DOWNTOWN | Development News

[pesto]

Originally Posted by soup or man

So..I'm not sure if any of you remember this little building in South Park but it's about to go through a tremendous make over.

From this.


To this.


http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-co...la-hotel-2.jpg


http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-co...a-hotel-17.jpg

Very nice. Looks to have great potential. A city like LA should have 100 of these in process. There are some similar things in Venice but this is the first I've seen in downtown with style and elegance on both interiors and exteriors.

Hate to pick on Staples (which is successful economically, but not otherwise) and LA Live, but couldn't they have found a way to incorporate coolness, finish, elegance, pattern, comfort, univesality to their construction? I would love to see AEG offer a prize for how to use these sorts of techniques to improve the open areas around Staples and LA Live. You might end up with Barcelona or Tribeca instead of Circus Circus.

[slipperydog]

Originally Posted by pesto

But the argument here is whether a football stadium plunked in the middle of a medium rise residential area bordering on a high rise office area makes sense for creating a walkable neighborhood.

Just because you keep saying it doesn't make it true. That 12 acre parcel was NEVER going to become part of a walkable neighborhood. It's a hidden parcel bordered by A) the Convention Center, B) Staples Center, C) a parking structure, and D) the 110 freeway. The convention center had to stay in some shape or form. It was NEVER ever going to be anything other than a convention hall or stadium, nor should it. The site has absolutely NO connectivity to anything resembling a neighborhood.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by pesto

But the argument here is whether a football stadium plunked in the middle of a medium rise residential area bordering on a high rise office area makes sense for creating a walkable neighborhood. The cities I mention are famous for having walkable neighborhoods. They are also famous for being outraged at the idea of putting stadiums anywhere near the their financials centers, civic centers, or urban shopping districts.

you keep on repeating this stupid line. do you actually know where the West Hall is? seriously

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by pesto

Very nice. Looks to have great potential. A city like LA should have 100 of these in process. There are some similar things in Venice but this is the first I've seen in downtown with style and elegance on both interiors and exteriors.

Hate to pick on Staples (which is successful economically, but not otherwise) and LA Live, but couldn't they have found a way to incorporate coolness, finish, elegance, pattern, comfort, univesality to their construction? I would love to see AEG offer a prize for how to use these sorts of techniques to improve the open areas around Staples and LA Live. You might end up with Barcelona or Tribeca instead of Circus Circus.

agreed. i would love to see dozens more of these 6 - 15 story edgy buildings. they have loads of character.

And i agree about the blandness of LA Live and the surroundings... i really wish that they mixed it up a bit more.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by slipperydog

Just because you keep saying it doesn't make it true. That 12 acre parcel was NEVER going to become part of a walkable neighborhood. It's a hidden parcel bordered by A) the Convention Center, B) Staples Center, C) a parking structure, and D) the 110 freeway. The convention center had to stay in some shape or form. It was NEVER ever going to be anything other than a convention hall or stadium, nor should it. The site has absolutely NO connectivity to anything resembling a neighborhood.

Self-fulfilling. I won't even begin to tell you how many 'hoods in NY, Brooklyn or Queens, SF, etc., you could say the same about. Cut off by freeways, bridges, water, swamps, industrial decay: and now housing goes 1M and up (way up) and they are busy with people night and day. Some of them are literally under bridges and yet thriving neighborhoods.

Your problem is a willingness to settle for ANYTHING that someone proposes today, without thinking about the broader 'hood 10 or 20 years from now. There is no reason to write off a substantial corner of what could be a walkable hood (especially when there are hundreds of square miles in LA County that will never be urban or walkable).

[slipperydog]

Originally Posted by pesto

Your problem is a willingness to settle for ANYTHING that someone proposes today, without thinking about the broader 'hood 10 or 20 years from now. There is no reason to write off a substantial corner of what could be a walkable hood (especially when there are hundreds of square miles in LA County that will never be urban or walkable).

