02-23-15

INSIDE THIS WEEKx

Development

Updates On 96 Downtown Projects, Plus a Residential Section Pages 9-27

FEBRUARY 23, 2015 I VOL. 44 I #8

THE DOWNTOWNERS OF DISTINCTION WINNERS Honoring Nine Projects That Made Downtown a Better Place in 2014 SEE PAGE 6 The new theater at the Ace Hotel on Broadway.

photo by Gary Leonard

A Skid Row Sidewalk Scramble | 5 A Look Inside Eli Broad’s Museum | 32

THE VOICE OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

2 Downtown News

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AROUND TOWN

Metropolis Begins PreLeasing First Condo Tower

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he condominium towers of the $1 billion Metropolis megaproject just north of L.A. Live won’t open until next year, but developer Greenland USA isn’t waiting around to find tenants.

The domestic arm of the Chinese development giant has begun offering reservations on units in its first tower, a 38-story structure. Pricing for studios starts at $511,000 for about 525 square feet, one bedrooms begin at $631,000 for approximately 760 square feet, and two-bedrooms go from $1.1 million for about 1,360 square feet of space, according to the brokerage firm Downtown Loft Connection. Amenities in the project will include a pool deck, green space and indoor entertainment areas. The first phase of Metropolis will also hold an 18-story hotel tower. On the horizon for the second phase, which has not yet broken ground, are two condominium towers, one 40 floors, the other 56 stories. More information is at metropolislosangeles.com.

Biltmore Rooms To Get an Upgrade

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he grande dame of Downtown hotels is getting some work done. The 1923 Millennium Biltmore Hotel is gearing up for a phased refurbishment of its 683 guest rooms and suites beginning in the spring, said ho-

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS tel marketing manager Kendra Walker. When finished, the rooms will feature a warm gray color scheme, part of an effort to complement the structure’s 1920s Italian Renaissance architecture, she said. Although no budget for the transformation has been announced, Walker said that the hotel will remain open during construction, and that completion is expected by fall 2017. The hotel at 506 S. Grand Ave., across from Pershing Square, is the site of numerous high-profile banquets and awards events, and is also a popular filming location.

February 23, 2015

TAKE MY PICTURE GARY LEONARD

USC Gets Signage on Downtown High-Rise

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Downtown landmark is getting a new look.

The University of Southern California has inked a deal that will result in the USC seal and letters being affixed to the top of the 32-story building long known as AT&T Tower. The change comes as part of the university’s leasing of 30,000 square feet inside the two-building complex at 1150 S. Olive St. The space will house offices for USC’s Marshall School of Business and School of Social Work, and brings the university’s presence in the complex to 245,000 square feet. The radio station Classical KUSC is also in the building, which is owned by LBA Realty and Lasalle Investment Management. “With our continued growth over the last five years in the complex, we expect this location to serve as a strategic long-term solution for the university for years to come,” Laurie Stone, associate senior vice president for Real Estate and Asset Management at USC, said in a prepared statement. The new signage will be installed at the top of the William Pereira-designed tower in the third quarter of this year. Other ten-

Arts District

Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Groundbreaking

ants in the complex include Fox Sports, United Way and the Transamerica insurance corporation.

Small Market Coming to Rosslyn Lofts

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icking up grocery staples is about to get easier for Historic Core residents and workers. A 3,200-square-foot Village Market is opening on the ground floor of the low-income Rosslyn Lofts, at 451 S. Main St. Anita Nelson, the CEO of SRO Housing Corp., which operates the Rosslyn, said the store will sell

February 20, 2015

fresh produce and meats, beer and wine and a variety of sundries. “Many of our residents don’t have transportation, so to get to Ninth and Flower for their shopping was challenging,” said Nelson, referring to the location of the Ralph’s supermarket. The build-out is just beginning, said Nelson, who anticipates an opening in about three months. Village Market will fill the space once occupied by an art gallery run by Art Walk founder Bert Green. The Rosslyn has two additional commercial spaces that SRO Housing hopes to fill, said Nelson.

News of a market’s arrival was first reported on the website DTLArising.

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Downtown News 3

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4 Downtown News

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EDITORIALS

February 23, 2015

Urban Scrawl by Doug Davis

The Readers Talk Back Website Comments to Downtown News Stories Regarding the article “Crime, Punishment, Good Intentions and Skid Row,” about the effects of Proposition 47, by Eddie Kim, published Feb. 16

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would be the first to agree that jails and prisons hold far too many people who could be better helped somewhere else, but on Skid Row? The thought that ran through my brain as I was reading this is, “Here we go again.” Unless the money saved by the much-needed deinstitutionalization of the jails and prisons in California is used specifically to provide services and treatment in transitional housing for those who have a chance of making it on their own, and permanent supportive housing for those with mental illness and no place else to go, you can bet you’ll see increases in the number of people on Skid Row. Show us how it can work, California. My heart and hopes are with you.

—Pat Morgan, Feb. 17, 4:28 p.m.

Regarding the column “Antonio, Antonio, What Art Thou Thinking, Antonio?” by Jon Regardie, published online Feb. 13

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t’s quite peculiar that you should post this story on a Friday the 13th. So I’ll paraphrase Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”: “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil!/ Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore/ Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted/ On this home

by Horror haunted — tell me truly, I implore/ Is there — is there chance of AnVil coming fore!”/ Quoth the Voter “Nevermore” —Rafael Chavez, Feb. 13, 12:05 p.m.

Comment of the year nominee!

—Scott Johnson, Feb. 15, 8:11 a.m.

Regarding the editorial “Endorsement: José Huizar for City Council,” published Feb. 16

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his is a thoughtful and thorough analysis that endorses a candidate who has done much for Downtown and underscores the uneasiness many Downtowners feel about his opponent, Gloria Molina, whose record on public arts issues, particularly murals, is not reassuring, at least in the Arts District. That community has indeed experienced profound “organic growth,” one consequence of which is a desperate need for parking.

In the community’s most popular area there is a county-owned lot that is never more than 10% full, yet for years Molina blew off community leaders’ pleas to open it to the public. Huizar has been a constant presence in the Downtown community and has assembled an experienced, skilled and responsive staff that works with neighborhood leaders to meet the challenges posed by development. This is a well-earned endorsement.

—Jonathan Jerald, Feb. 16, 11:53 a.m.

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his is a most deserved endorsement for Councilman Huizar. The man has been on the move and he deserves a look at the finish line. I am afraid some of his projects now in motion may fall to the side under Mrs. Molina. A vote for Huizar is a wise vote.

—Reuben Pages, Feb. 18, 6:30 a.m.

Yes on Charter Amendments 1 and 2, But Don’t Stop There

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t makes sense to be skeptical of a ballot proposition that the Los Angeles City Council touts as beneficial to the city. After all, just two years ago the council, with leadership from President Herb Wesson, strongly advocated for the passage of a half-cent sales tax. Rejecting Proposition A, the lawmakers warned, would have drastic effects on the city budget, including police layoffs.

Voters in the March 2013 election said no, and the cops stayed on the job. Sure, the city budget is delicate and starts each year with a structural deficit, but that was the case even before the council’s sky-is-falling warnings.

That is the backdrop to another approaching ballot measure.

On March 3, Los Angeles residents will be asked to approve or deny Charter Amendments 1 and 2, which would change the date of city and LAUSD elections, moving them from March and May in odd-numbered years to June and November in evennumbered years. They would go into effect in 2020 and align with county, state and federal ballots. This would, according to backers, boost Los Angeles’ abysmal turnout in municipal elections.

Many of the politicians backing the changes are the same ones who tried to ramrod Proposition A through. However, in this case, we think they are on to something. Although some current officeholders will enjoy certain benefits if the measure passes, including an extra 18 months in office that could contribute to larger pensions, we think these moves are, in the long run, good for the city. Los Angeles Downtown News advises voters to approve Charter Amendments 1 and 2.

That should just be the beginning of overall electoral change, however. More on that below.

The biggest reason to move election day is the aforementioned low turnout. Los Angeles was the butt of national jokes in 2013 when just 23% of the electorate voted in the mayoral runoff. That, sadly, was no anomaly — turnout has been tumbling for years, and some City Council races see only about 10% participation.

This issue generated increased interest after the mayor’s race.

Last year, the high-profile Los Angeles 2020 Commission urged getting off the odd-year track. So did the Municipal Elections Reform Commission, a panel appointed by the city.

Moving city elections to June and November of even-numbered years essentially means scheduling votes at times when more people are already voting. By its very nature this should in-

crease participation.

Charter Amendments 1 and 2 would also go a ways to reducing so-called “voter fatigue.” Right now, Angelenos can be asked to vote three times in six months, starting with a state or federal ballot in November followed by a city primary in March and a runoff in May. People tire of it. We tire of just hearing the description.

Some intelligent people are on different sides of this issue.

The respected organization Common Cause backs the change of dates. Prominent public officials such as City Councilman Bernard Parks and longtime County Supervisor Gloria Molina are against it. Their opposition merits careful consideration.

Opponents point out that city races would be at the end of a potentially long ballot. It’s a valid point, but it’s not as if people are being asked to read War and Peace. Many will get through the ballot and come to the city races fairly quickly.

Of greater concern is what effect the new dates will have on competition and spending. In an L.A. Times Op-Ed, Parks warned that the vast number of races will make it much more expensive to run for a City Council seat, and that only candidates with deep backing from special interests will be able to cut through the clutter. Again, it’s a point to consider, but we already have a situation where special interests contribute heavily to favored candidates and shape council races. We have also seen numerous instances when candidates financed by these organizations fail, as voters make their own informed decisions.

What is most important is that any change in election day be seen only as a first step to addressing an inadequate system.

In addition to altering the date, it makes sense to address how, where and when people vote. This is 2015, and technology has made almost everything in life easier, yet we’re still voting in largely the same way we did 50 years ago. To get a more participatory democracy, there should be deep explorations of effective (and hack-proof) Internet-based voting, as well as considerations of allowing people to cast ballots at supermarkets and shopping malls or other public spots. Also, what’s so special about Tuesday?

It might be easier to get people to the polls on weekends.

City elections will also be better when there are qualified candidates in every race. Too often council members scare off any serious competition. If those in City Hall want to improve democracy, then Charter Amendments 1 and 2 will be just the start of the work.

February 23, 2015

Downtown News 5

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Issue of Personal Belongings on Sidewalks Rises Again City, Homeless Rights Advocates at Odds as More Communities Deal With Clutter

By Eddie Kim he subject of personal possessions placed on sidewalks in Skid Row has been a hot-button topic for years, sparking lawsuits and scrambling by the city. The most recent result has involved city workers giving 72-hour warnings for people to move their belongings or have them seized.

Now, concern over the placement of homeless individuals’ tents, sleeping bags, clothes and other belongings on sidewalks has spread to other communities in and beyond Downtown Los Angeles. That has sparked an outcry from people who say they can’t maneuver on public streets and businesses who charge that patrons can’t reach their front door.

The situation has compelled the city to draft a new ordinance intended to make it easier and faster for city workers to clean up and impound homeless individuals’ belongings. It also sets up another battle that could lead to more litigation.

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the City Council’s Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee discussed and heard testimony about a proposal to reduce the 72-hour notice to 24 hours. As occurs today, any impounded property would be held in a storage location for 90 days. After that period it could be destroyed.

The proposed amended ordinance, drafted by the office of City Attorney Mike Feuer, states that moving property from the public right-of-way to another public location would not be sufficient. It also states that belongings within 10 feet of “any operational and utilizable entrance, exit, driveway or loading dock” can be removed and impounded at any time without notice.

Items that fit in a standard 60-gallon city trash bin that does not pose an immediate health or safety risk would be placed in storage after the 24-hour notice period, according to the ordinance. “Bulky” items, defined as anything that cannot fit into the bin (such as furniture or appliances like TVs), could be disposed of immediately without warning. Tents would be exempt.

Senior Assistant City Attorney Valerie Flores said if items are

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removed, a notice would be left explaining where they have been taken and how to retrieve them.

“We don’t want to punish them or discourage people. We want to incentivize coming to pick up belongings,” Flores said at the meeting.

The proposal has drawn mixed reactions. Several Downtown organizations expressed support of the ordinance, citing problems maintaining clean and accessible sidewalks.

Steven Van Zile, the director of property management and facilities at SRO Housing Corp., said personal property and encampments on the sidewalks around their residential buildings made it difficult for people to get home safely, particularly if they have physical disabilities. Ryan Navales from the Midnight Mission said that the sidewalks around the facility are often blocked and that people have to walk in the street. Mark Shinbang, a business owner near Skid Row, testified that he has his own employees clean trash, drug paraphernalia and human waste from the sidewalk.

Opponents of the ordinance sharply criticized the city’s inability to keep the sidewalks clean and clear and said that a lack of resources is the root of the problem.

Becky Dennison, co-director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, said that existing law allows city agencies to deal with any health and safety issues related to people blocking the sidewalk.

“The idea that people should only have 24 hours to move all their property, not knowing where to put it, is unacceptable,” she said. “You do not need to make this law more strict. All you’re doing is putting the city in more potential litigation rather than putting forward a solution or enforcing current laws.”

Local officials have grappled with this issue in the aftermath of the 2011 case Lavan v. City of L.A. Brought by the ACLU, LACAN and the L.A. Catholic Worker, it resulted in a ruling deeming it illegal to remove personal belongings off the street unless they

photo by Gary Leonard

A new policy change proposed by the city would allow it to impound personal items left on sidewalks after only 24 hours of notice. Currently, people are given a 72-hour notice.

were abandoned. The 72-hour rule has been in effect since.

Marie Kennedy, the board chair of Venice Community Housing and a professor at UCLA, said the city has largely failed to provide legal storage options for the homeless, and stated that current facilities, including in Downtown, are already at capacity. She criticized the city for what she said is increasing enforcement without providing solutions for homeless people who lack a place to stay.

The primary enforcer of the proposed ordinance would be the city Bureau of Sanitation, but it has not been determined whether the city can allocate additional staff or funding. It is also unclear how much outreach would be conducted to notify people in Skid Row and elsewhere if the policy is put into effect.

