel Tower has 100 condos in addition to all the hotel rooms. Also, the 19 story apartment tower on Grand Ave. that is starting next year.

LAofAnaheim · #**2877** Posted: **Dec 28, 2011, 1:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Start holding your breath. The Wilshire Grand Hotel Tower has 100 condos in addition to all the hotel rooms. Also, the 19 story apartment tower on Grand Ave. that is starting next year.

Until we see shovels in the ground, a green construction fence and a yellow crane...........I don't believe it.

JDRCRASH · #**2878** Posted: **Dec 28, 2011, 2:33 AM**

What is the status on this project at 11th & Olive by Van Tilburg (the same group doing Blvd 6200)? Is it dead?

Illithid Dude · #**2879** Posted: **Dec 28, 2011, 5:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

What is the status on this project at 11th & Olive by Van Tilburg (the same group doing Blvd 6200)? Is it dead?

God, I hope not. What an ugly building, and that many levels of parking is crazy overkill.

Oh, and two fun facts.

1- There is still a sign for the Glass Tower up. And in good condition too.

2- The sales phone number for none other then Park Fifth is still open. Have fun, try calling it at 1(213)-629-0000.

ThreeHundred · #**2880** Posted: **Dec 28, 2011, 5:40 PM**

The sign for the Glass Tower has been up for about 5 years. Might have reached landmark status by now. :\