LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[citywatch]

Pershing Sq starts around 18:07 in this vid...

• Video Link

Union Sq starts around 3:56 in this vid...

• Video Link


In LA, the biltmore is to the left, in SF, the St francis hotel is to the left. In LA, the new, unfinished park fifth apt tower can be seen in the background. in SF, Saks fifth can be seen in the background.

In the past, the pershing sq area in dtla would have made me go, uh, oh oh, we have a problem here.

Now today, in 2019, although I'm trying not to be a homer, I actually find dtla more compelling than SF. If not Pershing Sq itself than things around there, such as the broad or Grand Central mkt. Or disney hall.

Which reminds me of a few yrs ago when someone dropped by this thread & ragged on disney hall for having a big underground parking garage. I then did a google mobile visit of the area around SF's main concert hall & noticed a deadening surface parking lot notched into a major corner of that city's davies hall.

As for LA, now with the bad tinker toy parking structure across from disney hall finally torn down & today an active construction site, I see even less of an, 'uh, oh oh, we have a problem here' in dtla than in the past.

LA is moving on up. finally!


• Video Link

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Jun

Not sure why you feel the need to bring SF into a discussion on DTLA development

New devlpt in dtla is often placed in the context of the way things are done in other cities, SF included. No city exists in a vacuum, dtla included, so understanding what should or shouldn't be done to make LA better....or accidentally worse....often is judged based on what's going on elsewhere. That's just the way things are.

It's harder knowing what goals should be reached for without being aware of what exists in other places. It's also like the difference between grading based on a curve or grading based on set standards.

Last yr I saw the huge number of highrises in this city...recife, which most ppl don't even know exists....on Brazil's northern coast. look at how this town changes the context of the way LA's devlpt pattern should be graded. Recife to me made LA seem like a 60 yr old just now learning how to tie his shoelaces or ride a bicycle.


wikipedia

[ocman]

Both Pershing and Union Squares, aside from being twins, are also failed public spaces in my opinion. Both are cold, sanitized spaces in need of beauty and greenery. Union at least has the advantage of being near a lot of shopping and a trolley line popular among tourists. Pershing serves as an area to cross through. Union serves as an area for tired husbands waiting for their wives to finish shopping.

The redo of Pershing can’t happen fast enough.

[JerellO]

Originally Posted by ocman

Both Pershing and Union Squares, aside from being twins, are also failed public spaces in my opinion. Both are cold, sanitized spaces in need of beauty and greenery. Union at least has the advantage of being near a lot of shopping and a trolley line popular among tourists. Pershing serves as an area to cross through. Union serves as an area for tired husbands waiting for their wives to finish shopping.

The redo of Pershing can’t happen fast enough.

Pershing square has 2 subway stops.. but there really isn’t a destination there. When I visited with my sister.. it felt like too much concrete and hot. There’s nothing around to do. No shopping nearby on the ground floor... I think broadway on one side and the financial district on the western end can help activate traffic.. but like you said it’s just a place to crossover to.

Hopefully by the time the redo comes along, more and more shops begin to start opening up in the immediate and surrounding areas.

One thing Pershing Square has going for it is that it’s twice the size of Union Square

[colemonkee]

Pershing Square has two subway portals nearby, but only one station, which is the Pershing Square station. The other nearby stations are within walking distance, but both several blocks away (7th/Metro & Civic Center).

[Steve8263]

I think I read somewhere work was supposed to be resuming at Oceanwide. Has anyone seen signs of life there yet?

[scania]

Originally Posted by Steve8263

I think I read somewhere work was supposed to be resuming at Oceanwide. Has anyone seen signs of life there yet?

It resumed a few weeks ago.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Here you go: https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/l...city-of-angels

Generally, it was for aesthetic reasons, and NOT the fear of earthquakes, that imposed the height limit. LA's leaders did not want the dark streets of east coast and Midwestern cities; they wanted to play up the sunny climate. LA City Hall was supposed to be the monumental, synecdochal symbol of the city, hence its exception to the height limit.

