UCLA / USC Campus Development News

[saiholmes]

UCLA to outline plans for Pauley Pavilion
School officials will also start a fundraising campaign to help pay for the $185-million renovation project.
By David Wharton
The Los Angeles Times
May 11, 2009

Other than championship banners hung from the rafters, not much has changed around Pauley Pavilion since the arena opened in 1965.

A building steeped in college basketball tradition has become more outdated with each passing year.

This afternoon, university officials will give the public a glimpse of a $185-million project that, over the next 2 1/2 years, aims to enlarge the multipurpose facility by nearly 30% and drag it into modern times.

They'll also start a fundraising campaign to help pay for the work.

Pauley Pavilion's shortcomings have been cast in a brighter light with the recent opening of the Galen Center across town at USC.

UCLA administrators wanted to preserve the history of their arena. Replacing it altogether would have been costly and difficult given its long, skinny footprint.

Still, the renovation is expected to address a number of issues.

A change in seating could eliminate the empty spaces behind each basket, increase capacity and make crowd noise more of a factor during games.

The three concession areas are squeezed into tight spaces with additional food booths set up outside.

Fans have complained about uneven steps and a shortage of restrooms; the teams use old locker rooms.

The building also needs upgrades in its disabled-access and safety systems.

According to a document filed with the University of California regents, UCLA plans to do significant expansion underground, increasing the size by almost 57,000 gross square feet.

Construction work would begin in February 2010 and be sequenced over the ensuing months so that teams could continue to use the building except for a period from April 2011 to October 2012.

During that time, the Bruins would compete at a yet-to-be-determined site.

The university hopes to raise $100 million of the construction costs through "The Campaign of Champions." Annual fees that students already pay would provide $25 million and the remaining $60 million would come from external financing.

At this point, the document said, UCLA has received $3 million in gifts, $14 million in pledges and $33 million in unconfirmed pledges. That leaves $50 million still to be raised.

Administrators have left open the possibility that they will have to increase the amount to be financed. That raises a question about whether fans will bear some of the brunt, perhaps through donations to gain access to better seats.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Athletic Director Dan Guerrero will offer more specifics during an announcement at Pauley Pavilion today. The public is invited to attend the 1 p.m. event, with the arena doors opening at 12:30.

[ryebreadraz]

A lot of issues with this proposal. Many believe that it's time for Pauley to go and that a new arena needs to be built in its place.

[ArchiTennis]

i don't get the title

[saiholmes]

USC buys 2 disputed hospitals on campus
The university will pay $275 million for USC University Hospital and USC Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital, ending the fight between the school and Tenet Healthcare over control of the facilities.
By Lisa Girion
The Los Angeles Times
February 11, 2009

The University of Southern California has agreed to pay Tenet Healthcare Corp. $275 million to acquire USC University Hospital and USC Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital, the parties said today.

Tenet said USC had agreed to retain the 1,600 current employees.

The two hospitals, located on USC's health sciences campus in Los Angeles, include 471 inpatient beds.

"The hospital acquisition is an historic investment by USC and a strategic move to create an integrated academic medical center, enhancing the quality of patient care and elevating the Keck School of Medicine of USC to a nationally acclaimed leader among the nation's medical schools," USC President Steven B. Sample said in a statement.

The deal puts an end to a bitter dispute between Tenet, one of the nation's largest hospital chains, and USC over control of the hospitals. The university filed a lawsuit against Tenet in August 2006 seeking to end the relationship with Tenet. Tenet counter-sued, seeking damages.

National Medical Enterprises Inc., which later became Tenet, opened USC University Hospital in 1991. The acute-care hospital has 411 beds, 11 new operating rooms and 7,700 inpatient visits and 56,000 outpatient visits a year.

Tenet acquired the 60-bed Norris Cancer Hospital in 2003.

USC Provost C.L. Max Nikias said the university looked forward to creating a "new physician-driven model for the delivery of excellent clinical care."

The university appointed Mitchell R. Creem as chief executive of the two hospitals, following a national search.

Tenet said it would record a $40-million impairment charge in discontinued operations in the fourth quarter of 2008 in connection with the deal.