The ordinance was passed at the Feb. 18 meeting. Councilman Joe Buscaino, one of the committee members, instructed the city Department of Public Works to report back within 60 days on how to streamline and expedite the cleanup approval process. eddie@downtownnews.com

EVERY GREAT CITY NEEDS A GREAT DOWNTOWN ENDORSED BY DT NEWS

• Jose Huizar has been at the forefront of the efforts to revive Downtown Los Angeles and has helped turn downtown into a thriving residential community.

• Jose Huizar has ushered in new policies and

initiatives that have improved pedestrian accessibility, created new jobs, supported business growth, and restored historic buildings.

• Jose Huizar is creating a new park on 1st and

Broadway and a new park in the Arts District, and is committed to bringing another dog park to Downtown. He is also working with local stakeholders to re-create Pershing Square as a Town Square for Downtown.

• Jose Huizar is improving public transportation,

expanding the DASH system, and bringing back our beloved Streetcar to Downtown.

• Jose Huizar expanded Operation Health Streets to

VOTE MARCH 3RD

improve services to the homeless, and is leading the effort to coordinate and better resolve the homeless crisis in Downtown.

Paid for by Huizar for L.A. City Council 2015 (FPPC ID#: 1360239) 777 S. Figueroa St, Suite 4050, LA, CA 90017 Additional information available at ethics.lacity.org Paid Political Advertisement

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

6 Downtown News

The

Downtowners of

February 23, 2015

A rt s Di s t r i c t

Distinction Awards

One Santa Fe

Honoring the Projects That Drove Downtown Forward in 2014

photos by Gary Leonard (unless noted)

By Jon Regardie t may be a cliché, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true: It would have been impossible a decade ago to predict the kinds of projects that are coming online today in Downtown Los Angeles.

That’s what the editorial staff of Los Angeles Downtown News realized as we were considering candidates for this year’s Downtowners of Distinction awards. The community is full of housing, entertainment, retail and restaurant projects that might have seemed unfathomable in 2005. Back then who could have guessed that the Central City would be the hippest nightlife destination in Los Angeles, or that it would be the community of choice for young chefs changing the way L.A. eats? Who could have known that 2014 would be the year when Downtown gains a top-notch concert hall, a destination hotel and a huge batch of housing complexes?

In the following pages, Los Angeles Downtown News runs down the winners of our 14th annual Downtowners of Distinction awards.

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The prizes were created to recognize the individuals, groups and companies that created projects that not only turned a profit, but also made their community and the whole of the Central City a better place.

The nine district winners for 2014 were selected by the editorial staff of Downtown News, and the awards will be handed out Tuesday, Feb. 24 (prizes were not given in every Downtown district). Next week the Project of the Year, selected from among the individual winners by leaders from each district, will be announced.

This year’s Downtowners of Distinction includes a new twist: the inclusion in eight categories of other Notable Projects. Picking 2014 winners was harder than ever due to the unprecedented number of high-quality endeavors that benefit their community. We only give one Distinction award in each district, but we wanted to recognize some of those who took great risks to create new projects.

Following, in alphabetical order by district, are this year’s Downtowners of Distinction winners.

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he Arts District changed forever when One Santa Fe opened last September. The development from McGregor Brown Company, Cowley Real Estate Partners, Polis Builders and Canyon Capital Realty Advisors created 438 apartments on a former Metro rail yard across from SCI-Arc. The $160 million development at 300 S. Santa Fe Ave. not only adds street life to

the community, it is also a draw for the neighborhood, thanks to the retail component that will hold about 25 restaurants and stores, including a supermarket and an ice cream parlor.

The design by Michael Maltzan features long, colorful expanses and open spaces that pull people in and leave room for future interaction with the L.A. River.

O T H E R N O T A B L E P R OJ E CTS : Barker Block Phase 2, LA Boulders, EightyTwo, The Springs

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February 23, 2015

Downtown News 7

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

B ROA DWAY C O R R I D O R

BUNKER HILL

The Emerson

photo courtesy of The Emerson

photo courtesy of The Emerson

photo courtesy of The Emerson

Ace Hotel & Theatre

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he phrase “game changer” is thrown around a lot, and is usually hyperbole. In the case of the Ace Hotel, however, it’s accurate. The transformation of the 1927 United Artists Theatre and building at 929 S. Broadway has ignited a neighborhood boom. The 12-story structure with 182 guest rooms is attracting tourists who patronize Downtown businesses, and the restaurant L.A.

Chapter has become a hipster destination. Perhaps the most exciting part of the project is the gorgeous renovation of the theater itself, and the 1,600-seat space now hosts concerts and events.

The hotel’s impact extends beyond its property line: With Ace as the base, Ninth and Broadway is Downtown’s new hot corner, with a flurry of shops and restaurants opening.

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t would have been easy for developer Related Cos. to walk away after the recession hammered initial plans to reimagine Grand Avenue.

However, the company stuck around, and last October was finally able to open its first new Downtown housing project. The Emerson, at 225 S. Grand Ave., is a 20-story structure with 216 residences (20% of them set aside as af-

photo courtesy of The Emerson

fordable housing). The slim, tall tower designed

by Miami-based Arquitectonica wisely aims to complement the nearby Disney Hall and The Broad rather than try to equal the architectural landmarks. Residents aren’t the only ones who will benefit from the $120 million project — an Italian restaurant run by chef Agostino Sciandri is also on the way.

O T H E R N O T A B L E P R OJ E C T S :

O T H E R N O T A B L E P R OJ E C T S :

Urban Outfitters, Acme Studios, Oak, Aesop, Broadway Dress Rehearsal

Colburn School’s Performance Schedule, Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center

The Central City Association of Los Angeles and the Downtown Center Business Improvement District, the voices of Downtown Los Angeles, congratulate this year’s honorees for their dedication and commitment to Downtown LA. We also applaud the Los Angeles Downtown News for being the best source for news, business, politics, art, and culture in Downtown LA.

Downtown Center Business Improvement District (213) 624-2146 DowntownLA.com

Central City Association of Los Angeles (213) 624-1213 ccla.org

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

8 Downtown News

CENTRAL CITY EAST

February 23, 2015

CIVIC CENTER

Hall of Justice

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kid Row Housing Trust’s Star Apartments, which began move-ins in early 2014, isn’t just one of the most striking buildings in Skid Row, it’s one of the most striking buildings in all of Los Angeles. Architect Michael Maltzan continued his practice of turning expectations for what low-income housing should be upside down. The $21 million development at 240 E.

Sixth St. utilized prefabricated housing units that were assembled in Idaho, then trucked to Los Angeles and put together on site. The 102 apartments give people formerly living on the streets a new beginning. It’s not just housing either: The project includes in-building support services, exercise and art space, and a community garden.

O T H E R N O T A B L E P R OJ E C T S : City Attorney Mike Feuer’s Crackdown on Homeless Patient Dumping, LAPD Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph’s Stand on Crime and Mental Health Issues

© 2014 Tom Bonner

© 2014 Tom Bonner

© 2014 Tom Bonner

Star Apartments

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he Hall of Justice was perhaps Downtown’s biggest casualty from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and the historic edifice at 211 W. Temple St. sat empty for more than two decades. That changed on Oct. 8, when the 1925 building reopened following an extensive renovation and reinvention approved by Los Angeles County and handled by architecture firm AC

Martin and builder Clark Construction. The $230 million project has once again made the landmark with the stately columns a vital hub of the Civic Center. In the past the Hall of Justice held 17 courtrooms and 700 jail cells. Now, it serves as the headquarters of the District Attorney’s office and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Continued on page 28

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February 23, 2015

Downtown News 9

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DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT Downtown on the Upswing

The Bob Baker Marionette Theatre at 1345 W. First St. was sold in 2013 to Eli Melech, who plans to build an apartment complex on the site. Whether that would involve the demolition of the theater remains to be seen, but the city deemed the City West building a Historic-Cultural Monument in 2009. The initial design from Melech and architect Steve Albert calls for a five-story, wood-framed structure that bridges over the existing theater building; the majority of the theater space would be preserved as a lobby in the new complex and would house displays commemorating Baker’s career. The upper floors would hold 102 one- to three-bedroom apartments. Melech said construction on the development would not start until the end of 2015 at the soonest; the Bob Baker company’s lease runs through this April, at which point it turns into a month-to-month arrangement. No budget for the project has been revealed.

The Latest Information on 96 Projects

By Donna Evans, Eddie Kim and Jon Regardie he development boom in Downtown Los Angeles is hitting a new level: Not only are projects being built, but they are going vertical. In other words, the Central City is literally on an upswing.

This is important because it speaks to increasing density in one of the few communities in Los Angeles that welcomes it.

Whereas residents of Hollywood, the Westside and the Valley frequently protest when a new high-rise is proposed, in Downtown it is often embraced as a means to give the area a critical mass.

This is being seen on numerous fronts. The 73-story Wilshire Grand replacement is rising at Seventh and Figueroa streets and the 33-floor Onni Tower at 888 S. Olive St. is nearing completion.

The multi-tower Metropolis near L.A. Live is under construction and the development firm Trumark Urban just broke ground on a 22-story condominium complex at 1050 S. Grand Ave. in South Park. That is literally just the start, as drawings have been made and entitlements are being sought for another batch of highrises, some 40 or even 50 stories.

That’s not the extent of the boom. The rush of low-rise rental complexes continues, and things are also heated on the civic front, with, among other projects, the Federal Courthouse steaming forward and the recent groundbreaking of the replacement of the Sixth Street Viaduct.

In the following pages, Los Angeles Downtown News provides the latest updates on 96 projects. Expect things to continue to look up, figuratively and literally.

FOURTH & TRACTION

NEW PROJECTS These projects were either publicly announced, were revived or gained prominence in the past five months.

The century-old Coca-Cola building in the Arts District will be transformed into a mixed-use complex with creative office space, retail and restaurants. GPI Companies of Los Angeles and New York-based Atlas Capital last spring completed a $19 million acquisition of the structure, now dubbed Fourth & Traction (although it sits on the corner of Fourth and Merrick streets, the developers are seeking to change the street name). The threestory, 150,000-square-foot red brick building at 963 E. Fourth St. originally opened in 1915 and previously housed operations for the Cola-Cola company, but has long been vacant. Leasing agents Industry Partners and RKF have announced it will get a landscaped, 10,000-square-foot rooftop penthouse with an outdoor kitchen and fire pit, and a restaurant will be on the east end of the structure. Architecture firm HLW International is handling the redesign. The project will include the creation of a 300-space multi-level parking structure adjacent to the building.

Fourth & Traction is due to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

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EIGHTH AND SPRING Vancouver, Washington-based Holland Partner Group has acquired a parking lot at Eighth and Spring streets and plans to build a 24-story building with 320 apartments and ground-floor retail, according to city documents. Tom Warren, head of the company’s Southern California developments, said Holland Partner paid $12.5 million for the property at 737 S. Spring St. The Historic Core project would follow other Downtown developments for Holland Partner. Last June, the company broke ground on a pair of seven-story structures at Sixth and Bixel streets in City West.

ETCO HOMES LITTLE TOKYO Beverly Hills-based developer Etco Homes is seeking entitlements for a 66-unit apartment project in Little Tokyo. The development at 118 Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka St. would offer one- and two-bedroom lofts, with floor plans up to 1,250 square feet. The company is aiming to break ground by the end of the year, said project manager Kyle Milano. The architect is BGA Inc. No budget has been revealed.

FORD BUILDING The former Ford Motor Factory building at the southwest corner of Seventh Street and Santa Fe Avenue will be transformed into creative office space with retail on the ground floor. San Franciscobased real estate giant Shorenstein Properties purchased the 102-year-old building and two accompanying structures for $37 million last April. Jim Pierre, senior vice president of Shorenstein, expects construction to begin this April, and anticipates opening the development in spring 2016. No budget has been announced.

Renderings show floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground floor.

The four levels above the street also would feature large windows. The rooftop would have a deck with sweeping views of Downtown and Boyle Heights. The Ford building opened in 1912 as Ford Motor Company’s primary Southern California assembly operations for Model T’s and Model A’s. It functioned as the headquarters of the Imperial Toy Company from 1972 to 2005.

VIBIANA LOFTS Vancouver, Washington-based developer Holland Partner Group has purchased the nearly one-acre parcel just south of the former St. Vibiana Cathedral. Tom Warren, head of Holland Partner’s Southern California developments, said the firm expects to break ground this month on a 179,000-square-foot building that will create 237 apartments. Plans call for five stories of wood construction over a concrete podium, with approximately 247 above- and below-ground parking spaces. The project is being designed by the architecture firm Togawa Smith Martin, and will include just under 4,000 square feet of retail or restaurant space. Two previous projects, including a 41-story residential tower, had been proposed for the site at 222 S. Main St. Warren anticipates construction taking two years, leading to an opening in early 2017.

RESIDENTIAL

image courtesy HLW International

801 S. OLIVE ST. San Francisco-based Carmel Partners is wrapping up the design phase of a 27-story apartment tower at Eighth and Olive streets, according to Senior Vice President of Development Dan Garibaldi. The company plans to break ground by the end of March, with construction wrapping up in the third quarter of 2017.

Plans for the tower at 801 S. Olive St. call for 363 units, with studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments and eight penthouses.

Amenities would include a large fitness center, a rooftop pool and lounge, and a larger pool and recreation area on a fifth-floor deck. There would also be 10,000 square feet of street-facing retail space as part of a four-story parking podium. Most of the podium would be wrapped in translucent panels, allowing the structure to glow softly at night.

820 S. OLIVE ST.

MARIONETTE SQUARE

image courtesy Onni Group

image courtesy The Albert Group Architects

Vancouver, Canada-based developer Onni Group is moving forward with plans for a 50-story residential tower between Hill Continued on page 10

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February 23, 2015

Development

PROJECT UPDATES, 9 and Olive streets, according to a company representative. Onni, which is also finishing a 33-story apartment tower at 888 S. Olive St., intends to bring 589 housing units and 600 parking stalls to the parcel on the borders of South Park and the Financial District. An adjacent 6,584-square-foot single room occupancy hotel will remain on land owned by the developer. No budget or timeline have been revealed.

