Results tagged “cityplanning”

Bad news for residents of the Hollywood Entertainment Distirct. Whole Foods today told Racked LA that the storefront "planned for the southeast corner of Selma and Vine is on hold until the market takes a better turn." That location is near the mixed apartment complex and the currently under construction W Hotel.

After last week's announcement of a two new commercial, hotel and residential towers by Korean Air, another Southern Korean firm has announced plans for a 43-story downtown skyscraper between Figueroa and Flower streets near the Convention Center, finds the LA Times. It is scheduled to be heard this week by the Los Angeles Planning Commission. And add to that this good news for foodies: As noted last week, the popular Silver Lake restaurant and bar, Malo, plans to open its second location sometime in 2010 below Seven Grand (appropriately at 7th and Grand) in the old Clifton’s Silver Spoon Cafeteria space. Hopefully that means dollar taco Mondays downtown, too.

Just days after Korean Air donated $160,000 to the Million Trees LA initiative, the company announced that they will be demolishing the company-owned Wilshire Grand Hotel and developing a $1 billion development that includes a new hotel, residential and offices. The plans for the complex at 7th and Grand are for a 60-story office building and 40-story hotel that will include 100 residences. "The Downtown office market hasn't seen any additions since the building boom of the 1980s," noted blogdowntown Editor Eric Richardson.

"Let's not forget the local perspective when talking national policies," LA City Council President Eric Garcetti said last night in a telephone press conference about the federal stimulus package going through Washington D.C. right now. "The economic recovery isn't going to happen in Washington, it's going to happen on our streets."

Wrought with the economy hitting them hard and community and city opposition, Home Depot officially announced today that they are done trying to open a store in the Northeast Valley and are dropping their $10 million lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.

Eric Richardson from blogdowntown was lucky enough to win a little lottery that allowed him to travel the construction elevators up the 26th and 45th floors of LA Live's 56-story hotel and condo tower. Not bad, save for the parking lots below.

Starting November 1st, developers wanting to build in Los Angeles will have some new green rules to play by. Projects of 50,000 square feet or above will now have to meet the intent (that is, do everything but apply and pay for certification) of the US Green Building Council's LEED standards at the Certified Level. Additionally, the mandatory building law includes residential projects of seven or more stories.

Grove and Americana developer Rick Caruso is running for Mayor. No wait, he is not running for Mayor, but he is, oh no he isn't... and so the broken record goes. Today the LA Weekly takes a look at Rick Caruso, his background, his developments and his political aspirations. Some worry as mayor he would turn the city into one big Disneyland-like development with Cheesecake Factories everywhere, but the Weekly looks at the closer into the man who has influenced a lot of what Los Angeles is today. Here's a little from the large profile:

The battle over Proposition T, a ballot initiative Santa Monica voters will be voting on in November, is heating up. $428,879.00 has been raised since June by a group named "Save Our City" to oppose the proposition. 15 of the 37 givers, mainly developers, were from outside the city, according to a document Prop T proponents made.

Today, the Mayor and the four councilmembers who represent the South LA region will be presenting a 96-page common agenda called the South Los Angeles Initiatives (.pdf). They are "intended to facilitate the eventual completion of targeted economic development projects in the area," a brief press release states. "The strategic plan defines, sets targets for, and measures the progress of projects in 10 initiative areas. These areas include business development; jobs and workforce development; increasing housing; improving retail opportunities; and improving neighborhoods and quality of life."

And when you hear that, you might find yourself asking which Realtor came up with that ranking. Luckily, this time there is some creditability behind the designation: the American Planning Association. They "singled out Echo Park because of its breathtaking topography set in the hills above downtown, historic architecture, pedestrian-oriented streets and stairways, and engaged residents who, over the years, have gone to great lengths to protect and preserve their community," according to an APA release (add: their website has more info and history on why EP was chosen) .

The RAND Corporation came out with a study today focusing on short-term transportation policy options that could improve transportation in the city. They based their findings on what they see as the problem of Los Angeles traffic: mainly cheap and abundant parking and polycentricism (various sub-centers instead of one downtown area). And one of the more interesting reasons why traffic reductions are usually temporary seems to be the human psyche:

A bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger last night will encourage smarter growth for a California that's expected to largely increase in population in upcoming decades. The bill requires the California Air Resources Board to set regional targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions dovetailed into regional transportation planes resulting in a Sustainable Communities Strategy. It also hopes to give developers incentive to build high-density projects near transit hubs.

It's another day in the fight between Santa Monica City Hall and proponents of Proposition T, the city measure that would "establish an annual limit on commercial development" in an effort to slow down traffic growth. In this round, city staff asked city council about beginning to impose a traffic impact fee on developers, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press (.pdf). But Prop T proponents said the city already took a similar action in the early 1990s and could have collected an estimated $45 million by now. But the city says they were only beginning a study on the issue and that it looks like the 1994 Northridge Earthquake distracted them.

Did you know that if we stretched all of Downtown LA’s parking spaces across one lot, more than 80 percent of downtown would be reserved for cars? But while there’s ample space for our cars (for a price), two-thirds of the county's children don't have a park within walking distance of their homes.

Streetsblog LA reports that the state legislature passed AB 1358, The Complete Streets Act, last week. It's a pretty important bill to help make (or force) cities to become more livable.