"We're pleased that our agreement to move forward with the sale of USC University Hospital and the Norris Cancer Hospital will bring enhanced clarity to the future of the hospitals and their staff," Tenet Chief Executive Trevor Fetter said in a statement. "Tenet has been pleased to develop and operate these facilities as part of a first-rate academic medical center that is well positioned for the future."

[pesto]

USC will start leasing the 421 units at University Gateway this Friday. This is the big retail/dining/student housing complex tucked in between the Shrine and Felx the Cat at Jefferson and Fig. Construction is still 9 months from completion, but they are confident they will make it. Prices are not yet determined.

Total occupancy is 1650. Hard to guess about the market next year, but they may be worried about vacancies in a highly visible project and want to get the word out. May be that retail leases aren't happening either.

http://www.dailytrojan.com/news/univ...mber-1.1849422

[DaveLA_CA]

Originally Posted by pesto

USC will start leasing the 421 units at University Gateway this Friday. This is the big retail/dining/student housing complex tucked in between the Shrine and Felx the Cat at Jefferson and Fig. Construction is still 9 months from completion, but they are confident they will make it. Prices are not yet determined.

Total occupancy is 1650. Hard to guess about the market next year, but they may be worried about vacancies in a highly visible project and want to get the word out. May be that retail leases aren't happening either.

http://www.dailytrojan.com/news/univ...mber-1.1849422

Are you sure USC is going to be doing the leasing, I thought this was a private development by Urban Partners.

[pesto]

True; I was being a little loose. SC has rights to the rooms and priority and control over selection of retail lessees. But it's not like a dorm.

[milquetoast]

Felix the Cat

[Fern~Fern*]

As much rivalry these two school's have, they should have there own thread.

Go Trojanuins
Go Bruinsans

[saiholmes]

Meet the Silver Line
New line will have frequent direct connections to downtown landmarks
By SCOTT WEBER
NBC Los Angeles
Updated 4:00 PM PST, Thu, Dec 3, 2009

Gold, purple, blue, and now silver.

The Silver Line, a new bus service connecting the San Gabriel Valley and South Bay via downtown Los Angeles, will begin operating later this month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Thursday.

Starting Dec. 13, the Silver Line will operate between the El Monte Station and the Artesia Transit Center via the Harbor Transitway on the Harbor (110) Freeway and the El Monte Busway on the San Bernardino (10) Freeway.

It will have frequent, direct connections to downtown landmarks such as the Staples Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, L.A. Convention Center, CalState Los Angeles, and more. L.A. Live, California Science Center, USC, L.A. Coliseum, and other work, school, shopping and dining centers.

It will operate every 5 to 15 minutes during rush hour. Base cash fare is $2.45 one way, $1.15 for senior/disabled cash fare during peak times, and $0.85 cents in off-peak times.

Metro Day Passes will be honored as base fare, and Metro weekly, monthly and EZ transit passes will be accepted with an additional $1.20 charge when boarding.

The Silver Line will replace the Metro Express Bus lines 444, 446/447, 484, and 490, which will be rerouted.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lo...-78470017.html

line map:
http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/ma...ne_carcard.pdf

schedule and detailed map:
http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/bu...images/910.pdf

[Imperfect Ending]

That thing looks like the LACMA thing

[saiholmes]

UCLA's Pauley Pavilion 'project is a go'
BY SCOTT M. REID
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: May 12, 2010
Updated: 9:08 a.m.

"This project is a go," Guerrero said of the renovation that will force UCLA to play the bulk of its 2011-12 basketball season at The Forum in Inglewood. "Nothing is going to stop us."

UCLA officials said the university has received $65 million to date in pledges from more than 600 donors toward the Pauley renovation. Only "one-third" of that $65million is in actual cash, UCLA officials said. The rest of the $65 million figure is made up of "pledges payable."

Guerrero said short-term debt is inevitable in projects of the scale of the Pauley renovation. University regents have approved the project to run up as much as $60 million in long-term debt.

UCLA is in talks with several potential donors. Guerrero said the university is also talking with private and corporate donors about name attachment rights to the renovated arena. UCLA officials have said that name attachment rights could come with a $40 million price tag.

"We know we'll be able to deliver," Guerrero said.