920 S. HILL ST. A proposed 32-story high-rise from veteran developer Barry Shy is in the environmental review stage, said project representative Kate Bartolo. The tower at 920 S. Hill St., on what is now a parking lot behind the Ace Hotel, would be a concrete, glass and stone structure with 239 condominiums and five ground-floor commercial spaces totaling 5,405 square feet. David Takacs Architecture is handling the designs. No timeline or budget have been revealed.

950 E. THIRD ST. Initial designs were altered following a neighborhood outcry, and now a groundbreaking is expected by next month for a 472-apartment project at 950 E. Third St., said developer Dilip Bhavnani, a principal at Legendary Developments. The company is partnering with Ohio-based Associated Estates on the Arts District effort. The $160 million complex is slated to rise on a six-acre site adjacent to the Southern California Institute of Architecture. The nearly 400,000-square-foot complex would offer 22,000 square feet of retail and 922 parking spaces. A public path through the project site would connect Third Street to Merrick Street and Traction Avenue.

1001 S. OLIVE ST. Miami-based developer Lennar Multifamily is continuing work on a seven-story apartment building at the southwest corner of Olympic Boulevard and Olive Street, and is almost done with pouring the concrete for the subterranean parking levels. The complex will have 201 rental units, including 12 two-story townhomes, and about 4,100 square feet of retail and commercial space on the ground floor. The South Park project will offer a third-floor pool deck overlooking Olive Street, a roof deck at the corner of Olive and Olympic, a large fitness center, interior entertainment amenities and a dog run. Plans also call for 228 parking stalls. Lennar is aiming to finish the project by September 2016, according to land-use consultant Sheila Gonzaga.

has been revealed. Amacon officials previously stated that the project, which would rise on a current parking lot just east of the Flower Street Lofts, would have 5,029 square feet of restaurant and retail space. Amenities would include a pool, a spa, a fitness room, library, communal kitchen and a media room.

1200 FIG A pair of 34-story condominium towers across from the Los Angeles Convention Center has received entitlements and is in the final design phase. The development could break ground within six months, said Steve Klausner, project manager at architecture firm Harley Ellis Devereaux. The project, from a consortium of investors including Jamison Services and Hankey Investment Company President W. Scott Dobbins, would rise on a current surface parking lot at 12th and Figueroa streets. Initial designs show curved, steel-and-glass towers that would hold a combined 648 condominiums. The residences would sit above a 90-foot-high podium with parking and 40,000 square feet of retail space, which would have businesses that appeal to the crowds coming to Staples Center and L.A. Live. No budget has been revealed.

1200 S. FLOWER ST. Developer Onni Group is in the entitlement phase of a project that would bring a pair of residential high-rises to 1200 S. Flower St. The Vancouver, Canada-based Onni intends to erect 31- and 40-story buildings that would create a total of 730 housing units and approximately 843 parking spaces. The five-story, 72,000-square-foot office building that currently occupies part of the South Park property would remain, though a two-story warehouse would be demolished. Amenities for the complex would include a swimming pool and a dog run. The structure would also feature a landscaped podium deck. No budget or timeline have been disclosed.

1400 S. FIGUEROA ST. According to the most recent information available, developer DHG Family Trust is in the entitlement and design phase on a seven-story building with 106 residential units at 1400 S. Figueroa St. in South Park. The project would have 4,750 square feet of street-facing retail space and amenities including a fitness center and a pool deck. There would also be two levels of underground parking. The project is being designed by GMP Architects-LA. No timeline or budget have been revealed.

and eight commercial spaces to the corner of Broadway and Olympic Boulevard, she said. Residences would run from 6651,465 square feet. There would be an outdoor area on the second floor and a rooftop deck with a pool, barbecue and garden.

Plans include a restaurant and a 60-foot long greenscape in the rear of the building, Bartolo said. No timeline for construction has been revealed.

BROADWAY PALACE Work continues at G.H. Palmer Associates’ two-building apartment project on two parcels at Olympic Boulevard and Broadway. The development will create a 10-story, 439-apartment building on what is currently a surface parking lot. An adjacent parcel will be home to a six-story, 247-unit structure. The project will be complete in early 2017, company head Geoff Palmer said.

He did not reveal a construction budget for the project, which is a partnership between Palmer and parking lot company L&R Group. Unlike the rest of Palmer’s Italian/Mediterranean-styled Downtown portfolio, the Broadway Palace will have brick facades that complement the historic look and feel of Broadway.

At ghpalmer.com.

COLLEGE STATION Evoq Properties last year unveiled a plan to create a megaproject near Union Station in Chinatown, but the developer was acquired by a coalition of investors and the project is now under the purview of Atlas Capital. According to the most recent available information, there are two proposals for the site at 924 N. Spring St., dubbed College Station. One calls for two residential towers up to 20 stories tall along with several four-story buildings for affordable senior housing units, and another eight-story building with 80 live/work lofts. The second plan envisions multiple five-story buildings instead of the two taller towers, but keeps the senior housing and live/work components of the first plan. The proposals include about 40,000 square feet of groundfloor commercial and retail space. No timeline or budget have been revealed.

DA VINCI

AMP LOFTS

1133 S. HOPE ST.

photo by Gary Leonard image courtesy Shinoda Design Group

image by Chris Dikeakos Architects

Vancouver, Canada-based developer Amacon, which aims to build a 28-story residential tower at 1133 S. Hope St., got a green light from the City Council to move forward with the project in November, when the panel rejected an appeal of the South Park development tied to a zone variance. The project now has the approvals necessary to break ground, though no timeline

A $130 million effort from Bolour Associates and Crescenta Capital is moving forward after the development was redesigned during the fall, said project representative Dana Sayles. The Amp Lofts would bring 320 live/work apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail space to Seventh Street and Santa Fe Avenue in the Arts District. The complex, with designs by the Shimoda Design Group, would be shaped like a “J,” and there would be sevenstory buildings at the northern end of the property and fronting Seventh Street. The remainder of the 311,000-square-foot development would primarily be two- and three-story structures along Imperial Street and Santa Fe Avenue. The project also calls for 390 parking spaces. The property, the longtime home of the American Moving Parts auto factory, currently holds 11 warehouse and industrial buildings. All would be razed to make way for the new structures. A groundbreaking is slated for the middle of 2016, said Sayles, and construction is expected to last 20 months. AMP Lofts are scheduled to come online by mid-2018.

BROADWAY AND OLYMPIC CONDOS A 15-story condominium complex at 955 S. Broadway from developer Barry Shy has reached the environmental review stage, according to project representative Kate Bartolo. The 184,705-square-foot structure would bring 163 housing units

An enormous fire on Dec. 8 burned down one of the two structures that makes up G.H. Palmer Associates’ 526-unit apartment complex at 909 W. Temple St., and it remains unclear what company head Geoff Palmer intends to do on the property. In a statement after the fire, Palmer referred to the loss of the southern building as “temporary,” but he has not announced plans to rebuild it. However, the first phase of the Da Vinci, on the north side of Temple Street in the shadow of the 110 Freeway, remains, and plans call for opening it in the near future. The second phase had been in the framing stage, though the wood acted as fuel for the fire, which was extinguished in about 90 minutes. The fire was ruled arson. At ghpalmer.com.

FOREMAN AND CLARK BUILDING A renovation and conversion of the 13-story Foreman & Clark building at 701 S. Hill St. is in the entitlement process, according to project representative Elizabeth Peterson. Owner Kyung Cho plans to turn the structure into a housing complex with 165 residences. The 1929 edifice in the Jewelry District currently holds office tenants and street-level jewelry businesses. The ground floor space would be filled by two restaurants and a bar/lounge, according to documents filed with the City Planning Department. Los Angeles-based architecture firm EWAI is handling designs. No timeline or budget have been revealed.

February 23, 2015

Development

Downtown News 11

FOREST CITY/SOUTH PARK Developer Forest City is preparing to break ground on a pair of seven-story South Park buildings in late spring, according to Vice President of Development Frank Frallicciardi. The $135 million project will bring one building to 156 W. 11th St. (11th and Hill streets) with 177 studio to two-bedroom units and about 7,500 square feet of ground floor retail space. Amenities would include a pool deck, courtyard and gym. It would also create a pedestrian paseo in the alley between the apartments and the Herald Examiner Building. Another structure will rise at 1201 S. Main St. with 214 studio to two-bedroom apartments and 7,500 square feet of retail space. The two buildings would have more than 500 combined parking stalls and nearly 450 bicycle parking spaces. Forest City is aiming to construct both buildings simultaneously and open them by the summer of 2017, Frallicciardi said.

FOURTH AND BROADWAY Planning for a high-rise at Fourth Street and Broadway from veteran developer Izek Shomof continues, said Eric Shomof, his son and business partner. The entitlement process is underway, he added. The 34-story tower would feature 450 residential units and parking spaces, and there would be 7,000 square feet of retail space. The 450,000-square-foot development, being designed by Downtown-based architect HansonLA, would be built to condominium specifications but likely would open as apartments, Eric Shomof said. Renderings show a mid-rise portion of the building with a curved segment fronting the southeast corner of Fourth and Broadway. A rectangular tower would rise on top of that. No timeline or budget has been revealed.

GAREY BUILDING Construction is progressing at the Garey Building and crews will soon top off the framing of the 320-unit apartment complex, said Tom Wulf, senior vice president of Lowe Enterprises. Lowe is partnering on the two-building project at 905 E. Second St. with Megatoys and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The five-story buildings between First and Second streets flanking Garey Street are on pace to open this December, Wulf said. The Arts District property was long the headquarters for Megatoys, a toy business run by the Woo family. The $60 million development, with designs by Togawa Smith Martin Architects, will include 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space with outdoor dining along a pedestrian-only street connecting First and Second streets. The studio to twobedroom apartments will average 728 square feet. Residences will have open floor plans with features including gourmet kitchens, quartz countertops, and washers and dryers. The project will contain four courtyards, one dedicated to pets. Another courtyard will offer a pool, spa and sundeck with grilling areas, fire pits and an outdoor lounge. The development is being constructed to LEED certification standards and also will include 530 parking spaces for both retail and residential tenants.

G8

• world-class facility • tradition + innovation • building the future photo by Gary Leonard

Carmel Partners’ seven-story, 700-unit apartment complex at Eighth Street and Grand Avenue, formally known as G8, is enterContinued on page 12

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expected by March 2016, she said. The complex, next to the Ava apartments, which opened last year, will create 240 rental units including 51 studios, 112 one-bedrooms and 77 two-bedrooms (measuring up to 1,220 square feet). Negotiations are underway with various restaurants and retailers for the 16,000 square feet of retail space, Solsby said. At sares-regis.com.

ing the final stages of construction, and completion is expected in the third or fourth quarter of the year, said Carmel Senior Vice President of Development Dan Garibaldi. While all 700 units will be completed at the same time, Carmel is planning to lease around 300 residences in the first phase of opening. The units will have floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies, and common spaces include multiple courtyards and a rooftop pool deck. It also has a four-level underground parking structure. The ground floor anchor tenant will be a Whole Foods, which is filling 41,000 square feet of retail space. That is slated to open on Nov. 4. Carmel is continuing to negotiate retail leases for the remaining spaces, Garibaldi said.

SB OMEGA A proposed 38-story high-rise from developer Barry Shy is in the environmental review stage, said project representative Kate Bartolo. The tower with 452 condominiums at 601 S. Main St. would rise on what is currently a parking lot. The Historic Core project would include 25,000 square feet of retail space with storefronts on Main and Sixth streets. The project would include a seven-story parking podium and there would be 268 spaces for bicycle parking. No budget or timeline have been revealed.

G12 Developer Sonny Astani still has not set a groundbreaking date for his 640-unit project dubbed G12. Astani is teaming with private equity firm Wolff Company on the complex bounded by 12th and Olive streets, Pico Boulevard and Grand Avenue. The first phase of the development would create a seven-story, 347unit residential building. The project would also feature 42,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The three-acre site was purchased from parking lot company L&R Group. At astanienterprises.com.

HANOVER GRAND AVENUE The framing for developer Hanover Company’s 274-unit, sevenstory apartment building at Grand Avenue and Olympic Boulevard was completed in February, according to development partner Ryan Hamilton. The Houston-based developer’s project will bring studio to two-bedroom apartments and 12,000 square feet of street-level retail space. Architecture firm TCA is handling the design, which features a stucco exterior with glass balconies.

Amenities will include rooftop sun decks, a pool and a public paseo. Initial occupancy in the building now dubbed Hanover Grand Avenue is expected in January 2016, Hamilton said. It is one of three Hanover projects in South Park.

HANOVER OLYMPIC Construction continues on the Hanover Company’s seven-story development at Olympic Boulevard and Olive Street. Work crews finished pouring the foundation in late January, according to Hanover development partner Ryan Hamilton. The 263-apartment complex is slated to be finished in March 2016. The design from architecture firm TCA features an articulated facade with stucco and a variety of accent materials and glass balconies overlooking the street. Hanover Olympic, as the project is now called, will also have 14,500 square feet of street-level retail space. Amenities will include a rooftop deck, a gym and interior entertainment spaces. The project sits next to the company’s Hanover South Park development, which opened in January. A third Hanover complex is under construction at 1000 S. Grand Avenue.

SIXTH AND BIXEL

photo by Gary Leonard

Pershing Apartments has ground-floor retail space, and SRHT is looking for tenants. At skidrow.org.

ONNI TOWER Vancouver-based Onni Group is finishing its 33-story apartment tower at 888 S. Olive St. and expects to open the building in the second half of the year. The $100 million structure in the southern part of the Financial District will create 303 one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments. It will be the firm’s first completed project in Downtown. Onni has plans for two additional Downtown high-rises.

ONYX The South Park effort Onyx is expected to break ground in the second quarter of this year, according to a spokesman for developer Jade Enterprises. The 410-unit, two-building complex proposed for Pico Boulevard at Flower and Hope streets will be the second residential project for the company that has extensive holdings in the Fashion District. The seven-story Onyx would rise on two side-by-side parking lots atop 42,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and commercial space. No budget has been revealed.

