LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[edale]

I won't hold my breath for that MacArthur Park proposal. There was another ambitious skyscraper proposal for this site about 5 years ago that has gone exactly nowhere. Would love to be wrong, but I don't see this one happening as planned.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by edale

I won't hold my breath for that MacArthur Park proposal. There was another ambitious skyscraper proposal for this site about 5 years ago that has gone exactly nowhere. Would love to be wrong, but I don't see this one happening as planned.

I'd like to see the parking numbers come down a little bit. Seems a bit much considering it's right on top of a Metro stop serving two heavy rail lines.

The mixed-use complex, per a recent presentation, would include:
- 668 residential units - including 234 income-restricted affordable units;
- a hotel with commercial uses;
- upgrades to the Metro plaza such as landscaping, new seating, mid-block crossings, and paseos;
- open space amenities;
- parking; and
- a mobility hub.

The project was previously described in a staff report as calling for a 300-room hotel, 124,000 square feet of commercial space, and a 775-car garage.

SOM and Studio MLA highlight the design team for Centro Westlake, which would include:
- a 44-story, 510-foot-tall tower at the southwest corner of Wilshire and Westlake Avenue (2010 Wilshire Boulevard), featuring a hotel, housing, and commercial uses above six levels of below-grade parking and four levels of above-grade parking.
- a three-level pavilion at the center of the site fronting Westlake Avenue (679 S. Westlake Avenue), including a food court and rooftop dog park;
- a 34-story, 408-foot-tall tower at the corner of 7th Street and Westlake Avenue (2001 W. 7th Street) featuring a hotel, housing, retail, six levels of below-grade parking, and four levels of above-grade parking.
- three buildings, ranging from two to six stories in height along Alvarado Street (650-684 S. Alvarado Street) containing shops, restaurants, offices, and rooftop amenity spaces.

https://la.urbanize.city/post/render...r-park-station

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by edale

I won't hold my breath for that MacArthur Park proposal. There was another ambitious skyscraper proposal for this site about 5 years ago that has gone exactly nowhere. Would love to be wrong, but I don't see this one happening as planned.

I read it didnt happen because it didnt have the right number of affordable units. This proposal doubled that.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by edale

I won't hold my breath for that MacArthur Park proposal. There was another ambitious skyscraper proposal for this site about 5 years ago that has gone exactly nowhere. Would love to be wrong, but I don't see this one happening as planned.

That was killed because the number of affordable units was very low and this one addresses that so im slightly more hopeful

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

That was killed because the number of affordable units was very low and this one addresses that so im slightly more hopeful

That's what I've understood.

Also, 5 years ago the purple line wasn't close to being finished and these other towers have sprung up in Koreatown. These MPark tower proposals would've been more weird 5 years ago.
But it shouldn't really surprise many if they look alittle further west.

Also, from what I've seen on social media, Westlake residents thought the new 6-7 story buildings were a sign these towers would eventually happen.
I dont know if that was the case in 2017-2018.

People in LA are getting more used to seeing 25 story resdential buildings being built outside of downtown.

[edale]

Originally Posted by LA21st

That's what I've understood.

Also, 5 years ago the purple line wasn't close to being finished and these other towers have sprung up in Koreatown. These MPark tower proposals would've been more weird 5 years ago.
But it shouldn't really surprise many if they look alittle further west.

Also, from what I've seen on social media, Westlake residents thought the new 6-7 story buildings were a sign these towers would eventually happen.
I dont know if that was the case in 2017-2018.

People in LA are getting more used to seeing 25 story resdential buildings being built outside of downtown.

We shall see. This area is still a bit of a mess, imo. Does the Walter J. Company have a track record of building projects like this? I've gone to their website, and it doesn't seem like they are a very sophisticated real estate development company, which would appear necessary to pull of a project like this.

Again, I hope I'm wrong and that this project moves forward as planned!

[citywatch]

I realize this is about transit & not necessarily about dtla itself. However, transit in LA seems a bit more important to me vis a vie how it affects dt more than it affects other hoods. Plus the completion of the connector line is somewhat more important for dt than it is for other areas. The vlogger just posted this too...

