LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I wonder if they'll ever do a "6th Street Viaduct" festival where they shut down the bridge to car traffic for a day and basically turn the bridge into a street party/festival, similar to the "Colorado Street Bridge Party" in Pasadena... although that bridge is much shorter than this one.

That would be very cool. It's always fun when they shut down streets to cars and make it open to pedestrians and bicyclists and such only.

[Radio5]

The world doesn't know how awesome LA will be by the Olympics. I think they're in for quite a surprise. Especially when then compare it to the 80's olympics.

6th bridge
Lucas museum
All the new metro lines
LACMA
The slew of other developments

Can't wait!

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Radio5

The world doesn't know how awesome LA will be by the Olympics. I think they're in for quite a surprise.

It will be, but it may be in a way that I won't necessarily want.

This forum has ppl who obsess over the height of new bldgs, about whether the plans for Pershing sq are a dud or not, whether new apt towers should have parking podiums or not, about whether the color of the grand ave proj is bad or not....ok, I obsess over dry fountains & the need to get rid of parking lots. If I'm negative, you better believe lots of other ppl are too. And then some.

I at least always welcome positive stories, pics & good vids about dtla, whether posted here or elsewhere. But I won't play blind & deaf when info, pics or vids don't go my way.

This person starting at 6:19 can't be written off as a lying about the city...

https://youtu.be/n86TCecEuV0

Regardless, I still at first wondered if she were possibly doing an underhanded report for some anti american reasons. So I checked out her other vids. She did one a few days ago & took just the opposite tact about nyc compared with her opinion of LA.....so I don't think she's a plant hired by an anti LA group. Or that guy from the AIDS foundation who is always suing devlprs in LA. lol.

Everyone in LA, including me, is guilty in different ways for what's going on. For either turning a blind eye to what's really bad & instead complaining about new bldgs being too short, or the moat around the dwp bldg being dry & an embarrassment, or GH palmer's faux Tuscan apt projs making dtla seem clownish, or too many ppl in LA favoring cars over transit, or thinking parking lots are better than new devlpt that's not architecturally impressive enough....

Ppl running local govts...who shape public policy....& police depts & the court system are particularly guilty of hurting LA.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Oh man, this is going to be in soooo many car commercials when it opens. Did I read somewhere that the park underneath it had it's funding approved recently?

Just like how the old one used to be

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

Just like how the old one used to be

The once and future 6th Street Bridge. This and Upper/Lower Grand Ave are pilgrimage sites for car commercials.

[dktshb]

Wow the video of the Lucas Museum on the previous page is awesome. I must say though that right now it looks like a giant land locked cruise ship. And yeah, the 6th street bridge is going to show up in movies, shows and commercials and be identified a bonafide LA landmark.

[scania]

Originally Posted by citywatch

It will be, but it may be in a way that I won't necessarily want.

This forum has ppl who obsess over the height of new bldgs, about whether the plans for Pershing sq are a dud or not, whether new apt towers should have parking podiums or not, about whether the color of the grand ave proj is bad or not....ok, I obsess over dry fountains & the need to get rid of parking lots. If I'm negative, you better believe lots of other ppl are too. And then some.

I at least always welcome positive stories, pics & good vids about dtla, whether posted here or elsewhere. But I won't play blind & deaf when info, pics or vids don't go my way.

This person starting at 6:19 can't be written off as a lying about the city...

https://youtu.be/n86TCecEuV0

Regardless, I still at first wondered if she were possibly doing an underhanded report for some anti american reasons. So I checked out her other vids. She did one a few days ago & took just the opposite tact about nyc compared with her opinion of LA.....so I don't think she's a plant hired by an anti LA group. Or that guy from the AIDS foundation who is always suing devlprs in LA. lol.

Everyone in LA, including me, is guilty in different ways for what's going on. For either turning a blind eye to what's really bad & instead complaining about new bldgs being too short, or the moat around the dwp bldg being dry & an embarrassment, or GH palmer's faux Tuscan apt projs making dtla seem clownish, or too many ppl in LA favoring cars over transit, or thinking parking lots are better than new devlpt that's not architecturally impressive enough....

Ppl running local govts...who shape public policy....& police depts & the court system are particularly guilty of hurting LA.

Lord, smh
You don’t stop saying the same thing. And the need to feel as if you always have to show a vid. I’m sure most don’t even watch your vids anymore. That apartment tower doesn’t make DTLA look clownish. No need to only look at one or two things. People in general see the big picture.