SARES-REGIS LITTLE TOKYO

MACFARLANE PARTNERS/PARK FIFTH Developer MacFarlane Partners is moving forward with plans to erect a seven-story building with 312 apartments and, later, a 24-story tower with 348 housing units on the parcel north of Pershing Square. The company is in the site plan review phase for the plot bounded by Olive, Fifth and Hill streets. MacFarlane aims to start construction on the seven-story building within a year, according to a project representative. Construction is expected to take about two years. No timeline for the high-rise building has been revealed, but it would feature a roof deck with a pool, a barbeque area and other amenities. The plan marks a new start for the site known as Park Fifth. Developer David Houk had previously secured entitlements for a 73-story tower, but plans were felled by the recession.

NEW PERSHING APARTMENTS The 69-unit New Pershing Apartments, Skid Row Housing Trust’s renovated low-income development in the Historic Core, is expected to begin move-ins soon. The $16 million project at Fifth and Main streets offers studio- and one-bedroom residences of 350-500 square feet, as well as a landscaped courtyard and a meeting room with a full kitchen. The project’s design comes from architecture firm Killefer Flammang; the development salvaged the facades of two old buildings, the 1889 Pershing Hotel and the 1905 Roma Hotel. The renovation also expanded the building’s size from 37,000 to 60,000 square feet. The New

photo by Gary Leonard

Holland Partner Group is in the midst of construction on a $200 million project in City West. The Vancouver, Washingtonbased developer will erect a pair of seven-story structures and renovate a 1920s medical office building on a four-acre site on Sixth Street between Lucas Avenue and Bixel Street. The new buildings will have 606 units and the medical building will hold 42 residences. The project will also create 25,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, much of it fronting Sixth Street. The converted office building is expected to open by the middle of this year, while project officials intend to bring the other residences online in phases in 2016. Togawa Smith Martin is designing the project. Amenities will include rooftop decks, a large fitness center and a pool, along with a public plaza and 300 trees.

Units will include studio to three-bedroom apartments. Rents are expected to range from $1,500 to slightly under $4,000.

SPRING STREET APARTMENTS/GARAGE Historic Core development company Downtown Management has tapped TSK Architects to begin community outreach on a proposed 40-story structure in the Historic Core, said company vice president Greg Martin. Downtown Management, headed

by Joseph Hellen, plans to erect the high-rise on a parking lot on Spring Street between the Spring Arcade Building and the Alexandria Hotel. The company, which has turned three nearby old edifices into apartment buildings, is planning a tower with residences on top of six levels of parking, and one floor of retail.

No budget or timeline have been revealed.

photo by Gary Leonard

Construction of a seven-story development at 232 E. Second St. in Little Tokyo is on schedule, with the garage nearing completion, said Sares-Regis spokeswoman Zoe Solsby. Move-ins are

TEN50 San Francisco-based developer Trumark Urban in mid-January broke ground on a 22-story, 151-condomninium complex; though long known as the Glass Tower, the name has been changed to Ten50. The developer hopes to open the $100 million project at 1050 S. Grand Ave. in 2016. The tower will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom units, along with amenities

February 23, 2015

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Development

including a fifth-floor pool deck, cabanas and a fitness center.

The ground floor will hold 5,672 square feet of retail space, with storefronts along Grand Avenue and 11th Street. The project was initially proffered by developer Amir Kalantari, but plans hit a wall when the recession began and lending markets froze.

Trumark Urban acquired the project in June 2014. Downtownbased architecture firm HansonLA is handling designs for the building, which features several Rubik’s Cube-like accents jutting out along an edge of the structure.

create 237 studio to three-bedroom apartments, with 53 units reserved for low-income residents. The development at 900 N. Broadway will also have 19,000 square feet of street level space for restaurants and retail; the project will hold four restaurant spaces. Additionally, Forest City is creating a 17,000-square-foot public plaza with a walkway connecting the Metro Gold Line station to Broadway, allowing rail riders to easily access the heart of Chinatown by foot (currently, they would have to go down several flights of stairs and walk up multiple blocks). The project is slated for completion in late spring 2016.

Flammang Architects is handling the designs. At astanienterprises.com.

MIXED USE BLOSSOM PLAZA

TITLE INSURANCE BUILDING Hard demolition for the Historic Core’s Title Insurance Building is imminent, said Bill Lindborg of Capital Foresight, which owns the 1928 structure at 433 S. Spring St. The company has completed the abatement and soft demolition work, and continues to move forward in the permitting process, he said. Plans call for turning the building into 216 residential units with 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

CITY MARKET According to the most recent information available, the initial phase of development for the massive Fashion District megaproject City Market, a proposed $1 billion hub of housing, office space, hotel rooms and a college campus, began last summer.

For the initial phase, dubbed City Market South, developer the LENA Group intends to turn two aged buildings on San Pedro and San Julian between 11th and 12th streets into creative office space and dining establishments. The overall City Market, from landowner Peter Fleming, ultimately would include 945 housing units, 210 hotel rooms, 225,000 square feet of retail and 295,000 square feet of creative office space. It could be 20 years before the entire project is complete. At citymarketla2.com.

TOPAZ Construction continues on Jade Enterprises’ 159-unit apartment complex just north of the Santa Fe Lofts at Sixth and Main streets, according to a company spokesman. The project, dubbed Topaz, broke ground last September. The six-story edifice at 550 S. Main St. will stretch between Main and Los Angeles streets. Topaz will offer studio and one- to three-bedroom units and will include 23,000 square feet of retail. The Historic Core project is expected to be complete by the third quarter of 2016.

No budget has been revealed.

VALENCIA Developer Sonny Astani broke ground in late 2014 on a roughly $60 million, six-story apartment project at 1501-1521 W. Wilshire Blvd. The 218-apartment City West complex is slated to be complete in February 2016, according to Astani. The Valencia would have amenities such as open courtyards and a fitness center.

Most units would have balconies and there would be 4,400 square feet of ground-floor retail and commercial space. Killefer

photo by Gary Leonard

Developer Forest City is finished with the foundation at the $100 million Blossom Plaza complex and began pouring concrete for the parking podium in January, according to Vice President of Development Frank Frallicciardi. Construction on the five-story development is about 30% complete, he said. The project will

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FIGUEROA CENTRAL Chain-link fences went up on the 4.6-acre site of the Fig Central mega-project late last year, and construction work has commenced on the parcel, which for years operated as a surface parking lot and also held two squat mechanical buildings and an underground bank vault. Beijing-based developer Oceanwide plans to build two 40-story towers and a 49-story high-rise, all on top of a large parking podium with about 200,000 square feet of retail space. Initial renderings show the retail space as an openair galleria with two levels. The towers, meanwhile, will hold a combined 504 condominiums and 183 hotel rooms, with amenities such as a pool and green space on top of the podium. The Continued on page 14

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PROJECT UPDATES, 13

restaurant. The eatery Tione’s on Main is also now serving in the Medallion space formerly occupied by a vegan restaurant.

project’s design comes from architecture firm RTKL. HERALD EXAMINER RENOVATION The renovation of the 1914 Herald Examiner Building by San Francisco-based Hearst Corporation is fully entitled, and the project is now in the final design phase, according to property manager Doyle McDonald. The tentative start of construction has been pushed from the spring to October, he added. The building designed by Julia Morgan was formerly the headquarters of William Randolph Hearst’s Los Angeles newspaper. The renovation is slated to take about 18 months and would convert the two-story building into retail space (35,000 square feet on the ground floor) and creative office space (another 35,000 square feet). No budget has been revealed.

METROPOLIS

CIVIC AND NONPROFIT ARTS DISTRICT PARK Construction is underway at the $1.6 million, half-acre park at Fifth and Hewitt streets in the Arts District. Workers broke ground in December on the attraction just south of Urth Caffe.

The park will feature an eight-foot wall for mural art, outdoor eating areas and plaza space, a playground, shade trees, concrete seating and lighting. The money for the park was secured through Quimby fees, which developers pay for park creation.

Completion is expected this summer, and will be coordinated with a ceremony for the adjacent, under-construction La Kretz Innovation Campus, a 30,000-square-foot clean technology project and business incubator.

LA PLAZA CULTURA VILLAGE

image courtesy Johnson Fain

The County of Los Angeles and the La Plaza de Cultura y Artes Foundation, which operates a museum and cultural facility on Main Street, last year proposed a massive mixed-use development on a 3.7-acre site near Olvera Street. All the necessary entitlements and approvals have been secured for the project known as La Plaza Cultura Village, and it is now in the design phase, said Jim Andersen, senior vice president at developer Trammell Crow. The county Board of Supervisors gave the green light for the project and certified its final Environmental Impact Report in October, he said. The development, which would rise on two parking lots on either side of Broadway, would connect El Pueblo to Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial, a small park and monument at 430 N. Hill St. The project would include up to 345 residential units in five- and eight-story buildings, with 20% of the residences set aside for low-income tenants. The 425,000-square-foot endeavor would also hold up to 55,000 square feet of restaurants, cafes and shops, along with nearly 800 parking spaces in subterranean and above-grade structures.

Chinatown-based architecture firm Johnson Fain is designing the project. The development team hopes to begin construction around the third quarter of this year, Andersen said.

MACK URBAN SOUTH PARK Developer Mack Urban has six acres of land in South Park, which it acquired in 2013 for $80 million. The company is now aiming to break ground on a pair of seven-story structures on a parcel bordered by Pico Boulevard and Olive and Hill streets, in March, according to Mack Urban representative Nadene Gallagher. The buildings would have 362 apartments, with 22 ground-floor townhomes and 4,000 square feet of retail at the corner of Pico and Olive. In addition, Mack Urban is in the design and entitlement phase for two apartment buildings on a lot bounded by Grand Avenue and 12th and Olive Streets. A hotel and residential tower were originally planned for this parcel. The developer hopes to start work on the apartment buildings in the third quarter of the year, Gallagher said. Mack Urban is partnering with AECOM Capital on the entire South Park development, which has an estimated total budget of $750 million. The designs are from architecture firm AC Martin.

MEDALLION 2.0 The second phase of developer Saeed Farkhondehpour’s Medallion project in the Old Bank District is still in the entitlement phase. Farkhondehpour said he expects to begin construction in the first quarter of 2016. The project would create 500 apartments in three structures at Third and Main streets, and would take about 30 months. Meanwhile, Farkhondehpour said he is planning to unveil a ground-floor food complex in the first phase of Medallion, at Fourth and Main streets, in April. Tenants so far include Uzbek restaurant Samarkand Cafe, Bread Bar bakery, casual eatery Dante’s Kitchen and a yet-unnamed Indian

said project spokesman Sean Rossall. The $1 billion project is being developed by Korean Air and designed and managed by AC Martin. The high-rise, which will ultimately have a sloped roof and 900 hotel rooms atop 400,000 square feet of office space, along with retail and restaurant space, is expected to be completed by the end of 2016 and open the following year.

InterContinental will operate the hotel portion of the project. At wilshiregrandcenter.com.

photo by Gary Leonard

Construction continues on the Metropolis mega-project just north of L.A. Live. The first phase, which broke ground last year, comprises an 18-story hotel (down from 19 floors in the initial plans) and a 38-story condominium tower with about 300 units.

Chinese developer Greenland is finishing the foundations for these towers, and will soon begin construction of the cores and shells of the buildings, according to Cecilia Fan, a representative for Metropolis. Phase 1 is slated for completion by the end of 2016. Last July, Greenland revealed plans for a second phase with 54- and 40-story condo towers (with about 700 and 500 residences, respectively). Greenland has not broken ground on Phase 2, and there is no firm timeline to begin, Fan said.

Architecture firm Gensler, which is designing the entire project, had suggested last summer that Phase 2 work could start by 2015, with an opening in 2019. Amenities for all the towers will include pool decks, green space, fitness centers and entertainment rooms. The towers sit on parking podiums that have two floors of retail space off the street level along Francisco Street.

Metropolis, which is bounded by the 110 Freeway and Eighth, Ninth and Francisco streets, is budgeted at more than $1 billion.

BROADWAY REVITALIZATION The retail surge on Broadway continued in December, when a Gap Factory Store opened at 737 S. Broadway. It is the San Francisco-based chain’s first outpost in Downtown. Meanwhile, the $1.5 million “dress rehearsal” phase of the Broadway streetscape plan was completed in August, and the city Department of Transportation is examining how cutting traffic lanes and extending the sidewalk into the roadway is affecting both drivers and pedestrians. A full study of the impacts will be conducted this fall, according to LADOT. Permanent renovations to the streetscape could take place after that. It is expected to cost $5 million-$6 million per block, and the office of 14th District City Councilman José Huizar has secured about $5 million for the permanent build-out thus far. Huizar’s office is also working with building owners to convert the upper floors of stagnant buildings into new commercial space. At bringingbackbroadway. com.

BUDOKAN OF LOS ANGELES

image courtesy Little Tokyo Service Center

THE GRAND Developer Related Companies has completed and submitted schematic designs for The Grand by architect Frank Gehry to the Grand Avenue Authority, the city-county joint powers panel that oversees the site of the proposed Bunker Hill mega-project.

The $850 million effort to reinvent the upper reaches of Grand Avenue was restarted in late 2013. The project calls for a pair of towers, one with 300 hotel rooms, and the other with 400 residences. The development would also hold a podium with a stacked mix of shops and restaurants that would be situated around a central plaza that opens to Grand Avenue. Related has begun an early pre-leasing effort to find tenants for the retail, food and entertainment space. Construction is expected to start in 2016.

The Little Tokyo Service Center has surpassed the halfway mark in the fundraising effort for the $23 million Budokan of Los Angeles. The long-gestating development at 237-249 S. Los Angeles St. would be a multi-purpose sports and activities center with a gymnasium, mezzanine, community space and a rooftop park. It would host an array of sports, including basketball, volleyball and martial arts, as well as after-school programs and social events. The latest renderings reveal windows from street level to the bright yellow roof of the three-story portion of the structure. Plans call for a children’s playground on a courtyard and a rooftop garden. Funding has come mostly from publicsector sources. Fundraising began in 2011 and LTSC officials expect it will take another 18 months to raise the remainder. A groundbreaking is expected in 2016 with work expected to take up a year and a half. At budokanoflosangeles.com.