A renovation that Guerrero said will make Pauley fit "for the champions that have passed before us and the champions that will come in the future" is scheduled to be completed in time for the opening of the 2012-13 basketball season. The project has already benefited from a favorable construction-bid climate. Originally projected at costing $185 million, the renovation is now expected to cost nearly $50 million less.

Of the final cost, $15 million will come from existing student fees earmarked for facility improvements. The athletic department will be responsible for the remainder of the cost. If UCLA reaches the $100 million it would reduce its long-term debt to $21 million.

The renovation, Block said, will make Pauley "safer, more accessible, more competitive and more suited to UCLA's needs in the 21st century."

Construction on the exterior of Pauley will start within two weeks. The interior of the arena will be shut down from April 2011 to the fall of 2012.

"It will be a pardon-our-dust situation," UCLA senior associate athletic director Ken Weiner said.

In addition to playing most of its 2011-12 home games at The Forum, Guerrero said UCLA is discussing playing a Pac-10 conference series at Honda Center and looking at home games at Staples Center and an exhibition game in Ontario.

"It's definitely going to be a Bruins on the road," Guerrero said.

[ryebreadraz]

So unfortunate that they're going ahead with the Pauley project. It's an incredibly awful project.

[Epicentre]

Originally Posted by ryebreadraz

So unfortunate that they're going ahead with the Pauley project. It's an incredibly awful project.

I'm a longtime season seat holder at the Rose Bowl and a donor to the athletic dept., so I have quite a few contacts at UCLA, all of them have told me the issue with building a whole new arena is the original footprint of Pauley, coupled with other existing structures. There just simply isn't enough room anything else.

The consensus from the big time donors I've talked to is that it's going to turn out better than you would think. Those renders are shite, that's not helping people's confidence.

[ryebreadraz]

Originally Posted by Epicentre

I'm a longtime season seat holder at the Rose Bowl and a donor to the athletic dept., so I have quite a few contacts at UCLA, all of them have told me the issue with building a whole new arena is the original footprint of Pauley, coupled with other existing structures. There just simply isn't enough room anything else.

The consensus from the big time donors I've talked to is that it's going to turn out better than you would think. Those renders are shite, that's not helping people's confidence.

I have my own contacts too and they never wanted a new arena. They wanted to keep Pauley from the beginning, even if it meant a second-class arena for first-class money. The footprint not being big enough makes things tougher, but it is big enough for a new arena, they just decided they didn't want one and have been using that excuse to get by the fact that they never did the necessary research on a new arena.

Even the renovations they are doing to Pauley are shortsighted and don't address some of the building's biggest problems. It's a failed plan and a big reason why they're having trouble raising the necessary funds.

Kenni, they're spending an incredible amount of money so that's not the problem here. Before they got a huge cut in price because of falling construction prices, they were going to have the most expensive on-campus renovation in history and a price tag on the renovation just $5 million short of Oregon's arena, which will be the most expensive new build on-campus ever in the nation.

[Kenny]

They don't have the money to build anything else right now.

[saiholmes]

Jules Stein Eye Institute, Geffen School of Medicine to share new facility at UCLA
Architect Richard Meier's firm will handle the $115.6-million, 100,000-square-foot project, the Edie and Lew Wasserman Building. Construction begins in November; opening is set for March 2014.
By David Ng
The Los Angeles Times
May 24, 2010

The architecture firm of Richard Meier has created some of the most striking buildings in Los Angeles — the Getty Center, the Gagosian Gallery and the Museum of Television and Radio, to name just a few.

Starting this fall, the firm will add another structure to its local résumé with the new Edie and Lew Wasserman Building at UCLA. The six-story, 100,000 square-foot building will serve as a multi-purpose medical facility that houses the Jules Stein Eye Institute as well as departments of the David Geffen School of Medicine.

Construction on the new building is scheduled to begin in November, with an opening set for March 2014. The building will be located in Stein Plaza at the south end of the campus, across from the Doris Stein Eye Research Center and adjacent to the Jules Stein building.

The total cost is expected to be $115.6 million. A consortium of organizations led by the Wasserman Foundation will contribute $58.6 million to the project for the shell, core building and associated site work. The balance of $57 million is expected to come from the Jules Stein Eye Institute and the David Geffen School of Medicine, which are funding site preparation, tenant improvements and equipment.