[citywatch]

I like seeing photo updates of dtla...that's why pwright is one of the best LA sppers...I like reading people's observations of what they've seen when they've visited dt....I like seeing inside scoops about the latest on a new proj.

Forget what I've added or not added to this forum....what have YOU brought to this forum? Repeat: What have you brought to this forum?

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Radio5

The world doesn't know how awesome LA will be by the Olympics. I think they're in for quite a surprise. Especially when then compare it to the 80's olympics.

6th bridge
Lucas museum
All the new metro lines
LACMA
The slew of other developments

Can't wait!

If the homeless are still camping on the sidewalks that will capture all the attention. I hope they can get that huge ex Sears distribution center in Boyle Heights going as homeless housing and services center. Could house many thousands. The owner of it wants it repurposed for that. Also, DTLA needs more activity at street level and fewer parking podiums. And not just tall towers, but a lot more 10-30 story midrise with affordable rentals with shops and restaurants at street level. Only 6 years left. I do think an Olympic Village maybe on the Dodger Stadium parking lot should be considered, hopefully linked to the terminus of the proposed gondola from Union Station. Could be converted to affordable housing after. But I guess they are going to use the college dorms again like they did in '84. Hopefully Oceanwide will be finished. Like 1984, I guess the Russians will not be there. OK with me. They cheat anyway.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Agreed, I think if they could eliminate 2 or 3 of those ramps that would make the square a lot more pedestrian friendly. Or make the entrance/exit perpendicular to the street, rather than parallel, which elongates the wall/barrier and hurts access.

There are plenty of good examples of urban parks. Bryant Park in NYC also comes to mind, although I don't think that has an underground garage. Regardless, it should not be that difficult to redesign Pershing Square into a more pedestrian friendly square with some basic changes.

Tom Bradley Plaza?

All the proposed designs of Pershing Square have one goal: make it unattractive for homeless people to lounge around. Few or no benches, few shade trees, expanses of hot bare concrete etc. Making the square unattractive for homeless will also make it unattractive for working people eating lunch, tourists and civic events. Homeless people who don't break the law and behave like adults should be welcome just like anyone else. But this means no overnight camping, no aggressive panhandling. These laws must be enforced. Just design a good park. I liked it before the parking garage cut it off from the surroundings. Lots of trees, benches, fountains, statues etc. A proper central city square. If the homeless cause problems or break the law, arrest them or ban them from the park. Yes, this means some security patrols and homeless assistance agents. Don't make repelling homeless part of the design process. Hopefully the homeless problem will eventually be addressed by a competent mayor and city government, not the current crowd of in my opinion mostly nincumpoops and hangers on.

I have nothing against WW1 Gen. Pershing, but it seems to me the space should revert to a more apt name, Central Park or Central Square, or let me suggest Tom Bradley Plaza or Square to honor our last good mayor and the man behind our modern rail transit system. Without him pushing for it at a critical time, it may not have happened. Gen. Pershing can have his statue in Tom Bradley Plaza. Tom Bradley should have more than an airport terminal named for him. The central square seems like a worthy tribute, if the space can be made more beautiful and attractive to visitors.

[saybanana]

Ucla will be the Olympic village. They have built thousands of new units on off campus recently. But the village can be secured, have all the dining facilities, pool, tennis courts, etc for athletes. I hope ucla builds more housing for students, ucla or other students like sandm Monica College, extension college. This can be affordable housing for students in general. With future Sepulveda subway and line D purple extension, this would be a great area for students all around.

I wonder if the new 6th street bridge park will be gated and locked such as historic cornfields Park? It would be great to redevelop the area turn industrial warehouse into a high rise residential district, even trench the adjacent tracks or create a cover like Hudson yards nyc

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by saybanana

Ucla will be the Olympic village. They have built thousands of new units on off campus recently. But the village can be secured, have all the dining facilities, pool, tennis courts, etc for athletes. I hope ucla builds more housing for students, ucla or other students like sandm Monica College, extension college. This can be affordable housing for students in general. With future Sepulveda subway and line D purple extension, this would be a great area for students all around.

I wonder if the new 6th street bridge park will be gated and locked such as historic cornfields Park? It would be great to redevelop the area turn industrial warehouse into a high rise residential district, even trench the adjacent tracks or create a cover like Hudson yards nyc

I went to UCLA, but UCLA seems so 1984. Been there, done that. It would save costs, but we also need much more affordable housing. Why not a village in the Dodger Stadium parking lot overlooking the city that could afterwords be converted to badly needed affordable housing? Of course the funding needs to be secured, but we have six years. Hopefully the transit gondola from Union Station would also be ready.