WILSHIRE GRAND REPLACEMENT Structural steel has started to go up for the 73-story tower on the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Figueroa Boulevard.

The first level of buckling restraint braces, which are part of the building’s seismic infrastructure, was reached in mid-January,

CHINATOWN PARK Water discovered beneath the hillside at Ord and Yale streets, plus December’s rainfall, has delayed the construction of a Chinatown park, said Louis Reyes, a spokesman for First District City Councilman Gil Cedillo. The city Bureau of Engineering along

February 23, 2015 with Ahbe Landscape Architect, the company tapped to create the new facility, have begun the effort to get public input on the design of the project that will rise on an L-shaped lot.

Last May, the office of then-County Supervisor Gloria Molina contributed $950,000 to the project, bringing the amount secured for the facility to $8.25 million. Another $5 million comes from Proposition 84 state funds. Demolition is expected to begin soon, with a grand opening slated for this summer.

FEDERAL COURTHOUSE The massive steel frame of the $323 million Federal Courthouse, at the southwest corner of Broadway and First Street, is nearly complete.

Construction began in summer 2013 and is on track to wrap in fall 2016, according to Traci Madison, a representative for the U.S. General Services Administration. The 600,000-squarefoot building will have 24 district courtrooms and 32 judges’ chambers, as well as offices for the U.S. Marshals Service. The design from architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merill depicts a large cube with windows set at angles to create a serrated outer skin; the design will bring in natural light while also cutting solar heat gain. The Civic Center building is being engineered to achieve LEED Platinum status, according to the GSA.

clinics and physician offices including the hospital’s Surgical Specialties Clinic, which includes hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery, said Bada. The builder is Millie and Severson.

LOS ANGELES RIVER Last May, the Army Corps of Engineers announced its support of an estimated $1 billion Los Angeles River revitalization plan, dubbed Alternative 20. The effort, backed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, would restore 719 acres and tear out three miles of concrete channeling, and include connections from the waterway to Los Angeles State Historic Park. Now the city is looking for money to cover half of the project; the funds could potentially come in the form of property taxes, thanks to a new law that allows certain tax dollars to be used on revitalization and public works projects. In January, the City Council asked city staff to create a detailed report on how Los Angeles could create an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District to restore and improve 31 miles of the river; the report is due in the beginning of March. At lariver.org.

LOS ANGELES STATE HISTORIC PARK

FIGUEROA CORRIDOR BIKEWAY Construction of the street improvements has begun along the Figueroa Corridor, said Tim Fremaux, a transportation engineering associate for the city. The $20 million My Figueroa project, an effort to make the street friendlier to pedestrians and bicyclists, is expected to last through December. Plans call for trimming vehicular lanes and establishing protected areas for two-wheeled travelers. The project will accomplish this while preserving the entrance and exit points for auto dealerships and other businesses along the three-mile section of Figueroa Street between the Financial District and Exposition Park. At myfiegueroa.com.

FIRST AND BROADWAY PARK The city Department of Recreation and Parks, the Bureau of Engineering and Councilman José Huizar’s office have begun hosting community outreach meetings for the park proposed for the corner of First Street and Broadway, said Huizar spokesman Rick Coca.

Site demolition work, including excavation, backfill, re-compaction and grading, has been completed. The park would rise on the site of a former state office building that was razed after the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. The new facility is expected to complement Grand Park, which lies directly to the north. According to Huizar’s office, the $18 million to $20 million Civic Center project has secured $14 million so far, with more than $10 million of that in Quimby fees (charged to developers for the creation of green space). The Department of Recreation and Parks anticipates that the remaining funds will come from a combination of future Quimby fees and department allocations.

GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL MEDICAL PAVILION The $80 million Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Pavilion is on pace to open late this year, according to hospital spokeswoman Katrina Bada. The 190,000-square-foot development, being designed by Ware Malcolmb, will hold the Frank R. Seaver Ambulatory Surgery Center, which will have eight operating suites. Additionally, the project on Wilshire Boulevard at Witmer Street will hold a pharmacy, outpatient

Downtown News 15

Development than the initial projected cost of $125 million.

Officials with the office of 14th District City Councilman José Huizar have said the actual cost could be lower than $270 million, but the project’s funding picture remains unclear. In January, streetcar officials reported that 24 firms from 19 cities responded to a “request for information” on a financial partnership for the project; actual deals will not happen until the city prepares a “request for proposals.” Up to $85 million in tax funds can be collected from Downtown property owners along the streetcar route and $10 million has come from the former Community Redevelopment Agency.

The city is applying for $75 million in federal grants, but even if that is secured, some sort of public-private partnership would be needed.

The 3.8-mile project would run from South Park to the Civic Center with a main spur on Broadway. The streetcar’s environmental impact report is expected to be done in the coming months, and Huizar hopes to have the streetcar open by 2019. At streetcar.la.

MERCED THEATER AND MASONIC HALL The city Bureau of Engineering remains in the design phase for a renovation of the cityowned Merced Theater and the attached Masonic Hall, near the Olvera Street plaza.

The process began last summer and will run through this summer. Public hearings to review the preliminary designs are slated to take place by early winter, according to the city department El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument (which manages the buildings). The city is planning to move the studio for Channel 35, which airs City Council meetings and other government-related programs, into the

building. The $23 million project will also create office space and a 50-seat theater, which would be used for public events and cultural activities.

The renovation is expected to be finished by the end of 2017.

METRO BUS FACILITY

photo by Gary Leonard

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $120 million Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations Facility will be completed in May and will open the following month. All construction and infrastructure work has been finished, and now the fueling, washing, vacuuming and other equipment is being installed.

Continued on page 16

Downtown LA Creative Commercial Real Estate

photo by Gary Leonard

The expansive renovation of the 34-acre park on the edge of Chinatown, which began last April, has been delayed due to the discovery of underground archaeological features and some soil contamination. The park, which had been scheduled to be complete in the spring, is now slated to reopen in November, according to state Department of Parks and Recreation Superintendent Sean Woods. Completed work thus far includes excavation and grading of the two-acre restored wetlands area, construction of a pedestrian bridge, and framing of a welcome center, ranger station and public restrooms. Other planned features include a treeflanked promenade and a paved parking area.

The renovation is budgeted at approximately $20 million. At lashp.wordpress.com.

LOS ANGELES STREETCAR The most recent assessment of the Los Angeles Streetcar’s cost, from project manager URS Corp., came in at about $270 million. That’s much lower than the worst-case estimate from a city analysis in 2013, which put the price at up to $327.8 million, though it is also far higher

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16 Downtown News

PROJECT UPDATES, 15 The project at the northeast corner of Vignes Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue will hold 200 buses and contain a multi-level garage, a fueling depot and areas for washing vehicles. It is being designed to meet Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards and will have, among other elements, a green roof, solar panels and a storm water reclamation system with an underground 275,000-gallon retention tank. There will also be 397 parking spaces for Division 13 employees. At metro. net.

PARKER CENTER The city Bureau of Engineering has completed a plan to raze the 1954 Parker Center and replace it with a $475 million, 27-story office tower, which would hold employees from multiple city departments. That plan may be delayed, as the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission voted on Jan. 29 to nominate the building at 150 N. Los Angeles St. for Historic-Cultural Monument status.

The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee and the full council have 90 days to review the nomination; if it passes and the building is designated a monument, any plans to demolish or renovate Parker Center could be pushed back a year or more. Parker Center, designed by noted architect Welton Becket, has been empty since the Los Angeles Police Department moved its headquarters to the new Police Administration Building in 2009. Preservation groups, including the Los Angeles Conservancy, are pushing the city to renovate and reuse the structure rather than demolish it.

REGIONAL CONNECTOR The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is moving ahead with the design process and pre-construction work on the $1.42 billion Regional Connector. The final designs from Metro, in conjunction with the team of Skanska USA and Traylor Bros., will be complete in early 2016, according to Metro spokesman Rick Jager. Major utility work will begin in the middle of this year, and the sites of three new rail stations (at Second and Hope streets, Second Street and Broadway, and First Street and Central Avenue) will be excavated in the third quarter of the year.

Underground tunneling for the 1.9-mile project, meanwhile, is expected to start in the second quarter of 2016. The Regional Connector will join area light rail lines to streamline cross-county travel and reduce the need for transfers. It is expected to open in 2020. At metro.net/projects/connector.

SIXTH STREET VIADUCT REPLACEMENT A groundbreaking took place Feb. 20 and demolition of the 82-year-old Sixth Street Viaduct is scheduled to start in June, said Tonya Durrell, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Public Works. The design for the replacement of the 1932 bridge, which connects the Arts District to Boyle Heights, includes a “ribbon of arches” that will feature staircases and a viewing deck.

The city Bureau of Engineering worked with a design team led

by HNTB, architect Michael Maltzan and others; the existing bridge needs to be replaced because of a chemical condition that has caused its concrete to weaken. The new viaduct will offer improved pedestrian access with 10-foot wide walkways as well as bike lanes. Work on the $401 million project is expected to last through 2018. At sixthstreetviaductreplacement.org.

UNION STATION MAKEOVER The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors voted to move ahead with the Union Station Master Plan in late October, pushing the project into the implementation stage.

Metro is now pursuing a full environmental review of the plan to upgrade the 75-year-old transit hub and 40 acres of surrounding land. The Master Plan comprises two main renovations: First, a larger indoor-outdoor passenger concourse, with new spaces for retail, will be built to connect travelers to an updated rail yard. Second, the Patsaouras Bus Facility near the eastern entrance to Union Station will be demolished and rebuilt as an elevated terminal between the historic station building (the west entrance) and the new concourse. Other improvements include the conversion of the west parking lot into a public plaza and the creation of a walkway over the rail lines. Metro has also signed a number of leases for the station, with tenants including Cafe Crepe, T&Y Bakery, Downtown’s Barista Society coffee shop and a new gastropub to fill the old Fred Harvey restaurant space.

Plans for the surrounding property are still being determined. At metro.net/projects/la-union-station.

February 23, 2015

Development CULTURAL/ENTERTAINMENT DELIJANI BROADWAY THEATERS Work continues on the restoration of four historic Broadway theaters owned by the Delijani family — the Los Angeles (615 S. Broadway), Palace (630 S. Broadway), State (703 S. Broadway) and Tower (802 S. Broadway) — according to Kate Bartolo, a consultant to the Delijanis. The projects do not have a firm completion date, but three of the venues (Los Angeles, Palace and Tower) have already hosted events. Overall plans include the construction of nearly a dozen eateries and bars and the renovation of the interiors, including the theater spaces themselves. The Delijanis have not disclosed a construction budget or timeline for the restoration.

according to museum Executive Director Marianna Gatto. Gatto expects work on the new entrance on Main Street to start in March, with remaining tenant improvements and exhibition installation to follow. The long-awaited project is expected to open in the second quarter of this year, Gatto said. The $4.5 million project in the building known as the Italian Hall, at 644 N. Main St., will display rare photos, documents, maps and artifacts illustrating the legacy, contributions and influences of Italian Americans in the region. At italianhall.org.

THE BROAD

FARMERS FIELD

rendering courtesy of Gensler

An agreement between the city and Anschutz Entertainment Group to build Farmers Field on a 15-acre parcel adjacent to the Convention Center expires in April; it had been scheduled to sunset last October, but AEG was granted a six-month extension as the company sought to bring a professional football team to Downtown Los Angeles. AEG has continued to pursue a franchise despite the January announcement that St. Louis Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke intends to build an 80,000-seat stadium in Inglewood. Unlike that project, all environmental approvals have been secured for AEG’s proposed 68,000-seat stadium. The Downtown facility would have a “deployable” roof that could be taken on and off as necessary. It would be part of a $1.4 billion effort that includes an overhaul of the Convention Center. City officials last year also began looking at a proposal to modernize the Convention Center without AEG, and to erect a 1,000-room hotel on the site in question. At farmersfield.com.

GLOBE THEATRE RENOVATION Although the Globe Theatre last month featured live music and entertainment for the first time in decades, as part of the Jan. 31 Bringing Back Broadway event, Erik Chol’s $5 million renovation of the 101-year-old venue at 740 S. Broadway is still ongoing.

Long used as a swap meet, the 24,347-square-foot Globe will serve as an event space and will host dance, music and theatrical performances, said project spokeswoman Elizabeth Peterson. The theater’s marquee was relit last June.

HAUSER WIRTH & SCHIMMEL GALLERY The effort to turn a 100,000-square-foot former flour mill at 901 E. Third St. in the Arts District into an art complex continues.

Vaulted skylights have been installed in the compound’s original bank building, and an environmental cleanup has taken place at the site, said Andrea Schwan, a spokeswoman for the Hauser Wirth & Schimmel Gallery. The project, to be run by former MOCA Chief Curator Paul Schimmel, will turn a collection of late 19th and early 20th century buildings and outdoor spaces into a destination for exhibitions and public programs. The site’s seven structures, which have been mostly uninhabited since the 1950s, include a Neo-Classical bank building, a five-story mill structure and three warehouses. The property includes a 20,000-square-foot space with an interior courtyard. The project will also have a covered parking area. The Hauser Wirth & Schimmel Gallery is expected to open in early 2016.

ITALIAN AMERICAN MUSEUM The cleaning of the Italian American Museum is complete, as is the restoration of the building’s original, 1908 mosaic entry,

photo by Gary Leonard

The final pieces of the scaffolding covering Eli Broad’s $140 million contemporary art museum were removed in December, and the project is scheduled to open on Sept. 20. Passersby now have a clear view of the lattice-like exterior known as “the veil,” including the dimple, called the oculus, on the Grand Avenue side of the building. The Broad will house the 2,000 pieces of art in the collection of Eli and Edythe Broad. The design by Diller Scofidio + Renfro has a 50,000-square-foot gallery on the third floor lit by 318 skylights; the entire building measures 120,000 square feet, and in addition to storage and offices there will be a ground-floor restaurant, a space for lectures and an outdoor public courtyard. The Grand Avenue project south of Walt Disney Concert Hall sits on top of a 370-car parking garage. Admission will be free. At thebroad.com.

TRACTION AVENUE BREWPUB Construction is underway at 213 Nightlife’s Traction Avenue Brewpub. Plans for the bar at 828 Traction Ave. call for 258 seats.