Hello. EARTH TO PESTO. I don't know how many ways I can state it. The convention hall HAS to stay, in some shape or form. That "substantial corner" you talk about can't have anything on it besides a convention hall. Unless you want someone to build Pico Hall and then connect it to a bunch of apartments and condos instead of a football stadium. Which would be absolutely brilliant. Come on man.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by slipperydog

Hello. EARTH TO PESTO. I don't know how many ways I can state it. The convention hall HAS to stay, in some shape or form. That "substantial corner" you talk about can't have anything on it besides a convention hall. Unless you want someone to build Pico Hall and then connect it to a bunch of apartments and condos instead of a football stadium. Which would be absolutely brilliant. Come on man.

i think if we walked him down there, stopped and looked at the site, he would still argue. i give up

[PinkFloyd]

Originally Posted by soup or man

Apparently that's not what's getting built there. From LA Downtown News:

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Another hotel is coming to South Park, and although plans for what is now a derelict structure are early, those involved say it will be a boutique establishment.

The city had initially looked at acquiring a three-story brick edifice at 1130 S. Hope St. and tearing it down to build a park. That plan never came to fruition, and instead the property was purchased by a group of private investors. The group, BIMHF, LLC, has hired an architect and is in the preliminary design and planning phase, said co-owner Rick Son.

While Son said that BIMHF has $25 million in financing "lined up" and the group is looking to open the new hotel in 2014, the room count has not yet been decided. Earlier this week, the website Archdaily.com published renderings purportedly of the project by architecture firm XTEN.

XTEN participated in a design competition for the hotel, but did not win, Son said. He also said the images posted online do not reflect the design direction of the hotel.

“It’s completely different,” he said.

Son said he expects to reveal renderings of the hotel in June.

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/g...9bb2963f4.html

[Mojeda101]

I took over 100 pictures of downtown and even got several on the Courtyard Marriott construction. Should I post them here or should we start a thread on the tower now that construction begun? Progress is going nice. I managed to get a few through the fence and a few overview shots from the 26th floor of The Ritz.

[klamedia]

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd

Apparently that's not what's getting built there. From LA Downtown News:

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/g...9bb2963f4.html

What's up with that front facing parking lot?

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by klamedia

What's up with that front facing parking lot?

That's an empty lot across the street.

[PinkFloyd]

Music Center to Operate Civic Park

Twelve-Acre Site Renamed ‘Grand Park’ to Open This Summer

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/m...9bb2963f4.html

[Mojeda101]

Today's WSJ has a writeup on downtown apartment construction coming back to life-

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/20...-downtown-l-a/

Included is this new render of the Related Cos Grand Ave project phase 2 apartment building-

[PinkFloyd]

From LA Downtown News

[tanzirian]

Originally Posted by Mojeda101

Today's WSJ has a writeup on downtown apartment construction coming back to life-

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/20...-downtown-l-a/

Included is this new render of the Related Cos Grand Ave project phase 2 apartment building-

I like this render! If this is the latest version, I think it an improvement over the previous iteration, and a better complement to the Broad.

Also @ Pink Floyd, thanks for new pics of the park! I hope some day they will get rid of those hideous County buildings, and either expand the park to fill those lots, or at least add more architecturally pleasing offices in their place.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by tanzirian

I like this render! If this is the latest version, I think it an improvement over the previous iteration, and a better complement to the Broad.

Also @ Pink Floyd, thanks for new pics of the park! I hope some day they will get rid of those hideous County buildings, and either expand the park to fill those lots, or at least add more architecturally pleasing offices in their place.

Agree; this is stylistically complementary and not blah.

I guess this is supposed to be our monumental boulevard, but something that actually attracts people to the area would be nice. That's why, as before, I think that Civic Center and Bunker Hill need more buidlings not more parks. Maybe at least the periphery could be reasonably active. Jtown already is active and maybe 2nd and 3rd could get some life as well if apartments and retail are built.

[milquetoast]

GRANT PRICE

.

I see Grant Price managed to place a nice render of The Broad in there too!

.

Ya know, if you took out

the county buildings you could replace them with trees and grass ANNNND

you'd be able to see the Cathedral on the right and the Disney on the left!

Geez, that might be nice.

[klamedia]

So will this be a place for civic gatherings....i.e. protests, strikes and political events? Occupy LA would have happened here, right?

[Mojeda101]

Well the Occupy LA protests were on the other side of the street =P

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

So i got a notice in the mail today regarding the "Empire Hotel" which is the old Embassy building on Grand. Obviously, weve all noticed that work has been going on there slowly and now we have confirmation.
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]