From what I've read in another book source, it was this building, the Braly Building, that made city leaders want a height limit; at the time it was built, it was the tallest in LA, and city leaders didn't want LA to become a skyscraper city:

kcet.org

Thanks for the link to the old 150' height limit law. Sadly probably kept L.A. from having a few nice art deco towers in the 1920s. Well, at least we have the Eastern Columbia (if not the long gone Richfield), but imagine Eastern Colombia 400 feet or taller. Smaller Cincinatti had the 49 story Carew Tower in the 1920s, and Cleveland built the 52 story Terminal Tower. L.A. could have had something like that. We'll never know what might have been. At least we have 454' City Hall from the 1920s, and Eastern Columbia & a few others.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by JerellO

Pershing square has 2 subway stops.. but there really isn’t a destination there. When I visited with my sister.. it felt like too much concrete and hot. There’s nothing around to do. No shopping nearby on the ground floor... I think broadway on one side and the financial district on the western end can help activate traffic.. but like you said it’s just a place to crossover to.

Hopefully by the time the redo comes along, more and more shops begin to start opening up in the immediate and surrounding areas.

One thing Pershing Square has going for it is that it’s twice the size of Union Square

Pershing Square also has a much better view and the surrounding area keeps getting better. I don't expect it to ever become a high-end shopping area though. We have plenty of that on the Westside. You could also see some of the beneficial effects of the height limit in this image.


https://goo.gl/maps/q5CyW4RbLwyduuh18

[ChelseaFC]

24-story tower proposed in Westlake


https://la.curbed.com/2019/4/16/1841...nt-tower-ashai

[BigCityOfDreams]

[QUOTE=citywatch;8540245]These vids should be watched on fast motion or fast forward. however, they do show some newer parts of dtla from a pedestrian's POV....some of the scenes are very recent, so newly completed projs are visible.

Good news & bad news: first the good news. not many sights of homeless ppl & homeless encampments in the dt areas the youtuber was walking through...so far not as bad as what is going on in cities like SF, seattle, portland.

Now the bad news: not many ppl of any type or background visible throughout most of the scenes in dtla too. strangely quiet, almost desolate.

That reminds me of all the times I've been trapped on crowded fwys surrounding dtla, but then enter dt itself to see streets with not a lot of traffic & sidewalks with not a lot of ppl on them.

LA's fwys are our version of the crowded sidewalks of certain other cities, in the US and abroad. Except ppl here are in their cars, going bumper to bumper. That's when I often say....after going x%$!!&*@!!!, this is so congested! I'm gonna be late!....why are so many fwys in LA jammed with travelers who should be using off ramps a lot closer....such as the ones in dtla....to where they'll otherwise be exiting?

The paradox of LA.


I take it that you have not spent much time in Santee Alley, the Fashion District, Winston Ave and the Toy District. Downtown Los Angeles has some of the most pedestrian-rich environments in the country hands down, if not the richest pedestrian environments. But alas, I know you are only looking for a 3rd Street promenodization of Downtown LA, and are of the fantasy that Downtown LA does not, and has not ever existed, until it is nothing but high end eateries and bougie retail stores...

[scania]

[QUOTE=BigCityOfDreams;8546463]

Originally Posted by citywatch

These vids should be watched on fast motion or fast forward. however, they do show some newer parts of dtla from a pedestrian's POV....some of the scenes are very recent, so newly completed projs are visible.

Good news & bad news: first the good news. not many sights of homeless ppl & homeless encampments in the dt areas the youtuber was walking through...so far not as bad as what is going on in cities like SF, seattle, portland.

Now the bad news: not many ppl of any type or background visible throughout most of the scenes in dtla too. strangely quiet, almost desolate.