According to the most recent information available, nightlife proprietor Cedd Moses will dedicate more than half of the 17,320-square-foot business to the brewery and kitchen, and it will include a family-oriented restaurant. Moses’ license would allow 5,000 barrels of beer to be sold off-site annually. The brewpub will occupy the former Crazy Gideon’s electronics store, and also will offer 27 skeeball lanes.

BUSINESS 353 S. BROADWAY Developer and architect David L. Gray has restored the façade of the aged structure at 353 S. Broadway, and continues his effort to turn the six-story edifice into creative office space. The $8.5 million renovation is well underway and the building should be available for occupancy by the third quarter of this year, Gray said. Additionally, Gray has filed permits for a 4,577-square-foot bar with two patios and 212 seats in the building. Last year, a 12-foot tall ficus tree growing out of the exterior of the top floor of the structure was cut down, and its 60 feet of roots were removed.

420 BOYD ST. The $1.5 million renovation of Legendary Developments’ two buildings at 420 Boyd St. will be completed by May, said com-

February 23, 2015

Downtown News 17

Development

pany principal Dilip Bhavnani. The project includes a five-story structure at the corner of Boyd and Omar streets in the Toy District, which will house five tenants, with each occupying a full floor. The adjacent edifice will hold the microbrewery Mumford Brewing; it is also scheduled to open by May. The rooftops of the buildings will be used by the tenants and their guests, Bhavnani said.

AT MATEO ASB Real Estate Investments and Century City’s Blatteis & Schnur announced plans last year to create a 130,000-square-foot Arts District retail center. The project, dubbed At Mateo, will revamp a collection of five warehouse buildings at Palmetto and Mateo streets. The developers say they intend to use repurposed brick, concrete and wood. They purchased the property last year for $32.5 million, and intend to spend another $30 million on the project. Plans call for an open-air batch of restaurants, shops and local service businesses, as well as a 400-plus space parking garage. The project, which developers say will activate the street from morning till night, is expected to open in fall 2016.

At atmateo.com.

CASE HOTEL

York-based developer Chetrit Group and hospitality workers’ union Unite HERE Local 11. The Commission ruled in favor of Chetrit Group in a dispute over whether the Clark, as well as the Embassy Hotel in South Park, had proper environmental impact reviews. The union’s appeals had prevented the hotels from receiving final permits. The 11-story structure has been renovated and features a lobby with bright marble and chrome accents, guest rooms with lively Mod-style details (including zebra-print wallpaper), a pool deck and multiple dining spaces.

CLIFTON’S CAFETERIA RENOVATION Andrew Meieran bought the 1935 Clifton’s Cafeteria in 2010 and began a major renovation the following year. Though he initially said work at the landmark restaurant at 648 S. Broadway would be finished by the end of 2012, Clifton’s remains closed. One potential positive came at the end of January, when new red neon lights were illuminated on the building’s exterior. Meieran has said in the past that the renovation will create multiple eating and drinking establishments inside the building, including a version of the classic cafeteria, an old-school steakhouse, a bakery and a tiki bar. The building will reopen with a new name, Clifton’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Although the project was originally described as a $3 million endeavor, Meieran’s most recent price tag was $7.5 million. At cliftonscafeteria.com.

DESMOND BUILDING

photo by Gary Leonard

photo by Gary Leonard

Developers Channing Henry, Frank Stork and the Kor Group continue to work on a plan to renovate the Case Hotel. The team intends to do a full historic rehab of the 1924 building at 1106 S. Broadway and turn the 107,000-square-foot structure into a four-star boutique hotel with 151 rooms. Downtown architecture firm Omgivning is handling the designs. The team acquired the 13-story property across the street from the Herald Examiner Building for $13.5 million. Though currently empty, the Case Hotel recently housed facilities for the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles.

CLARK HOTEL The 348-room Clark Hotel at 426 S. Hill St. is finishing up construction and could open as soon as early summer. That follows an October ruling by the Central Area Planning Commission, which brought to an end a long-running battle between New

Developer Lincoln Property Company is finishing up structural work on the 1917 Desmond building at 11th and Hope streets and is transitioning into interior tenant improvements, according to Rob Kane, a vice president at LPC. The company anticipates finishing the building in May, at which point Anschutz Entertainment Group will move more than 500 employees from around the city into the renovated South Park structure.

The move will consolidate the workers in the AEG Live and AXS Ticketing divisions into a location close to AEG’s headquarters at L.A. Live. Upgrades to the 97-year-old structure include seismic retrofitting and the creation of a sixth floor, dubbed the “Glass Pavilion.” There are also plans to bring a ground-floor cafe to the 82,000-square-foot structure. At thedesmondla.com.

EMBASSY HOTEL AND AUDITORIUM As with the Clark Hotel, the Embassy Hotel at 831 S. Grand Ave. has been cleared by the Central Area Planning Commission to receive its final permits and finish construction. The hotels’ owner, New York-based Chetrit Group, has finally beaten back protests from hospitality workers’ union Unite HERE Local 11 regarding the environmental reviews of the two properties. Renovation of the 183 guest rooms, a nearly 10,000-square-foot outdoor patio and the historic Trinity Auditorium continues. Already complete at the South Park project is a new rooftop pool deck with a bar. The Embassy is slated to open in the fourth quarter of Continued on page 18

18 Downtown News

February 23, 2015

Development

PROJECT UPDATES, 17

Benz dealership on Nov. 5. The showroom at 1801 S. Figueroa St. has been expanded from 15,000 to 25,000 square feet and features all new furniture and fixtures, according to company CEO Darryl Holter. A new service facility with 70 bays and a parking structure is expected to open this summer at the Figueroa Corridor business. At mbzla.com.

this year. The hotel’s finished rooms show off a refined, elegant look and will rent at a higher price point than those in the Clark Hotel, according to project representative Elizabeth Peterson.

FREEHAND HOTEL The transformation of the 1924 Commercial Exchange Building into a 200-room Freehand Hotel has begun. The building at 416 W. Eighth St. will be the third establishment in the Freehand chain. Freehand, a partnership between Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Company and the Sydell Group, will create a mix of traditional guest rooms and hostel-style rooms with up to eight beds. Los Angeles-based Killefer Flammang Architects is handling the redesign of the 13-story Beaux Arts structure, originally designed by the firm Walker & Eisen. A rooftop pool and lounge are planned, as are ground-floor retail and a restaurant. The tall neon sign on the corner of the structure will be preserved. The hotel is slated to open in 2016.

LA KRETZ INNOVATION CAMPUS The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator is on target for moveins to begin during the second quarter of this year, said Fred Walti, executive director of LACI. The entire La Kretz Innovation Campus should be finished by the third quarter, he added.

The 30,000-square-foot clean technology project and business incubator at 525 S. Hewitt St. will serve as a home for young companies, and will include conference facilities, research and development labs and other tools. The Arts District project will vastly increase the number of entrepreneurs LACI houses and helps. The La Kretz Innovation Campus will include a small park with a water feature, Wi-Fi, grass and tables. The DWP’s Energy Efficiency Group is also expected to house its testing and demonstration labs on site. At laincubator.com.

THE BLOC Developer Wayne Ratkovich continues his $180 million transformation of the former Macy’s Plaza, and the project dubbed The Bloc is now scheduled to open in the fall. Construction crews have removed most of the office lobby and are completing the interior work on the retail portion of the complex. They are also deep into the brick removal work. Last August, The Ratkovich Company and Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse announced that a nine-screen movie theater with 800 seats will open in The Bloc.

More recently, company officials said that the San Francisco men’s shop Wingtip will have an outpost in the refurbished mall.

The work involves a complete redesign of the 42-year-old facility bounded by Seventh, Eighth, Hope and Flower streets. Plans call for creating an open-air space on the street level. Additionally, the complex’s Sheraton hotel is undergoing a $40 million renovation. At theblocdowntown.com.

photo by Gary Leonard

two slides. It also has a 10-foot long tunnel, a series of berms for playing on, and benches for parents. Half the funds came from Proposition A, a county measure passed by voters for the creation of park space, and the other half came from the nonprofit First 5 LA. HALL OF JUSTICE The County Hall of Justice reopened on Oct. 8, more than two decades after being closed due to damage it suffered in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The building at 211 W. Temple St. received a $230 million renovation overseen by the county and orchestrated by architecture firm AC Martin and Marylandbased builder Clark Construction Group. In the past, the 1925 landmark held 17 courtrooms and more than 700 jail cells. It has been transformed into a home for members of the District Attorney’s office, the Sheriff’s Department and other county entities.

The project included the creation of a 1,000-stall parking garage on the north end of the property. Pressure washing of the exterior turned the granite facade from a traffic-tinged gray back to a gleaming white.

HANOVER SOUTH PARK

OPENED IN THE PAST FIVE MONTHS CLEANTECH MANUFACTURING CENTER The large project in southeast Downtown has reached its ending point and the search is on for tenants. The two larger buildings on the 20-acre campus at 2455 E. Washington Blvd. were completed in December, and the third and final building was finished the last week of January, said Philip Tsui, a development manager with Trammell Crow, which has partnered on the project with Principal Real Estate Investors. The developers are now seeking clean technology and other tenants looking for state-ofthe-art industrial and manufacturing space. At ctmc.info.

GAP FACTORY STORE The Gap Factory Store opened at 737 S. Broadway on Dec. 15.

The 7,842-square-foot space is the first Downtown Los Angeles outpost for the San Francisco-based retailer. Unlike traditional Gaps found in shopping malls and other locations, the Factory Store offers lower-priced items, many listed at up to 70% off regular retail price. The business has 12-foot ceilings and large plate-glass windows fronting Broadway.

GRAND PARK PLAYGROUND A $1 million children’s playground on the east side of Grand Park opened Nov. 22. Construction on the 3,700-square-foot attraction, propelled by former County Supervisor Gloria Molina, took about six months. Architecture firm Rios Clementi Hale Studios designed the playground, which has a forest theme. The fenced-in facility is highlighted by a 20-foot-tall structure with

photo by Gary Leonard

Houston-based developer Hanover Company’s first South Park project, at 939 S. Hill St., opened in January. The 284-apartment building at Olympic Boulevard and Hill Street offers studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging from 500 to 1,260 square feet. There are also three one-bedroom live/work lofts (about 1,000 square feet). Rents run from $2,050 to $3,925. Amenities include a pool, a courtyard with fire pits and grills, a roof terrace, a clubroom with a kitchen and a TV lounge, and a theater room. There is also 12,400 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, according to Hanover development partner Ryan Hamilton. The building’s design comes from architecture firm TCA, which is also designing Hanover’s two other South Park projects. At hanoversouthpark.com.

MERCEDES-BENZ RENOVATION The Downtown L.A. Auto Group celebrated the completion of a $30 million renovation of the Downtown L.A. Motors, Mercedes-

ONE SANTA FE The biggest project to hit the Arts District in decades, One Santa Fe, began move-ins last September. The $160 million project from developers McGregor Brown Company, Cowley Real Estate Partners, Polis Builders and Canyon Capital Realty Advisors created 438 apartments at 300 S. Santa Fe Ave., across from the Southern California Institute of Architecture. The six-story project designed by architect Michael Maltzan has a 200-foot-wide opening at Third Street, and a paseo veers at an angle roughly parallel to Santa Fe Avenue, opening to the sidewalk near Fourth Street. The studio to two-bedroom apartments start at around $1,700, and 88 residences have been set aside as affordable housing. The project’s 78,000-square-foot retail component, The Yards, will hold about 25 shops and restaurants, including the grocery store Grow, vegan restaurant Cafe Gratitude and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. The project includes approximately 610 parking spaces, and there is an art space and a 99-seat theater for use by the community. At osfla.com.

REGENT THEATER The long-delayed Regent finally opened on Nov. 7. Mitchell Frank of Downtown-based Spaceland Productions partnered with Knitting Factory Entertainment and development company Artist & Recreation to update the faded 1914 entertainment venue at 448 S. Main St. The refurbished structure, which had been empty for decades, now can hold 1,100 people for indie rock shows, dance nights and other events (including a monthly flea market). In addition to installing state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment, the renovation involved pulling out the old seats and building a new mezzanine level. The Historic Core theater’s marquee has been restored, and the project includes a new bar, The Lovesong, and the 50-seat, Neapolitan-style Prufrock Pizzeria. At theregenttheater.com.

ROSSLYN APARTMENTS Nonprofit housing developer SRO Housing Corporation spent 16 months and $16 million upgrading the 1923 Rosslyn Apartments, and 75 veterans began moving into the building at 112 W. Fifth St. last September. The full renovation has created 264 rooms for low-income individuals, chronically homeless veterans and people with disabilities. SRO Housing acquired the Historic Core property in 2010, and during the renovation all the units received new kitchenettes, and 66 apartments got updated showers. There is a community room on the second floor.

It marked SRO Housing’s 30th completed project. At srohousing. org.

THE EMERSON Developer Related California, which has been working for nearly a decade to get the massive mixed-use project The Grand off the ground on Bunker Hill, finally opened a building last October. The 20-story luxury complex The Emerson (not part of The Grand) features 216 studio to two-bedroom residences ranging from 582-1,440 square feet; rents are about $2,300-$8,000 (though 55 apartments are designated as affordable housing).

The $120 million project at 225 S. Grand Ave., designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, is immediately south of the underconstruction art museum The Broad, and will share a courtyard with the coming attraction. Also coming to The Emerson is a ground-floor Italian restaurant. The apartments are full of upscale touches such as wood plank floors, walnut cabinets, stainless steel appliances, Nest thermostats and keyless door locks.

The project includes a large pool, a Jacuzzi and a private dog run, complete with a pet-washing station. At theemersonla.com.

THE SPRINGS The 13,800-square-foot The Springs opened in October. The $1.3 million project from Kimberly Helms and Jared Stein is essentially a temple of healthy living, with a yoga studio, a 92-seat vegan restaurant, a retail pop-up shop and wellness center offering, among other things, an infrared sauna and a colon hydrotherapy service. The indoor-outdoor space at 608 Mateo St. has a roll-up glass and metal door and bike racks in front of and inside the building. At thesprings.la.com.