• Video Link

Please forgive poetry in a column on transportation politics, but I feel wistful as I think of all the people and places to which the Regional Connector might have connected me, had it been built decades ago. It was first envisioned in the 1980s, seriously studied in the 1990s, and planned in the 2000s. If L.A. hadn’t spent the second half of the 20th century dithering on transit, instead of building, we’d be better connected now.

Oh, how I wish the Regional Connector had been finished in the 2010s, when I worked in Santa Monica, and spent two hours on trains to commute from the San Gabriel Valley. It would have been marvelous in the 2000s, back when I worked at the L.A. Times downtown—the connector’s new Historic Broadway station is across the street from the old Times building, which no longer houses the Times. And I would have loved to have taken the new long, north-south line from home down to Long Beach to visit my aunt and my cousins on my father’s side. But they are all dead, or have moved elsewhere.

Transit delayed is transit denied. If L.A. hadn’t spent the second half of the 20th century dithering on transit, instead of building, we’d be better connected now. Indeed, transit investment would have given L.A. some ballast to help it withstand the economic retrenchment of the 1990s and the population stagnation since; it might even have prevented the shrinking and aging we’re experiencing now.

The Regional Connector will arrive too late—unless we change our defeatist mindset, this toxic idea that wealthy California can’t transform itself. I hope its new, integrated rail lines bring many more people downtown and to other places throughout the city. I hope they become the favored way for people in East L.A. to travel to West Side jobs and beaches. I hope they draw travelers and ambitious young people here. I hope they pull us away from our screens and out of our apartments and houses, to see each other again. (I’m writing this late on a Sunday afternoon, in a nearly empty Grand Park downtown.)

^ And if the transit system isn't kept safe & clean, billions of dollars will go down the drain. Cities that don't keep a close eye on such things run a big risk....

https://youtu.be/w41GDGwzcZ0

.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by edale

We shall see. This area is still a bit of a mess, imo. Does the Walter J. Company have a track record of building projects like this? I've gone to their website, and it doesn't seem like they are a very sophisticated real estate development company, which would appear necessary to pull of a project like this.

Again, I hope I'm wrong and that this project moves forward as planned!

Its def a mess lol

One of my least favorite parts of SOCAL. I think one day it will get better tho.

[SoCalKid]

Originally Posted by edale

We shall see. This area is still a bit of a mess, imo. Does the Walter J. Company have a track record of building projects like this? I've gone to their website, and it doesn't seem like they are a very sophisticated real estate development company, which would appear necessary to pull of a project like this.

Again, I hope I'm wrong and that this project moves forward as planned!

No, Dr. J has not built projects like this himself and likely wouldn't be able to in the future. Look at the project he entitled just down he street (Lake on Wilshire) - it was approved ~5 years ago but nothing has happened. He'd need to joint venture with a more institutional group. No knock on him - I love the ambition.

I don't want to be a downer, but there are very very slim chances this happens. Aside from the rents in this part of town not supporting high rise construction, the affordability requirements that Metro has put on this (35%) are outrageously high and are a total deal-killer. Compare that with the Lake on Wilshire project, which hasn't moved forward, that has just 8% affordability. Something the public doesn't typically understand is that affordable units in a mixed-income building like this have a very negative value - they cost way more to build than they are worth in the market. Furthermore, this seems to require lots of work on the metro station and surrounding infrastructure. That's the problem with these Metro and LA City public-private partnership deals - they have very heavy requirements that usually kill the deal.

[hughfb3]

Time for a night update...

Mitsui's 8th&Fig tower

Lit Crown






1000 Hill

[scania]

Mitsui 8th and Figs tower looks pretty good at night.

[LAisthePlace]

Originally Posted by scania

Mitsui 8th and Figs tower looks pretty good at night.

Wow, I love it. Great addition to the Los Angeles skyline.

[craigs]

Thanks for the night pics, hugh! 8th and Fig has a great skin. That's a sweet cluster of skyscrapers in the third pic.