No state money will be used to develop the project. A May 2010 building report posted on the university's website says the donations and other forms of external financing will be used to cover costs. The University of California system is amid a severe budget crunch that has seen staff furloughs, student fee increases and the implementation of other austerity measures.

Michael Palladino, the architecture firm's design partner, is serving as the lead on the new building. He said the project includes an overhaul of nearby open space to create an "outdoor room," providing visitors with a place to walk and relax.

"The new building is intended to engage that outdoor room," he said. "The other two buildings are more institutional in imagery, a little more solid and more closed and don't really engage the landscape."

Palladino said the design for the building accounts for a population that may have impaired eyesight. "We had to plan the architecture so that [finding your way] is intuitive and you don't have to rely on graphics or signage."

The Jules Stein Eye Institute will occupy the first three floors of the building. It will have six operating rooms as well as facilities for oculoplastics and cataract and refractive surgery. Currently, the institute has five operating rooms that will eventually be repurposed for other uses.

The top three floors of the building will be filled by the medical school's neurosurgery department and the Institute of Urologic Oncology.

According to the May 2010 report, the building is expected to create approximately 40 additional staff positions and 15 additional faculty jobs.

The south side of the building will feature large glass windows that afford ample sunlight and views to the gardens for patients sitting in various waiting rooms. The use of glass is a signature style of Meier's architecture firm and has been incorporated in some of its Southern California buildings.

Casey Wasserman, the sports and entertainment executive who heads the Wasserman Foundation, said his organization has contemplated the new building for about 15 years.

"It's not just a design for a building but a design for a complex," said Wasserman, the grandson of the legendary Hollywood talent agent, studio chairman and industry leader Lew Wasserman. "We aspired to something to elevate everything that the eye institute does."

The Wasserman building isn't the first structure at UCLA designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects, which has offices in Westwood. In 2006, the firm unveiled the 150,000-square-foot Eli and Edythe Broad Art Center, at the north end of campus. The firm overhauled the existing Dickson Art Center that had been damaged during the Northridge earthquake in 1994.

[DaveLA_CA]

Tilley Tower

One of the biggest “oops” moments in a long time has to belong to the new Tilley Tower electric sign next to USC’s Galen Center. What probably looked like a good idea on paper would have revealed itself to be not quite as much once someone, anyone, would have looked at the construction site in relation to the other structures around it. Who decided that putting a two sided electric sign, that is almost completely obscured by the very building whose events it is intended to publicize, was a good idea must have had too much money to spend and needed to deplete the wad or the donor would take it back. The southern face of the sign in unreadable until you are almost completely upon it due to the freestanding tower being the same height as the Galen Center (which makes the sign itself below roofline) and its location being flush with the front of the building.

[Fern~Fern*]

^ Oh my!

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by LA Downtown News

The $200 Million Trojan Home
University Gateway Offers Housing for 1,600 Students
by Richard Guzmán
LA Downtown News
Published: Friday, August 20, 2010 4:30 PM PDT

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - When Chicago native Alex Sheft was ready to move out of his dorm, he looked at several apartments near USC.

Able to pay about $1,000 in rent, and willing to share a room, Sheft had several options. But not many would come with an Internet-ready laundry room, roof decks, a gym, study rooms and a 24-hour concierge, along with furniture and a flat screen TV.

Those amenities were what brought Sheft to University Gateway, a $200 million student housing project by Downtown based developer Urban Partners. He is one of about 1,250 students who have already moved in to the complex, where he shares a suite with three roommates.

Located at 3335 S. Figueroa St., on the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard, the long-delayed and longer-awaited development was designed and built by Clark Construction. It includes 421 apartments for approximately 1,600 students. It also features 81,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space, half of which is being taken up by USC for office space. Within 45 days, all of the retail space should be filled, with restaurants, a bank and a CVS pharmacy, said John Hrovat, a principal at Urban Partners and a USC alumnus.

Rents range from $899 for a single bed in a two-bedroom apartment that houses four people, to about $3,000 for a sole occupancy one bedroom.