February 23, 2015

Downtown ResiDential

Downtown News 19

DOWNTOWN RESIDENTIAL

photo courtesy of Tavira House

a special advertising supplement

20 Downtown News

Where Everyone Knows His Name Bill Cooper’s The Loft Expert! Group Has Its Finger on the Downtown Pulse

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f you live, work or play in Downtown, chances are you have met Bill Cooper or heard his name.

Cooper has specialized in lofts since his first loft sale in 2001. He moved to Downtown in 2002 to establish

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS his real estate business, long before most people would even consider visiting the area. Cooper’s vision to help create a successful, thriving residential community in Downtown led him to launch the loft expert!

Group. with years of experience from Keller williams Realty, Coldwell Banker Residential Realty and loftway Homes and lofts, Cooper has enjoyed helping many Downtowners find their niche in the ever-changing environment they now call home.

Cooper’s passion for Downtown plays out in his involvement with the development of Downtown’s real estate as well as its communities. He teamed up early with local movers and shakers, forging long-term relationships with the best in the community. He helped found, organize and currently leads the Downtown Real estate association as its president. Cooper is also passionate about preserving and creating green space in Downtown and has worked on several park projects.

He currently serves as treasurer of the Pershing square

HANOVER South Park

February 23, 2015

Downtown ResiDential

Cultural Connection The Towers Deliver a Rich Downtown Experience

Park advisory Board. at the loft expert! Group, Cooper has endeavored to learn everything he can about Downtown’s lofts and condo residences, and shares his insights with his clients, whether they are purchasing or selling, firsttime buying or looking for a second home. His passion for service, knowledge of the marketplace, and understanding of what it takes to complete any transaction with the least amount of problems is matchless in Downtown.

Here are just a few things his clients have written about their experiences with Cooper this past year: n “i highly recommend Bill. He knows the area, he’s responsive and a true professional.” n “we are so happy. and you have done an amazing job, so thank you Bill. we couldn’t have done it without your expertise.” n “Bill is extremely knowledgeable about Downtown l.a. and was always professional, available and timely. Because of our inexperience in the l.a. market, Bill was invaluable in all aspects of the process: from the offer, to the inspection, to securing the loan on time and arranging move-in. we truly believe Bill has helped us find the perfect spot for our lives in l.a.”

For more information call (213) 598-7555 or visit TheLoftExpertGroup.com.

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owntown los angeles: Here, the living experience goes unmatched anywhere in the west. it’s a lifestyle richly embellished with art, music and the cultural events that make headlines. Downtown breeds success, housing prominent firms in impressive architectural sculptures com-

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS posed of glass, steel and stone.

Yet historical elements of yesterday also remain — artifacts of this city’s rich past.

From the faithful climb of the renowned cars of angels Flight to the fantastic urban spectacle of California Plaza, daily life in the towers’ neighborhood remains unsurpassed. extraordinary fountains, garden alcove retreats, gourmet dining and first-run entertainment provide the perfect setting for a lifetime of enjoyment. Downtown holds all the essentials to fulfill the most demanding lifestyles.

During the day, you are moments from the business district, minimizing or even eliminating a commute. evenings become immersed in a flood of nightlife, movies and culture beneath the brilliant lights of the city. Day and night, the Continued on page 22

LET’S START SOMETHING NEW Come visit Hanover South Park, downtown L.A.’s newest apartment community full of sophistication, design and luxury. Choose from studio, one and two bedroom homes as well as exciting work/live spaces and enjoy top of the line community amenities.

Community FeAtures

ApArtment FeAtures

• Over 6,000 sf of Clubroom and Leasing Center Space • Expansive Indoor Recreation Area with Kitchen and Bar • Resort-style Pool with Trellis and Loungers • State-of-the-Art Fitness Facility • Rooftop Sun Deck with Plush Seating and Gas Heaters • Beautifully Landscaped Courtyards with BBQ Grills and Fire Pits • Cyber Wi-Fi Lounge with Private Conference Rooms • Private Screening Room • Pet Friendly • Dog Washing Station • Planned Community Activities • Gourmet Coffee Bar • Controlled Access • Parking Space Included • Electric Car Charging Stations • On-site Bike Storage Available • On-site Mgmt. Office, Open 7 Days a Week • On-site 24-hr Emergency Maintenance • On-site Retail • On-site Mailroom with Package Acceptance Service • Door to Door Dry Cleaning Services • Resident Portal Access with Online Rent Payments • Walking Distance to Staples Center, LA Live, Shopping Centers, Restaurants and Nightlife • Easy Access to I-110 , I-10 and Metro

• Luxury Studio, One, and Two Bedrooms • Three Custom Design Kitchen Finishes • Contemporary Espresso Cabinets • Granite Countertops • Travertine Tiled Backsplashes • Stainless Steel Appliances • Kitchen Islands* • Hardwood Style Flooring • In Suite Washer & Dryer • Luxury Bathrooms with Solid Slab Countertops, Porcelain Tile Flooring, Custom Framed Mirrors and Oversized Soaking Tubs • Double Vanities* • Floor to Ceiling Windows* • Downtown Views* • Panoramic Views* • Juliette Balconies* • Balconies* • Alcove Walls* • Computer Desk Niches* • Built-in Bookshelves* • Walk-in Closets* • Two-Toned Paint Scheme • Double Paned Windows • Custom Window Treatments • Ceiling Fans • Tech-connect USB Outlets • Pre-Wired for TV, Internet, and Phone * In Select Apartments

CONTACT INFO Hanover South Park 939 S Hill St. Los Angeles, CA 90015 p: (866) 418-2568

OFFICE HOURS Mo - Fr: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Sa: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Su: 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

HanoverSouthPark.com

February 23, 2015

Downtown News 21

Downtown ResiDential

G R A N D O PE

DISTINGUISHED DOWNTOWN

N IN G

Introducing The Emerson, downtown's newest luxury apartment building, ideally located in the heart of the city's cultural core within walking distance to world-class dining, downtown's financial district and the city’s best performing arts centers and theaters. The Emerson’s beautifully appointed interiors showcase breathtaking panoramic views, complimented by a suite of unprecedented amenities and services that include an attended lobby with concierge, outdoor pool and barbecue area, stunning penthouse lounge and terrace, fitness center with yoga studio, library with a fireplace and coffee station, private screening room and a pet spa.

Call today to schedule your private showing.

Onsite restaurant, Vespaio by Ago, opening in April

THE EMERSON Live in Downtown’s Ultimate Work of Art Luxury Rental Apartments from $2,495 LEASING OFFICE OPEN DAILY 225 S. GRAND AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

213.784.3674 | TheEmersonLA.com T h e d e v e l o p e r r e s e r v e s t h e r i g h t t o m a k e m o d i fi c a t i o n s t o t h e fl o o r p l a n s , u n i t p r i c i n g , a n d u n i t d i m e n s i o n s a t a n y t i m e . T h i s i s n e i t h e r a n o ff e r t o s e l l n o r a s o l i c i t a t i o n t o l e a s e i n a n y s t a t e w h e r e p r o h i b i t e d b y l a w o r w h e r e p r i o r r e g i s t r a t i o n i s r e q u i r e d .

22 Downtown News

Why You Should Bank at a Credit Union WPCCU Offers Everything a Member Needs, Plus Free Parking

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oday’s credit unions are full-service financial institutions offering everything from online banking to credit cards and home mortgages. And Water and Power Community Credit Union’s (WPCCU) branch on Sunset and Beaudry in Downtown Los Angeles is no exception, offering every-

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS thing a member might need. Just look for the monkey on the roof. Plus, there’s lots of free parking.

You might ask what the difference is between a credit union and a bank. Unlike banks, credit unions are member-owned and have volunteer board members instead of a paid board of directors, who focus on making members’ financial lives better. Like WPCCU, many credit unions offer free credit counseling to members who want to save for a major purchase, or who may find themselves trapped by debt and late payments. Profits are returned to members in the form of lower loan interest rates and fees and higher deposit rates.

WPCCU is linked to the Co-Op network of ATMs and shared branches, providing fee-free withdrawals at 30,000 ATMs and account access through thousands of credit union branches nationwide. At these “shared branches” you can access your account with just three things: your government issued picture ID; your account number; and the name of your credit union.

There you can perform the following services free of fees: n Make deposits n Request a cash loan advance n Make a loan payment by check

February 23, 2015

Downtown Residential

n Transfer money within your credit union accounts n Check balances n Get your recent account history You must be a member to use the services of a credit union. Credit unions operate under a state or federal charter as member-owned, not-for-profit organizations, meaning that they take their revenue and return it to their members in the form of higher savings rates, lower loan rates and reduced or eliminated service fees. To join WPCCU you need only to live, work, attend church or a post-secondary school in Los Angeles. As a resident or employee of a company located in Downtown L.A., you’re in.

The Water and Power Community Credit Union was formed in 1936 by 10 members of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Today WPCCU has more than 31,000 members, and serves employees of LADWP as well as residents in communities that LADWP serves.

For more information call (800) 300-9728, or visit wpcu.org. For current events, seminars and promotions follow on Facebook at facebook/wpccu and Twitter@wpccu.

the towers, 20 Towers place residents among all the excitement Downtown offers.

Promenade Towers greets guests via a two-story lobby embellished with a tranquil indoor waterscape. Four impressive towers embrace a breathtaking pool, spa and fitness center in an oasis of flowing fountains and immaculate landscaping — a true departure from the ordinary.

Promenade Towers’ individual design includes apartments with balconies, contemporary solariums and angular rooms as exciting as the property’s unique exterior styling.

Grand Tower’s sensuous granite exterior distinguishes this landmark development as the address that reflects success. The 24-hour manned lobby provides impressive passage to spacious apartment homes with balconies and a rooftop pool, spa and fitness center with beautiful mountain and city views. Adjacent to the renowned California Plaza, entertainment can be found virtually at your doorstep.

Museum Tower neighbors the beautiful Museum of Contemporary Art. This fine collection of apartment homes features expansive floor-to-ceiling windows. Exhibit your most precious belongings amidst the outstanding backdrop of the city skyline. A controlled access lobby, pool, spa and fitness center

provide the upscale amenities Downtown residents desire.

Double Assurance of Quality: For more than 50 years, Shapell Industries and Goldrich & Kest Industries have established themselves among America’s most successful and most honored residential developers. Today, their nationwide reputation for providing exceptional housing is earned through a consistent dedication to quality craftsmanship and design. As a result, many of their joint ventures have been cited as model developments. Marina Park in San Diego, Town Square in Santa Ana and The Promenade and Promenade West in the Bunker Hill district of Los Angeles have all achieved unparalleled success in these prominent urban centers.

Together, they bring to the Towers Apart­ments a vast combination of experience, talent and integrity. Each has proven its dedication for a total of more than 90 years. It is that strong combination of experience, innovation and commitment to quality that makes Shapell Industries and Goldrich & Kest Industries a team you can rely on for excellence.

For leasing information at the Promenade Towers, 123 S. Figueroa St., call (213) 617-3777. For leasing information at the Grand Tower, 255 S. Grand Ave., call (213) 229-9777. For leasing information at the Museum Tower, 225 S. Olive St., call (213) 626-1500, or visit TowersApartmentsLA.com.

February 23, 2015

Downtown News 23

Downtown ResiDential

A New Benchmark for Rental Living The Emerson Offers Downtown Residents Unparalleled Services And Amenities

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owntown l.a.’s newest luxury apartment building by Related California is setting a new benchmark for rental living within the city’s cultural center. with stunning interiors designed by celebrated design firm Marmol Radziner, the emerson brings simple elegance and superb interiors

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS to the Downtown apartment landscape. Rising 20 stories with residences ranging from studios to one- and two-bedroom

Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore!

It’s our business to make you comfortable... at home, downtown. Corporate and long term residency Call Now Fo is accommodated in high style at the Towers Apartments. Contemporary singles, studio, one r bedroom and two bedroom apartment homes provide fortunate residents with a courteous full service lobby attendant, heated pool, spa, complete fitness center, sauna and recreation room Move-In Spec with kitchen. Beautiful views extend from the Towers’ lofty homes in the sky. Mountain vistas and ial slender skyscrapers provide an incredible back drop to complement your decor. Far below are a host of businesses s ready to support your pampered downtown lifestyle. With spectacular cultural events nearby, even the most demanding tastes are satisfied. Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore. Visit the Towers Apartments today.

Grand Tower

255 South Grand Avenue Leasing Information 213 229 9777 Community Amenities: ~ 24 Hr. Manned Lobby ~ Concierge ~ Pool / Spa / Saunas ~ Fitness Center ~ Gas BBQ Grills ~ Recreation Room

layouts, the emerson offers an unparalleled level of services and amenities. ideally located across the street from MoCa, next to the new Broad museum and within steps of the walt Disney Concert Hall and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the emerson is further enhancing its prime location in Downtown’s burgeoning arts and culture scene by creating a new culinary destination with a ground floor restaurant by los angeles celebrity chef agostino sciandri.

Vespaio, serving classic italian cuisine with a modern flair, will offer in-home delivery, continuous service throughout the day as well as take-out and catering menus for local businesses.

Residence interiors boast open kitchens with Caesarstone counters, walnut cabinetry and premium stainless steel appliances by Fisher & Paykel and Bosch. the sumptuous baths are appointed with a rich marble tub and vanity top, while the living spaces include wood plank flooring and in-home washers and dryers. an expansive suite of amenities enhance each resident’s lifestyle. the penthouse lounge is set against a stunning backdrop of sparkling panoramic city views with an outdoor terrace, bar, custom billiards table, and a catering kitchen and dining area for private events. the penthouse terrace has a double-sided fireplace, barbeques with grilling areas, plush outdoor seating and two outdoor tVs. additional amenity spaces include an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi and outdoor barbeque area for entertaining, a media lounge with an oversized tV, a state-of-the-art library complete with a fireplace, wi-Fi, a printer and coffee station, a pet spa, and a fully equipped fitness center with a yoga studio and steam rooms. the emerson continues Related’s commitment to exceptional service, offering residents exclusive benefits through its RelatedStyle services, including an onsite Related service specialist who can field requests and assist in selecting moving firms and scheduling the Related technology Concierge to help with home technology installation. the emerson also has a 24-hour concierge to facilitate in-home package receiving and dry cleaning services. Pet owners will have access to a pet spa, with an outdoor dog run, to conveniently meet their pet grooming needs. with its innovative design, sprawling amenity spaces and hotel-inspired services, the emerson redefines Downtown l.a. apartment living and sets the benchmark for developments to follow.

