The site of a proposed federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, and one of the slowest-moving construction projects in the city. Also one of the larger man-made holes you'll see in L.A.
For the better part of a decade, it was the site of a vacant state office building. The federal government began plans for a new courthouse there in 2000, and owns and maintains the site, but has not set a date to begin construction. Gene Gibson, a spokeswoman for U.S.General Services Administration, told L.A. Land the GSA anticipates the project will proceed in fiscal year 2010.
-- Peter Viles
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo credit: L.A. Land
 This has not been a good week for big real estate development projects. Three very big ones have failed, stalled or sputtered. Two words come to mind: credit crunch.
In Pasadena, from the Star-News: "The Ambassador West project [site pictured], one of the largest and most prestigious in the city's history, has been foreclosed on and the property is back on the market for the fourth time in a decade. 'We no longer own any of the property,' Howard Weinberg, a part-owner of Ambassador West, said Monday. 'A foreclosure sale has occurred.' " The L.A. Times matches the story here.
There's also the bankruptcy filing Sunday of CalPERS-backed LandSource, which was developing 15,000 acres north of Los Angeles. When big entities like LandSource file for bankruptcy, they still have enough money for lawyers and public relations executives, and they publish press releases that make it sound like bankruptcy is nothing special or unexpected, just another challenging chapter in the life of a business. This is not true. Nobody expects bankruptcy to happen. Do you really think honest, hardworking local businesses that did work for LandSource thought they would have to fight in court to get paid for work they've already done? You can follow the bankruptcy at this site.
Lastly, government leaders in Los Angeles are threatening -- threatening -- to play hardball with the cash-strapped developers of the Grand Avenue project: "The government board overseeing the $3-billion Grand Avenue project on Monday unexpectedly rejected the developer's request for an eight-month delay to begin construction on the development across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. While both sides said they remain optimistic that the sprawling downtown Los Angeles development is on track, the vote is the strongest sign yet that government officials are growing concerned over repeated delays and hope to keep a tight rein on the developer they handpicked for the project almost four years ago."
Update: Barbara Casey, a public relations consultant to Related California, e-mailed this afternoon with these thoughts: "The Grand Avenue project is not in foreclosure or bankruptcy and neither is its developer, Related Companies. It is completely unfair to include it in your litany of bad news. In fact, Related is not cash strapped at all, having received a $1.4-billion investment from Goldman Sachs, Michael Dell, and sovereign funds of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia at year end 2007. The JPA did not threaten in any way to take the project away and did not reject Related’s request to move the construction start to February 2009 but deferred a decision on this until its next meeting July 28 in order to gather more information. Nothing was indicated that the JPA would not approve the extension to February 15, 2009. I refer you to the Downtown News and Daily News for more accurate accounts of what occurred at yesterday’s meeting."
Those of you who want to take Casey's advice and compare and contrast the two news accounts of Grand Avenue, here they are:
L.A. Times: "Developer's request to delay L.A.'s Grand Avenue project is rejected"
L.A. Daily News: "Grand Developer gets extension"
I would happily include a link to the Downtown News story but can't for the life of me find the article on their website.
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo credit: Los Angeles Times
The off-again, off-again ground-breaking for the big Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles has been delayed again. Now delayed until early 2009, if construction financing can be arranged. That is a big "if."
From LATimes.com: "The developer of the massive Grand Avenue project said Monday that completion of the $3-billion redevelopment effort will be delayed until 2012 because of difficulty in obtaining construction loans amid the real estate downturn. ... Bill Witte, head of Related California, said he now believes that construction will begin in the first quarter of 2009 and emphasized that the project is not in jeopardy."
From LA Downtown News: "Initially, Related intended to begin construction on the project in October 2007, but the schedule has been pushed back multiple times." The delay is a new lease on life for a previously doomed parking garage that was closed and scheduled to be demolished last month, but is now likely to reopen, LA Downtown News reports.
Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
 Backstory: About five weeks ago the L.A. Times ran a controversial piece about downtown real estate, pointing out "signs that downtown's residential boom is slowing, if not stalling out altogether." I say controversial because the story unleashed a flood of comments on this blog, many of them from defenders of life downtown who were angry about the article (That was the thread in which I was accused of having a "Westside white-bread classist attitude").