“It’s expensive,” Sheft admits. “But that’s living in L.A., and with all the furniture, with the TV already included, it costs about the same as it would have cost me to rent furniture for another place, so you get what you pay for.”

Easy Living

The eight-story structure blends in with the USC aesthetic, utilizing the Italian Romanesque architectural style seen throughout the campus. Inside, however, it’s a modern, high-tech mix of contemporary style and computer-assisted living.

University Gateway began leasing in September 2009, and students have been moving in since late June. A mass moving day was held on Saturday, Aug. 14, when more than 300 students lugged their clothes, computers and stereos into the project.

Hrovat notes that the occupants don’t need much more than their personal items.

“The day you move into your unit the electricity is on, there’s a phone on, the Internet is on, the cable TV is on, there’s a high definition flat screen in your living room. It’s fully furnished,” Hrovat said. “Everything is on, you just bring your bedding and your groceries and your bookbag and laptop.

“The whole point of that is focus on school, we’ll focus on your housing needs.”

Three security guards work 24 hours a day and greet students in the lobby. Once inside, the first thing people see is a massive video wall comprised of 25 32-inch flat screen televisions. So far they’ve broadcast ESPN, but soon they will display a video art installation.

Past that room is an information kiosk where two TVs are mounted on a wall above a couch. They display information about events going on at the campus. Recently the TVs highlighted a pie-eating contest in the building’s courtyard.

There is a concierge desk — “It’s staffed 24 hours a day and you ask for anything you would ask for at a hotel,” says Hrovat — and a lounge with couches, chairs and more large televisions. Beneath the TVs are connections where students can plug in everything from iPods to laptops to X Boxes.

“Whatever you can throw on it we can display on the TVs,” Hrovat said. “But the idea is not just to be fun, but functional. If students need to come here and practice a Power Point presentation they can plug their computer in here.”

There are 27 study rooms spread throughout the building; one includes computers, while most are just tables and tackboards. There is also a gym and a kitchen facility.

The laundry facilities, meanwhile, have online connections, allowing students to know which machines are available and when their laundry is done.

The building also has roof decks and courtyards with brightly colored outdoor furniture, tables, planters and hanging lights. Utilities are included in the rent.

Filling a Need

Getting to opening day has not been easy.

Early in the planning process, Urban Partners ran into trouble from Conquest Student Housing, a company that at the time had about 20 area housing projects. Although USC and officials including Eighth District City Councilman Bernard Parks strongly endorsed the project, Conquest vigorously opposed the development, and sought to generate more opposition from some in the community.

In September 2007, USC and Urban Partners sued Conquest, accusing the company of resorting to abusive litigation, extortion and othewr illegal measures to halt University Gateway. They also charged that Conquest was stymieing other projects from Urban Partners, a firm whose developments include the Caltrans headquarters and the California Endowment campus in Downtown.

The suit was settled in February 2008, and the project broke ground that July. However, it was two years behind schedule.

While difficult, the trouble may now be worth it for USC officials, who have previously stated that University Gateway will help fill the school’s student housing shortfall of about 7,000 beds. USC guarantees housing to freshmen and sophomores, but the institution has also set a goal in its campus master plan to guarantee four years of student housing for undergraduates and one year for graduate students by 2011.

While people are moving in, for some students, the cost is too high.

“I can’t pay nearly $1,000 in rent,” said Jason Delaney, a junior who shares a two-bedroom apartment in Hollywood with two other roommates. “This is something that I think is out of reach to a lot of students.”

Indeed, a recent search on Craigslist showed that a two-bedroom apartment near USC could be had for as little as $1,150 a month, making prices considerably lower than those at the new project.

But for every student like Delaney, there is someone for whom University Gateway is a fit. Urban Partners hopes to be 100% occupied this semester, and Hrovat said some of the more expensive units near the rooftop deck were amongst the first to be rented.

Gerald Fisher, a freshman from Northern California who recently toured the building with his mother Carol, was impressed, despite the price.

“It’s steep, but it’s a great building, everything is brand new,” he said.

More important was the seal of approval from mom.

“It couldn’t be closer to the university and I think the facilities look wonderful,” said Carol. “Time will tell, but it looks like a great deal for a student.”

Read More: http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articl...e673958795.txt