[citywatch]

Putting aside all the pro & anti opinions, & I think LA...including dtla....is the most interesting, increasingly complete & multifaceted city around...one that offers both a bit of the big city feel with the Mediterranean resort vibe.

nytimes.com

How Los Angeles Has Changed (in a Good Way)
The city has a lot more to offer than the obvious, with new genre-bending restaurants and bars, and happenings galore. Its comeback story is well underway.

I've watched vids on the price of tiny apts in a certain city on the East coast....renting for over $5,000....that have an overall downbeat vibe. One of them has a view of the empire state bldg....but that loses its punch when things like the weather & cost of living create a set of headaches.

If anyone implies I've singled out the devlpr of the admittedly kitschy faux Tuscan new apt bldgs in dtla for bad mouthing, his latest being the soon to be completed apt complex on the site of the former bofA computer ctr....a few blocks west of the dwp bldg & new Grand ave proj, they haven't been paying attention.



broadwaypalace.com

[citywatch]

^ I just notice what most would describe as a travel puff piece...published just 3 days ago...has generated over 560 replies about LA...

lol at the clash of opinions...it's almost as both negative & positive as this forum on dtla is. The first one stood out to me the most because the agenda of the writer is so obvious. The second one highlights the irony of ppl & opinions.

The last one is a very relevant issue for dt...given the new connector line & the extension of the subway down Wilshire. If more ppl in LA can't stop preferring using a car...uber...& keep judging transit as a dark, smelly, crime lurking place, then a lot of time & money is going to end up down the drain.

akamai
New York
8h ago
The initial picture (people on a terrace surrounded by nothing but mediocre high-rises) shows the decline of Los Angeles. In a city with one of the best climates in the world, with mostly sunny days, more and more people are forced to live completely indoors. They might as well be in Minneapolis.

Downtown LA is an absolute nightmare of the future. What works in New York is absolutely ridiculous in LA.

Adam
Los Angeles
May 22
The worst part of Los Angeles is the people who live in Los Angeles and complain about living in Los Angeles and tell you about how they don’t like living in Los Angeles and would leave Los Angeles if they could but still stay in Los Angeles and then complain about living in Los Angeles. Other than that it’s a fun city.

KG
California
May 22
I read this headline puzzled, not realizing it was a travel article. Yes a lot of cool restaurants and hotels, and a few museums and other attractions have opened recently. But I’ve lived here now 25 years and the last 10 have been increasingly heartbreaking with a horrible homeless problem, choking traffic, pollution, increasingly hotter summers, drought, constant wildfire threat, and housing costs completely spiraled out of control. Now add insane gas prices and increased crime, and LAX is often a nightmare waiting to greet travelers. I’ve always been an LA defender (I also lived in NYC for several years) but now I would leave if family wasn’t keeping me rooted here. If you can ignore all this, have a nice trip!

apd
ca
May 20
I'm ROFLing at all the comments that are "LA is great and all but what about the ." Yes, New Yorkers, you don't like LA, we get it. We could say the same about you, but city feuds are boring, and we're too busy out here having a nice life.

Lisa
NYC
May 19
I DO love visiting L.A. There was a time when I thought 'gee, maybe I could live here', but the lack of public transit was off-putting.

I realize that L.A.'s subway system has expanded, and continues to do so. The last time I was there, maybe in 2018, I'd mentioned to my L.A. friends that I was planning to get around by subway. They said 'oh...you don't want to do that...it's really bad...filthy...dangerous....' I said 'what are you talking about?...I live in NYC. I'll be fine.' hen, once in L.A., I began to take the subway. And then I understood. ;-)

I noted that while there were some 'commuters', they seem to simply take the train from Point A to B, and that's it (vs in NYC, where we commuters sort of 'inhabit' the system...). Once the L.A. commuters have gotten off their trains/departed the station, what remains is like a scene from the Walking Dead. There's no one left in the station...the turnstyle area is devoid of commuters, and then, when I would turn a corner, a drugged-up or homeless person would appear, seemingly out of nowhere, legs dragging, etc. And then another would appear. It was very strange.

[citywatch]

The old May co bldg regrettably appears to be a variation of the oceanwide prop on Fig. When devlprs & funders are involved in legal battles, that's never a good sign.

At least the old tower theater across the street was fixed up by Apple before the economy hit today's increasingly bumpy road.

DTLA requires a lot of time & patience....

therealdeal.com

WeWork’s first investor in grind on DTLA’s Broadway Trade Center

Would-be ‘metaverse hub’ avoids auction of equity stake in project on Broadway, lawyer says matter resolved

Joel Schreiber struck gold when he met Adam Neumann and became the first investor in WeWork. It’s been more of a grind for Schreiber on his hopes of redeveloping a massive building in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles.

Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital set its sights on the 1.2 million-square foot, 10-story property at 801 South Broadway with partners for $123 million in 2014. The investors sought to revitalize the property, a notion that has morphed over time, most recently prompting talk of transforming the now-vacant building into a “metaverse hub.”

It’s the latest in a series of troubles surrounding Schreiber, who has been dogged by lawsuits and fights with investors throughout his career.

The Real Deal discovered at least six sales notices tied to the LA property since 2017. All of the notices were offering to sell the same stake, but with varying starting bids. In one auction set for April 2017, the minimum bid started at $19 million.

Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital made a big splash when he bought the 110-year old office building with Continental Equities in 2014. The investors’ plans included a 200-room hotel, office space, upscale retail, bars and restaurants.

The building had sat mostly vacant for years, and appears to remain so, with construction barricades around its ground-floor, which was a neighborhood retail center for years.

“If this thing takes off, anywhere near the sort of plan that they’ve outlined, it would be by far the biggest game changer for downtown,” Nick Griffin of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District, told the Commercial Observer last year.

[caligrad]

Anyway.

So now that Brookfield is nearing the finish line with the Beaudry, I forgot that they took over forest city. So does that mean we may see this happen or is it dead completely? since it was supposed to be completed in 2020



https://la.urbanize.city/post/forest...rand-hope-park

I've always liked it. I feel downtown needs more buildings in this range. Looking at Brookfields portfolio though, they own buildings around it but not the actual site. Would be weird to not take over the site from forest city no?

Was looking through the LA forum page and there are a lot of towers/projects I've forgotten about. Sadly, I didn't realize how many proposals were attached to Huizars scheme (not this one). Its a shame that the city rather block them all instead of understanding that the miles of unnecessary red tape is what caused developers to find short cuts in the first place.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by citywatch

Putting aside all the pro & anti opinions, & I think LA...including dtla....is the most interesting, increasingly complete & multifaceted city around...one that offers both a bit of the big city feel with the Mediterranean resort vibe.

L.A., Athens of America?

Among U.S. cities, L.A. reminds me most of Athens. Similar climate: mild wet winters with about 14 inches of rain, brilliant sunshine, dry warm summers, although Athens doesn't have L.A. May/June gloom and coastal fog because the sea off Athens is warmer. Both cities have some smog--not nearly as bad as it used to be--which in Athens is called "nephos". Offshore islands (Avalon on Catalina is like a Greek island village with more colors and less whitewash). Lots of hills and mountains in and around the cities, with plenty of flatland also. Finally the ports of both cities (Piraeus and San Pedro) are miles from the center city. The hill where Dodger Stadium sits overlooking the city is like the L.A. Acropolis, with Dodger Stadium the Parthenon of baseball.

San Francisco also has something of an Athens look, because from a distance the built up area of the city is stunningly white like Athens, with green parks between. But the summer climate of SF is much colder than Athens, and the summer fog is not anything like Athens, where summer fog is rare. So L.A. is the Athens of America winner in my opinion.

[caligrad]

I would also like to recant my previous statement about the Onni tower on Olympic and Hill. I'm starting to prefer the original proposal over the new one. If anything, change the roof. I just hate the boring light blue glass. I Have a thing for darker glass for some reason. Looks nicer to me 75% of the time.

Original



Current

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Among U.S. cities, L.A. reminds me most of Athens.

I've been mulling this over for the past few wks, affected by the vids I've been watching of various cities...LA too...posted by a variety of vloggers or youtubers. The article from the NY Times also added to what I've been pondering.

There has been news & word of mouth over the past yr about ppl from NYC relocating to places like Miami Bch....that has made me think of the story of the Three little Bears: one city is like papa bear, the other is like mama bear, & LA is like baby bear....or just right.

Los Angeles...inc dtla....is both the best & worst of the biggest city of the NE and a major sunbelt city like Miami....or maybe a mix of the big cities of Europe...London, Paris....& cities in the south of France or Spain around the Mediterranean.

Before dtla...& LA in general...had changed mainly culturally & physically....the city was more Miami than NYC. But now it's moving closer to a better balance of the two places....

[bhunsberger]

Originally Posted by citywatch

I've been mulling this over for the past few wks, affected by the vids I've been watching of various cities...LA too...posted by a variety of vloggers or youtubers.

You’ve been MULLING over it for WEEKS? Color me surprised.