Now the new part: Today's paper takes another look, a friendlier look, at life downtown, this time focusing on the industrial district and its "intoxicatingly youthful vibe."
"Here, away from the bustling sidewalks and skyscrapers of the city
center, narrow, quiet tree-lined streets intersected by old rail lines
have become magnets for urban residents looking for a different
downtown experience. ... Birds chirp over the low rumbling of
trucks. Residents say the area reminds them of New York's TriBeCa or
Chelsea districts when they were just becoming residential hot spots."
I'm anxious to hear your comments on this one, but first just one piece of newspaper spin on publishing two seemingly contradictory stories about downtown: they're both valid views of what's happening. Yes, the residential boom appears to be slowing down. And yes, there is also a growing community of people who enjoy living downtown.
There, my spin. Your thoughts? Comments? Email story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com. FYI: Long weekend ahead. No new blog posts until late Monday. Comments will post, eventually.
 What happens when you combine a collapsing dollar, America's addiction to oil, a slumping commercial real estate market, tight credit markets, and hopes for revitalization of downtown Los Angeles?
You get a situation where the royal family of Dubai plays a major role in shaping the future of Los Angeles.
News item: "Armed with $100 million from Dubai and a refined design plan, officials
Monday said construction will finally begin next month on the Frank
Gehry-designed residential and shopping plaza along Grand Avenue that
is considered a linchpin to downtown L.A.'s revitalization."
More, from the L.A. Times: "The announcement comes after months of delays and questions about the
viability of such a massive development in the midst of L.A.'s real
estate slump. But those doubts were eased significantly Monday when the government
agency overseeing the redevelopment approved the investment of
Istithmar, a fund controlled by the royal family of Dubai."
OK, the floor is open. Add comments and observations, or e-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: Related Cos./Gehry Partners via L.A. Times.
The world is falling apart, banks are collapsing, the government is bailing them out, and our real estate market is "crippled." Which means it's time for a harmless Friday diversion. Rock 'N Roll chicks in bikinis. On the sidewalk. With fireworks.
What's the point? A large number of you wrote in defense of downtown L.A.,and the blogger palewire let me know there really is fun street life downtown. Here's what happened the other night: "So I’m out on a casual stroll in downtown LA the other night, and what do I bump into? If you guessed an illegal rock show put on by a group of chicks armed with fireworks and dressed in bikinis, you guessed right."
See the same band in a previous street concert here, on YouTube.
My two cents: If Manhattan had street life like this, Eliot Spitzer would still be governor.
The band is Josh Taylor's Friends Forever.
Hat tip and photo credit: Palewire.
Now, let loose with your comments, and enjoy the diversion, because it's back to gloom and doom after this.
 Downtown L.A. residential real estate is suffering more than the city as a whole, the L.A. Times reports tonight in a story that questions whether the much-heralded revival of the city center is really happening:
"Prices of condominiums, which dominate the downtown market, have fallen more sharply here than in Los Angeles and Orange counties overall, according to DataQuick Information Systems. More than one-third of the residential projects approved by city officials have been sidelined."
Telling anecdote: Developer James Osterling is working on a residential project in Chinatown, but isn't interested in living there: "Though he calls himself 'a huge believer in the renaissance in downtown Los Angeles,' he likes his Altadena house just fine. If he did downsize, 'I'd probably get a condo in Pasadena,' he said. 'It has the theater, restaurants and culture without the rough edges of downtown.'
Rough edges.
Random personal observation: I've been working downtown for 3 1/2 months now, and the thing that strikes me is the lack of shopping. It's pretty much a retail dead zone. Just before Christmas I was trying to sneak in some lunch-hour Christmas shopping, and after a couple of attempts came to the conclusion it couldn't be done downtown, which surprised me. I don't know of another big American city where that's true.
Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: L.A. Times.