That reminds me of all the times I've been trapped on crowded fwys surrounding dtla, but then enter dt itself to see streets with not a lot of traffic & sidewalks with not a lot of ppl on them.

LA's fwys are our version of the crowded sidewalks of certain other cities, in the US and abroad. Except ppl here are in their cars, going bumper to bumper. That's when I often say....after going x%$!!&*@!!!, this is so congested! I'm gonna be late!....why are so many fwys in LA jammed with travelers who should be using off ramps a lot closer....such as the ones in dtla....to where they'll otherwise be exiting?

The paradox of LA.


I take it that you have not spent much time in Santee Alley, the Fashion District, Winston Ave and the Toy District. Downtown Los Angeles has some of the most pedestrian-rich environments in the country hands down, if not the richest pedestrian environments. But alas, I know you are only looking for a 3rd Street promenodization of Downtown LA, and are of the fantasy that Downtown LA does not, and has not ever existed, until it is nothing but high end eateries and bougie retail stores...

As was mentioned earlier...the vids were obviously taken early in the morning. If anyone has been to the Historic District at night knows how great the energy is in the area. And that’s not only on the weekends.

[a9l8e7n]

Page 420 on 4/20!

[chjbolton]

Originally Posted by a9l8e7n

Page 420 on 4/20!

LOL

[blackcat23]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Here you go: https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/l...city-of-angels

Generally, it was for aesthetic reasons, and NOT the fear of earthquakes, that imposed the height limit. LA's leaders did not want the dark streets of east coast and Midwestern cities; they wanted to play up the sunny climate. LA City Hall was supposed to be the monumental, synecdochal symbol of the city, hence its exception to the height limit.

From what I've read in another book source, it was this building, the Braly Building, that made city leaders want a height limit; at the time it was built, it was the tallest in LA, and city leaders didn't want LA to become a skyscraper city:

kcet.org

Speaking of the Continental Building

Hotel Conversion Planned for L.A.'s First Skyscraper

[Steve8263]

https://www.connect.media/meridian-d...l-development/

Big step forward for this project-

New York-based Meridian Capital Group arranged a $355 million construction loan for the development of a dual-branded Marriott AC and Moxy Hotel in DTLA. New York-based Lightstone Group is developing the hotel property as part of the mixed-use Fig + Pico project at 1248 S. Figueroa St.

Project specs here-
https://urbanize.la/post/fresh-rende...o-hotel-towers

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by Steve8263

https://www.connect.media/meridian-d...l-development/

Big step forward for this project-

New York-based Meridian Capital Group arranged a $355 million construction loan for the development of a dual-branded Marriott AC and Moxy Hotel in DTLA. New York-based Lightstone Group is developing the hotel property as part of the mixed-use Fig + Pico project at 1248 S. Figueroa St.

Project specs here-
https://urbanize.la/post/fresh-rende...o-hotel-towers

Very good news! Hopefully this will be our next big project to break ground. It would be nice if the convention center renovation could get underway... especially with all these new hotels coming online.

[colemonkee]

The best thing about this project, other than adding additional hotel rooms near the convention center and activating that side of an important intersection moving forward (it will connect Figueroa with the Pico residential corridor that is already filling in), is that it will effectively block the Onni project from the southwest view. They already have demo permits for the old Hooters building, so it should just be a matter of time before we see activity here.

[scania]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

The best thing about this project, other than adding additional hotel rooms near the convention center and activating that side of an important intersection moving forward (it will connect Figueroa with the Pico residential corridor that is already filling in), is that it will effectively block the Onni project from the southwest view. They already have demo permits for the old Hooters building, so it should just be a matter of time before we see activity here.

Totally agree.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by LAsam

Very good news! Hopefully this will be our next big project to break ground. It would be nice if the convention center renovation could get underway... especially with all these new hotels coming online.

There was a community meeting yesterday at the convention center regarding the upgrades. I didn't have a chance to make it but I'll try to find info online