[citywatch]

The Microsoft Theater just got an operating system update. L.A. Live and NBCUniversal announced Thursday that the downtown L.A. venue will henceforth be known as the Peacock Theater, with the 7,100-set venue and its surrounding plaza getting a facelift in a change of naming rights. The switch applies not just to the mid-sized theater but to the 40,000-square-foot open-air plaza surrounding it, which was most recently known as XBOX Plaza and now will be called Peacock Place, also in deference to NBCUniversal’s premium streaming service.

What visitors can expect to see in the way of major cosmetic changes include a new LED marquee located at the intersection of Figueroa and Olympic Blvds., with two video boards permanently attached to L.A. Live’s façade which “will provide Peacock with 100% share of voice, 365 days a year.” One of the two new signs will be 56 feet wide and 29 feet high and the other will also be 29 feet high but a significantly larger 88 feet wide. They will connect at the corner, with one facing Figueroa and the other facing Olympic.

The biggest anchor of the L.A. Live complex, Crypto.com Arena, formerly Staples Center, will keep its name, possibly to the consternation of visitors who have not yet gotten used to saying “dot-com” as part of a venue name.

Less difficult than calling the former staples center 'crypto.com arena'. Although why NBC wants the name of its longtime animal mascot to be used instead of 'nbc' is a decision made I believe a few yrs ago.

[caligrad]

https://www.globest.com/2023/06/09/o...20230515181953


So does this mean that Oceanwide is being forced to sell the property in August? and if that's the case that means anyone can swoop in with a bargain offer?

or is the property being handed over to the lenders who will then squabble over what happens to the property next which would then mean they won't be able to decide, will have court drama and we can be stuck looking at Oceanwide Plaza as is for the next few years ?

[SoCalKid]

Originally Posted by caligrad

https://www.globest.com/2023/06/09/o...20230515181953


So does this mean that Oceanwide is being forced to sell the property in August? and if that's the case that means anyone can swoop in with a bargain offer?

or is the property being handed over to the lenders who will then squabble over what happens to the property next which would then mean they won't be able to decide, will have court drama and we can be stuck looking at Oceanwide Plaza as is for the next few years ?

This adds to the pressure to sell, but this is just one of many stakeholders with a claim here. Eventually there will be a court ordered sale if Oceanwide doesn't sell it on its own. But the problem is that it's going to take another $1+ billion to finish the project, then there are loans and liens on title that anyone buying the project would have to step into. The outstanding liens/loans + remaining construction costs are probably more than the project is worth at this point, so some of the loan/lienholders are likely going to need to take a haircut. It's a big mess and it will take some time. That means Oceanwide may lose 100% of their investment, which means they are less motivated to act quickly.

All that being said the project will get finished eventually, it just may take some time to work through the mess.

[citywatch]

• Video Link

^ some of that originally was to the left of this....


alamy

[hughfb3]

View of Carmel's arts district tower viewed from the elevated section of the new A Line on opening day of regional connector



Just for fun... backdrop of Wells Fargo center and The Grand from the Bunker hill station tower

[citywatch]

^ this gives a closer look at both the BH station & the one in little tokyo. Just as the stop near the Samo pier is the most important stop at the western terminus of the expo line, I think the stations near the broad & next to the LT village will be the most important stations on the western terminus of the system within LA. Ppl headed to Pasadena, east LA or aszusa will obviously be interested in stations further to the north or east.

• Video Link

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[Radio5]

Originally Posted by hughfb3

View of Carmel's arts district tower viewed from the elevated section of the new A Line on opening day of regional connector

Just rode it from Chinatown to Bunker Hill. Took 15-20 minutes. I have to say, while it's obviously better, downtown felt very off. Like people were there, but with really nothing to go to, they were just there to check out the new line. When you exit all the stations above ground, it's a weird feeling having virtually no signs of good urbanism around you; flat/sterile plazas with nothing immediately around. I know the stations will get infill at some point, but seems very odd to do it after the fact. Anyway, done being a downer Guess I just have to wait 30 years for all of this to be nice...