 Good evening. Will downtown L.A. ever achieve critical mass as a place to live? Will most Angelenos ever care? If you are among those who care, you will be interested in this item from Downtown News:
"A groundbreaking ceremony for the $3-billion Grand Avenue project has been pushed back from March until at least the summer, officials with developer Related Cos. confirmed last week. It marks the third time that the public kickoff for the massive Bunker Hill effort has been postponed."
LA Biz Observed reports the delay is "bound to raise questions on whether the much-ballyhooed project being developed by Related Cos. is running into financing problems. It wouldn't be surprising, given the scope of the project and the uncertain state of the commercial lending market."
For the recrod, Related Cos. President Bill Witte told Downtown News "the development is on track to meet its most recently announced timeline, with phase one slated for completion in 2011. He also maintained that the project's financing is in order."
Thoughts? Comments? Insights? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo credit: Gehry Partners LLP for Grand Avenue Committee
 News item: "Preliminary construction" -- not to be confused with the official groundbreaking -- has begun on the $3 billion, mixed-use project in downtown L.A. known as "The Grand."
By my math, it is actually 3 million grands, but never mind.
Designed by architect Frank Gehry, Phase I includes a 48-story Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Residences, a 250,000-square-foot retail pavilion, a 19-story residential tower, and a 16-acre civic park.
It's true, I mainly just wanted to run the photo.
Your thoughts? How much new residential construction is too much downtown?
Photo Credit: MWW Group
A really tall building, with a boatload of condos, is on the drawing board for downtown LA. The LA Times says the building, from developer David Houk, would be LA's tallest, and would house 732 condos at the corner of Fifth and Olive.
Will it happen? There's a glut of condos downtown and even Perpetually Upbeat LA Economist Jack Kyser tells the Times, "Downtown is overbuilt and some other projects are grinding to a halt." Perpetually cheeky blog Curbed LA expresses same in headline: "Really Tall Towers Proposed. May Actually Happen."
Close readers of LA Land will remember we reported all this back on April 23 (truthfully, we linked to LA Downtown News, which had the story). They would have to be extremely close readers of LA Land, because on April 23 the blog existed, but hadn't yet been linked to LATimes.com.
Comments? Predictions?
 LA Downtown News is reporting that developer David Houk hopes to break ground in October on what would be the tallest building in LA, in fact the tallest building west of the Mississippi. The condo and hotel project, dubbed Park Fifth, would be up to 76 stories, with up to 750 condos. Downtown News calls it a "quiet giant of a project" located in the block bounded by Fifth, Olive and Hill. You tell me: is it critical mass for downtown living, or foolish overbuilding into a glutted market? (I suppose it could be neither, but what fun would that be?) Thoughts? Insights? Comments? Use the comment button or send story tips to lalandblog@yahoo.com.
Eames chairs, Dwell magazine, bumper stickers for British soccer teams, razor wire, a hint of David Beckham -- it's all there in Christopher Hawthorne's must-read today about loft living in downtown LA.
He focuses on Industrial Street and three Linear City projects: the Toy Factory Lofts, the Biscuit Company Lofts, and the Mill Street Lofts (no website yet). So what's it like down there? "Vaguely gost-town-like." (Maybe you have seen the exestential play, "Waiting For Ralph's.")
That's not entirely fair. Hawthorne's nuanced look describes downtown as "a micro-neighborhood whose personality feels vital, organic and entirely artificial at the same time." Plot-spoiler: He also thinks the whole thing will work: "I'm guessing it will prove to be hugely popular," he concludes.
Your thoughts? Will it all work? Comments always welcome, as are emails to: lalandblog@yahoo.com
DOWNTOWN -- Joining David Beckham as sometime residents of the Biscuit Company Lofts? A couple of big celebrities, trust me. Or rather, trust LA Downtown News, which is reporting that "new inhabitants of the 105-unit complex would include: a big-name (if unnamed) football player, who has purchased one of the multi-million dollar penthouses; actor and director Vincent Gallo (Buffalo '66); and a "famous actor" whose name also could not be disclosed."
Read all about the Biscuit Company Lofts here.
Filed from Pitfire Pizza on 2nd Street in Downtown LA. The wi-fi is free, the pizza is good.
Story tips? Comments? Neighborhood Real Estate News? Send them to Lalandblog@yahoo.com
|
|
