LOS ANGELES | METRO Project Rundown 2.0 (non-downtown)

[ChelseaFC]

Originally Posted by plutonicpanda

Lol sunset can’t hold a candle to the pedestrian activity on Hollywood

The Sunset Strip in West Hollywood is different, but yeah, Sunset in Hollywood proper (from Crescent Heights to Silver Lake) still feels like a highway. It's wide, and not a very pleasant place to be a pedestrian... for various reasons.

[LAisthePlace]

Originally Posted by wisheye

Yes the evolution of Selma is underrated, exactly for the reason that you noted. It gives Hollywood a "two-dimensional" section, bounded by Hollywood & Sunset on the N/S and maybe Highland & Argyle on the E/W, which is consistently built-up and has the potential to be vibrant throughout. Outside of the local downtowns (LA, SM, BH, LB, Pasadena) LA doesn't really have that anywhere. It's a lot of linear retail and vibrancy. Of course that's true for a lot of cities, but in a place as big as LA, it's good to have a "Midtown" that also offers that.

I'd say one other non-local downtown area that definitely has that "midtown / two-dimensinal" feel is Koreatown. Great urban bones, density and plenty of fun things to do / eat / drink.

Here are my google bookmarks for the neighborhood to give an idea

[wisheye]

Originally Posted by LAisthePlace

I'd say one other non-local downtown area that definitely has that "midtown / two-dimensinal" feel is Koreatown. Great urban bones, density and plenty of fun things to do / eat / drink.

Here are my google bookmarks for the neighborhood to give an idea

Yeah Ktown has the potential though I have some issues with it. Most of the streets with the great urban bones have very little mixed use. On the flip side a lot of the great eat/drink options are in strip malls on streets that are not the most pleasant to walk on (Western for instance in the snippet you posted). Also in my experience, the pedestrian volume in the neighborhood in general is never high enough to give it a super bustling feel (likely because it doesn't get anywhere close to the tourist numbers that Hollywood gets).

Though I must confess I haven't walked around there in the last year or so.

[LAisthePlace]

Originally Posted by wisheye

Yeah Ktown has the potential though I have some issues with it. Most of the streets with the great urban bones have very little mixed use. On the flip side a lot of the great eat/drink options are in strip malls on streets that are not the most pleasant to walk on (Western for instance in the snippet you posted). Also in my experience, the pedestrian volume in the neighborhood in general is never high enough to give it a super bustling feel (likely because it doesn't get anywhere close to the tourist numbers that Hollywood gets).

Though I must confess I haven't walked around there in the last year or so.

Fair point - much of the greatness are in strip malls (even dense, 2 level strip malls), but Koreatown is really evolving over the past ~5 years. From already the densest neighborhood in Los Angeles to still building tons of 5 over 1 apartments and even a couple towers.

For me those along with this historic urban buildings, a couple subway stops and the density of food/drink/office makes Koreatown very close to a proper "Mid Town".

[ChelseaFC]

Originally Posted by LAisthePlace

Fair point - much of the greatness are in strip malls (even dense, 2 level strip malls), but Koreatown is really evolving over the past ~5 years. From already the densest neighborhood in Los Angeles to still building tons of 5 over 1 apartments and even a couple towers.

For me those along with this historic urban buildings, a couple subway stops and the density of food/drink/office makes Koreatown very close to a proper "Mid Town".

That's the biggest thing holding back K-Town, its strip malls with parking lots fronting them. These need to be redeveloped, and perhaps with extending the subway west, that will give more access to people to get to K-Town without driving and lessen the demand for parking. If I were a strip mall property owner, I'd highly consider selling or redeveloping it into mixed use myself.

[edale]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

That's the biggest thing holding back K-Town, its strip malls with parking lots fronting them. These need to be redeveloped, and perhaps with extending the subway west, that will give more access to people to get to K-Town without driving and lessen the demand for parking. If I were a strip mall property owner, I'd highly consider selling or redeveloping it into mixed use myself.

I mean, this is basically the situation in huge parts of LA. It's not just Koreatown that is plagued with strip malls, surface parking lots, and general auto-centric design. Most of LA's commercial corridors are designed like that.

But it is interesting to think of LA's version of a midtown. Is it Koreatown or Hollywood? I think a case could be made for either.

[LAisthePlace]

Originally Posted by edale

I mean, this is basically the situation in huge parts of LA. It's not just Koreatown that is plagued with strip malls, surface parking lots, and general auto-centric design. Most of LA's commercial corridors are designed like that.

But it is interesting to think of LA's version of a midtown. Is it Koreatown or Hollywood? I think a case could be made for either.

Perhaps we have an uptown and a midtown

Either way I think both are set up extremely well for continued growth and revitalization.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by edale

I mean, this is basically the situation in huge parts of LA. It's not just Koreatown that is plagued with strip malls, surface parking lots, and general auto-centric design. Most of LA's commercial corridors are designed like that.

But it is interesting to think of LA's version of a midtown. Is it Koreatown or Hollywood? I think a case could be made for either.

Or the conglomeration of downtown Beverly Hills, Century City, and Westwood?

[JerellO]

Yeah I would consider Hollywood more like uptown and Koreatown and the Wilshire corridor before Beverly Hills the midtown. Past that would be just the west side

[Jordan de California]

L.A. is thoroughly polycentric.

I think it compares much better with a city like Tokyo that has multiple decentralized and sometimes overlapping cores of activity, each with its own density, character, history, and specializations, than with, say, Manhattan's very cut-and-dried Downtown and Midtown.