Environmental and neighborhood groups are organizing to save Griffith Park from the possibility of development. Last month, Col. Griffith J. Griffith's grandson and the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust put in an application to formally preserve the park by getting it designated as a historic landmark.

      

This morning, we shined a light on the rebirth of Bob's Big Boy. But with all highs are lows before it. Earlier this year, Bob's at Wilshire and Highland was served with an eviction notice to make way for Beverly Hills BMW (note that this location is not in Beverly Hills.)

The birth of a new parking structure that will serve the future redone Reseda Theater began yesterday near the intersection of Sherman Way and Reseda Blvd. "The 8,500-square-foot theater will be gutted and reconfigured into an 11,000- square-foot, state-of- the-art, live-performance and special-event venue," reports the Daily News. It will get a $7.7 million makeover and is being rehabilitated by the CIM Group, who runs Hollywood & Highland, among many other redevelopment properties in the Los Angeles area.

It's rare urban farm land against young womens apparel at the old site of the South Central Farm where two years ago farmers were kicked out by owner (now in the Central Valley) real estate developer Ralph Horowitz. After a media blitz of dramatic protests, he kicked the farmers off the land in preparation to develop something, which is now a Forever 21 manufacturing plant that locals and farmers are protesting, says the LA Times. They want an environmental impact report (EIR), which would add another year to the permit process. In a neighborhood full of warehouses, the activists say they don't need anymore, but proponents say the jobs added to the economy are. A hearing is set for later this month.

It's the usual story about the Department of Transportation. It's either lack of community relations, or lack of something else. Today, it's a lack of efficiency when compared to all other departments that review applications for projects.

There's a local initiative facing Santa Monicans this November regarding development in the name of traffic. The Residents' Initiative to Fight Traffic's (RIFT) ballot measure would amend the land use element of Santa Monica's general plan "to establish an annual limit on commercial development" within the city until 2023. The working theory is that traffic can't increase much if new jobs aren't made available in new developments. These days, SaMo traffic is pretty gridlocked and it's hard to imagine it getting worse. Opponents say that growth is inevitable, future planning must be smart and that if passed, it will damage the city for years to come.

The Northridge Fashion Center area is getting a development boost with an influx of development projects. Three of the four are mixed use with retail/commercial space on the first floors and the site Kmart is expected to be razed for one of the residential buildings, according to the Daily News. Of course, there are major concerns over increased traffic and to date, there are no major public transit lines in the immediate area. Add to that, more types of these projects are expected to hit the neighborhood.

What? So, Metro is set to vote this week on a mixed-use residential/commercial development that will literally be feet from the Orange Line Sepulveda station in Van Nuys (you know, in that huge parking lot no one uses). "When they first came to me about it, it was supposed to be all residential," Councilman Tony Cardenas, who represents the area, is quoted saying in the Daily News. "Now they are talking about having commercial development." Cardenas also voted against a sales tax increase that could go towards public transit projects such as the "Subway to the Sea."

Usually, building codes are not at the forefront of state politics, but recently, as Los Angeles and other cities are setting their own building standards, a statewide standard was passed. It's a good step, but Schwarzenegger and environmentalists have differing views on if it is strong enough or not, even though it is the strictest in the U.S. "Nationwide, buildings consume 39% of energy, 12% of potable water, and 40% of raw materials, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. The structures are also responsible for 39% of greenhouse gas emissions," explains the LA Times. New green building codes, which would reduce energy use by 15% and water landscaping use by 50%, for the state will go into effect in 2010.

Think LA's relationship with underground rail transit began with the first tunnels blasted out to make way for the Red Line? Think again! LA's first subterranean transit system was a short stretch of tunneling dubbed the "Hollywood Subway," which moved its first passengers under the city in 1925 via electric interurban rail cars.

Not so fast hotel builders and Bevelry Hills politicians. Residents who fought (see the protest photos here) to keep the Beverly Hilton from turning into a new huge hotel/condo project have gotten their issue qualified for the November ballot, according to LA County who counted and verified the petition signatures. The Beverly HIlls city "council could decide to put the issue before the voters, or repeal the resolution which was the subject of the referendum petition," says the Beverly Hills Courier.

Capitol Records was hoping the plan for a 16-story condo building next door to their iconic Hollywood & Vine tower would not go through. They're worried that construction of an underground 242-space parking lot and vibrations from traffic will cause damage. It "will interfere with and potentially ruin the operation of the unique echo chambers and sound studios at the Capitol Records tower next door," the record company said in a statement.

The music venue that is the Knitting Factory has been a mainstay in the resurgence of Hollywood since 2000. As an anchor tenant and early adopter of the area, the New York City based club saw Hollywood change from having the 18th Street Gang territory sit one block away to having tourists flock the area making it a likely candidate for one of the most pedestrian dense areas in the city. Now that the area is built up and the Factory is surrounded by national brand name stores and businesses, trouble has come knocking on the door.

The Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council’s “Panel Of Visionaries” led over 300 community leaders in Saturday’s “The Destiny of the West Valley” forum, challenging the community to demand walkable streets, complete and effective mass transit, park-once concepts, circulators and people movers, sustainable infrastructure, green streets, improved property values, reduced utility bills and, quite simply, greatness!