I think that's part of what makes L.A. great. It's not at all homogenous, despite the sprawly, car-centric reputation. Whatever kind of city you want to live in, L.A. has the neighborhood for you.

[LAisthePlace]

Originally Posted by Jordan de California

L.A. is thoroughly polycentric.

I think it compares much better with a city like Tokyo that has multiple decentralized and sometimes overlapping cores of activity, each with its own density, character, history, and specializations, than with, say, Manhattan's very cut-and-dried Downtown and Midtown.

I think that's part of what makes L.A. great. It's not at all homogenous, despite the sprawly, car-centric reputation. Whatever kind of city you want to live in, L.A. has the neighborhood for you.

+1 on a big reason that Los Angeles so special (and totally see the Tokyo comparison re: multiple core neighborhoods in a greater metropolitan area).

Makes me think of this interview with famed architect Rem Koolhaas (of OMA) where he called L.A. a "prototype" for the future of cities.

https://www.archpaper.com/2018/07/re...totype-future/

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Jordan de California

L.A. is thoroughly polycentric.

I think it compares much better with a city like Tokyo that has multiple decentralized and sometimes overlapping cores of activity, each with its own density, character, history, and specializations, than with, say, Manhattan's very cut-and-dried Downtown and Midtown.

I think that's part of what makes L.A. great. It's not at all homogenous, despite the sprawly, car-centric reputation. Whatever kind of city you want to live in, L.A. has the neighborhood for you.

This is my favorite thing about LA. Wherever you are, you're someplace interesting, with its own character and offerings.

[LDVArch]

Weiss/Manfriedi on their design for the La Brea Tar Pits:

https://youtu.be/YE__y5RQbOQ?t=2432

[Quixote]

Not development-related but still relatively recent and certainly a major win.

Getty Museum Acquires Gustave Caillebotte’s Iconic Young Man at His Window

Nov 11, 2021

The J. Paul Getty Museum acquired at auction in New York today Young Man at His Window, 1876, regarded as the most important painting by French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848–1894) in private hands.

The large-scale figure painting, widely considered a masterpiece of modern realism and a key moment in the history of Impressionism, will go on view at the Getty Center Museum in 2022.

“We expect Caillebotte’s Young Man at His Window to become a new standout in our popular Impressionist gallery,” said Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum.

...

Fascinating viewers since its debut, the painting has featured prominently in nearly every major Caillebotte retrospective since 1894. It has been extensively discussed and reproduced in scholarly literature.

...

This is the first work by Caillebotte to enter the Getty collections, where it will become a centerpiece of the Impressionist paintings gallery and a major attraction for Getty Center visitors.

https://www.getty.edu/news/getty-mus...at-his-window/

[craigs]

Warner Center's Promenade mall sells for $150 million

The L.A. Rams were in talks to build a practice facility on the property

Steven Sharp
Urbanize Los Angeles
March 16, 2022



Less than one month after the rumors first began circulating, it's now official: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) is selling the 34-acre site of the former Promenade Mall in Warner Center for $150 million.

While a buyer for the property is not identified in the French conglomerate's news release, CoStar reports that its inquiries have been referred to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke. The Los Angeles Times reported in February that the Rams had been in talks to buy the Promenade site to build a new practice facility, which would be surrounded by a new commercial development, akin to the mixed-use complex now taking shape next to SoFi Stadium.

Entitlements approved in December 2020 by the City of Los Angeles could allow Kroenke to implement that vision. Under URW's plan for the site, the Promenade mall would be razed for a 3.2-million-square-foot complex featuring:

• up to 1,432 residential units;
• 280,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space;
• over 730,000 square feet of office space;
• two hotels containing 572 guest rooms
• a maximum 10,000-seat entertainment and sports center; and
• parking for 5,655 vehicles.

The Johnson Fain, HKS, and AC Martin designed project would break the mall's parking lots into smaller blocks with new internal streets and walkways, and allow buildings up to 28 stories in height.

The plan was previously expected to be implemented over a roughly 12-year period.

URW's exit at the Promenade follows more than $500 million in investment into the Warner Center neighborhood, including the construction of the $350-million Village shopping center on an adjacent plot in 2015 and a $250-million renovation of the Westfield Topanga mall now wrapping up construction to the north.

[craigs]

And here's an oversized rendering from the above article showing what a big project this would be:

Looking southeast

[William Van Alen]

Not an LA guy myself, but have visited a few times. Definitely agree with the folks who are saying that LA's polycentrism is its advantage. I haven't been to Tokyo but have been to Seoul and I definitely agree with the comparison to east Asian style polycentric cities.

FWIW, every time I go to LA I stay in Koreatown. Granted, I'm a big fan of Korean culture and food, so maybe I'm a special case, but it's the place in LA that feels the most "big city" to me outside of downtown. The Wilshire corridor from Ktown to Wilshire Center is my vote for an "LA midtown", though with a pretty big dead zone of suburban mansions in between.

[ChelseaFC]

Grammy winning producer announces plans for $500 million office and recording studio complex at Sunset and Highland

https://www.latimes.com/business/sto...tudios-offices

[LAsam]

^ Wow, that's stunning! I'm sure there will be complaints that the height doesn't match up with the character of the surrounding buildings and that the community garden on that lot will be lost... but this looks to be worth it.

[Busy Bee]

Slick