For more information, please call (213) 784-3674 or visit TheEmersonLA.com.

Apartment Amenities: ~ Refrigerator, Stove, Microwave & Dishwasher (most units) ~ Central Air Conditioning & Heating ~ Balconies (most units)

On-site: ~ Dry Cleaners / Dental Office / Restaurants

Promenade Towers

123 South Figueroa Street Leasing Information 213 617 3777 Community Amenities: ~ 24 Hr. Manned Lobby ~ Pool / Spa / BBQ Grills ~ Fitness Center ~ Covered Parking

Apartment Amenities: ~ Refrigerator, Stove & Dishwasher ~ Central Air & Heating ~ Solariums and/or Balconies

On-Site: ~ Convenience Store / Beauty Salon

museum Tower

225 South Olive Street Leasing Information 213 626 1500 Community Amenities: ~ 24 Hr. Manned Lobby ~ Concierge ~ Pool / Spa / Saunas ~ Fitness Center ~ Gas BBQ Grills ~ Recreation Room

Apartment Amenities: ~ Refrigerator, Stove, Microwave & Dish washer (most units) ~ Central Air & Heating ~ Balconies (most units)

8 7 7 - 2 65 - 714 6

TOWERS T H E

A PA RT M E N T S

www.TowersApartmentsLA.com MAID SERVICE • FURNITURE • HOUSEWARES • CABLE • UTILITIES • PARKING

RESIDENCES: SINGLES • STUDIO • ONE BEDROOM • TWO BEDROOM

24 Downtown News

February 23, 2015

Downtown ResiDential

First Phase Now Selling at RiverPark Taylor Yard Community Unveils Single-Family and Paired Residences

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xcitement is building as RiverPark from la Urban Homes, the only for-sale neighborhood in the taylor Yard master-plan, opens for sales. this offering of just 41 single-family detached and paired residences is situated along the scenic los angeles River in taylor Yard Village — an innovative, transit-oriented, master-planned commu-

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS nity, developed through a public-private joint development with the los angeles County Metropolitan transportation authority.

RiverPark offers contemporary three- and four-bedroom/ three-bath designs, with up to 2,000 square feet. the homes feature dramatic open-concept floor plans, spacious master suites with en suite baths, state-of-the-art kitchens, energysaving features, and much more. shopping, dining and entertainment opportunities are abundant — including in nearby atwater Village — and the centrally located community is a short commute from Downtown l.a., Glendale and eagle Rock, with easy access to the 2, 5 and 110 freeways. the nearby lincoln/Cypress Metrolink Gold line station — with bus connections to Metro local (#28, 81, 90, 91, 94 and 251), plus Metro Rapid (751 and 794) — provides important rail connections to Metro’s expanding 87mile Metro Rail network throughout los angeles County.

RiverPark is directly adjacent to the 40acre Rio de los angeles state Park, which boasts riverfront and wilderness hiking and walking trails, baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts, picnic areas, a children’s playground with splash pad, and a recreation center, which is home to many activities

and classes. a nearby bike path offers a scenic 7.4-mile ride along the riverbank. exciting plans for the restoration and revitalization of the los angeles River is a major priority for the city, and the army Corps of engineers has committed $1 billion to the project. initial focus will be on the 11 miles of prime riverfront between Downtown and Griffith Park — which includes RiverPark — and will eventually encompass more than 31 miles of the los angeles River. the first phase of 18 homes is open for sale. Pricing is from the high $500,000s. “the architectural excellence of these homes, their value and the opportunity to be at the forefront of the los angeles River beautification project makes this a real ground-floor opportunity for savvy home seekers,” notes sales Manager Marisol almonte.

Prospective buyers are encouraged to join the interest list for early selection of prime lots, plus construction and sales updates. Pre-sales will be based on a first-come, first-served basis.

To register and learn more about the community, please visit liveriverpark.com.

TM

group

Bill Cooper Lic #01309009

Bill@TheLoftExpertGroup.com

213.598.7555 TheLoftExpertGroup.com

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enten wilshire is the ideal place for entrepreneurs and business-minded individuals to live, work and play. Perfect for start-ups and entrepreneurs in industries including high-tech, entertainment, fashion, law, finance, consulting, real estate and advertising, tenten wilshire provides the perfect blend of amenities and necessities to fulfill the 24/7 needs of an entrepreneur.

You have heard the phrase “live, work and Play” countless times, but nowhere else have all three been combined into a comprehensive, single lifestyle solution. tenten wilshire’s community goal is to offer a space for entrepreneurs, small businesses and young Continued on page 25

Buy, Sell or Lease

Downtown since 2002

TENTEN Wilshire Helps Small Business Thrive in Downtown Los Angeles

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS

Call Us Today!

the loft expert!

Everything You Need Under One Roof

VOTED BEST DOWNTOWN RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE AGENT! 2010 / 2011

February 23, 2015

tenten, 24 professionals to grow, network and expand across Downtown.

Helping to fuel a rebirth of the area, tenten wilshire houses 227 fully furnished live/work units, and more than 243,000 square feet of space for businesses to rent and expand into as their companies grow. the building is designed to eliminate many of the major barriers to budding entrepreneurs including distribution of capital between living space and office space. By providing a flexible, turn-key environment with equally flexible lease terms, tenten wilshire has been able to sustain a 90% or higher occupancy rate every year since opening. additionally, due to exceptional zoning regulations, tenten wilshire provides qualified individuals and all companies located on the premises special tax benefits including: live/ work tax deductions, hiring credits, sales and work opportunity tax credits, utility cost savings, and expense and interest deductions. tenten wilshire, through its green standards, a coming major expansion, and keen focus on inspiring, promoting and helping entrepreneurialism, hopes to be the catalyst for 16,000-plus long-term jobs for los angeles. located within walking distance of the center of Downtown, tenten wilshire is an ideal place for meeting

Downtown ResiDential

people and networking, providing guests and residents an unparalleled professional and social environment. tenten wilshire, together with its sister communities of Plug and Play technology Center and Hollywood Production Center, are home to more than 600 technology and entertainment entrepreneurs, startups and companies. tenten wilshire is dedicated to fostering community growth amongst its residents through constant contact and the sharing of resources. with key multi-industry relationships including access to more than 150 venture capital firms, and additional relationships with major corporations, entrepreneurs and startups at tenten wilshire are provided a direct bridge to numerous resources including: n operations (legal, accounting, PR, Banking, etc.) n technology (Microsoft Bizspark, sun startup essentials, etc.) n entertainment (CBs, 20th Century Fox, Bet, BBC, Merv Griffin entertainment, etc.) n Business Development (M&a, investing, licensing) n Corporate Partnership opportunities (Google, Cisco, Best Buy, Yahoo!, ebay, etc.)

At 1010 Wilshire Blvd. For more information call (213) 785-5100 or visit 1010wilshire.com.

Downtown News 25

Hanover South Park Opens for Leasing Downtown Gets 284 Luxury Units and Over 12,000 Square Feet of Retail

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he Hanover Company and GiD investment advisers have opened Hanover south Park at 939 s. Hill st. on the corner of olympic Boulevard and Hill street in the south Park district of Downtown los angeles. this is the first of three projects in

FROM OUR ADVeRtISeRS Downtown los angeles that will bring more than 750 luxury residences and 38,000 square feet of creative retail space to the area. at Hanover south Park, residents have the choice of incredibly spacious studio, one- and two-bedroom homes as well as exciting work/live spaces. each residence is fully appointed with designer finishes and thoughtful touches, including dramatic living spaces with high ceilings; expansive windows and energy-efficient interiors; open-concept kitchens with stainless steel appliances, granite slab countertops and custom cabinetry; spacious bedrooms; generous walk-in clos-

ets; luxury bathrooms with solid slab countertops, porcelain tile flooring, custom framed mirrors and oversized soaking tubs; wood-style flooring in the entry, kitchen, living and dining areas; energy-efficient fullsize washers and dryers; and terraces in select units.

Hanover south Park also features expansive amenity spaces, including three resident courtyards with barbecue area and fire pits, a resort-inspired pool, a 1,200-square-foot sunset deck, a sprawling 6,000-square-foot club room, a state-of-the-art fitness center, screening room, business center, conference rooms, and garage parking.

Downtown los angeles is in the midst of an urban revitalization that is transforming the landscape of the city and Hanover south Park is excited to be part of the transformation.

For leasing inquiries, stop by the leasing center at 939 S. Hill St., call (866) 323-5806 or visit hanoversouthpark.com.

26 Downtown News

February 23, 2015

Downtown Residential

Understanding the Past, Embracing The Future

A New Kind of Residential Community Avant South Park Creates an Elevated Design for Modern Angelenos

Pilgrim School Equips Students With 21st Century Skills

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ith Avant South Park, Century West Partners is delivering more than a new 440-unit luxury apartment property to Downtown’s South Park neighborhood; they have created a new home-base for the “Avanteur,” a communi-

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he new year is off to a busy start for Pilgrim School students. All students from the youngest in early education to college-bound 12th graders participated in STEAM Week, using science, technology, engineering, art

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS and math to identify and solve real-world problems.

Cross-grade groups addressed issues such as poverty and access to quality food, international cooperation and conflict resolution, gender equality, and human environmental impact, using research skills, creative problem solving, design thinking, collaboration and communication — 21st century skills to solve 21st century problems. Everything came together in STEAM Night, when hundreds of proud Pilgrim parents converged on campus for dinner and a series of presentations and displays showcasing the students’ work.

While Pilgrim students move eagerly forward into the future, they also look to the past to understand the roots of present-day realities. Pilgrim’s Downtown location and its rich diversity is truly reflective of the complex face of Los Angeles. Black History Month, for example, affords students a host of opportunities to explore identity and American culture. The month brings a wealth of experiences: a screening of Selma for the Secondary School; Gina Belafonte shares Sing Your Song, the documentary about her father, Harry Belafonte; the Spirit Chorale of Los Angeles visits a special chapel; high school students will attend a performance of “Defamation: the Play,” a multicultural interactive experience

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS designed to spark discussion and examination of issues of race, gender and power. A highlight of the month is always the Black History Museum, which celebrates the diversity of Pilgrim School and the rich history of Pilgrim families. Almost all of what is showcased in the museum is related to family history — there has been a Pilgrim connection to some of the most interesting and important history of the last century and more.

A Pilgrim education gives students the skills to succeed and thrive in a changing world – facing forward while respecting the past. Dedicated and innovative faculty, special programs in the Fab Lab, access to a professional quality art center, and creative professionals brought to the school through the Visiting Writers and Artists program, teach Pilgrim students the 21st century skills of problem-solving, innovation and collaboration from the toddler class through 12th grade. One hundred percent of Pilgrim graduates go on to the best colleges and universities equipped with the skills they will need to create a unique, meaningful life.

Pilgrim School is at 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. For more information, call (213) 355-5204 or visit pilgrim-school.org.

Pilgrim School is a division of First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.

ty of mindful, savvy Angelenos joining the urban, connected, forward-thinking locals and moving Downtown to enjoy the rebirth of the original L.A. Avant South Park brings elevated design, high-tech features and sprawling outdoor living spaces. It combines the intimacy of a mid-rise property with the sophistication and elegance of a highrise, creating a hybrid, boutique living experience perfect for the 21st century Avanteur. Located in burgeoning South Park, Avant is a stylish, metropolitan living experience in a modern urban landscape featuring luxury studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Avant delivers a full-service property with today’s most desired features and amenities, including outdoor social spaces, grilling stations, a hotel-inspired pool area with cabanas, a 24-hour stateof-the-art fitness center with yoga studio, a bicycle cafe, dog run and in-unit USB ports. The residences of Avant feature Kohler fixtures and gourmet kitchens with a breakfast bar, dark cabinets, white quartz counters and ceramic tile backsplashes.

Avant consists of three buildings coming together to form one community. Phase two is expected to open in April. Just steps from L.A. Live, Nokia Theater, the light-rail station, new restaurants and boutiques, Avant provides easy access to the Metro, the 110 and Continued on page 27

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©2015 TY Taylor 41. All Rights Reserved. TY Taylor 41 reserves the right to modify features, plans, specifications, materials and pricing without prior notice. Variations in plans do exist. The dimensions and the square footages included in the sales materials from this project are approx. only, and are based upon the design measurements provided by seller’s architect and should not be relied upon as final. The as-built dimensions and square footages may vary from such preliminary measurements. Ask sales representative for further details. Models do not depict ethnic preference.

February 23, 2015

avant, 26 10 freeways, making it easy to connect to all access points in the city in just minutes.

“There is a pulse to this neighborhood that is unlike any other in the city,” says Randy Fifield, a partner with Century West.

“Avanteurs are savvy, entrepreneurial and connoisseurs of life,” adds Steve Fifield, a partner at Century West. “By living at Avant they will be in a spectacular new apartment home featuring hi-tech advancements, and join a distinct paradigm of urban living — celebrating individuality while promoting a sense of social experiences.”

“We are creating not only a great place to live, but also a community that our residents will be excited to be part of,” notes Michael Sorochinsky, a partner with Century West. “The idea of an Avanteur speaks to the lifestyles and attitude of people who are moving Downtown and Avant will contribute to the ongoing movement of creating a 24-hour Downtown.”

Avant South Park is at 1360 S. Figueroa St. For more information call (213) 746-1360, visit avantsouthpark.com or facebook. com/AvantApartments.

Downtown Residential

Downtown News 27

One Santa Fe Completes Residential Construction Iconic $2 Billion Arts District Project Signs 240 Leases, Unveils Amenities And Transportation Program

O

ne Santa Fe, the iconic, Michael Maltzan-designed community in Downtown Los Angeles, has completed residential construction and announced major openings and leasing milestones. Since opening its first phase in September 2014, the 438-residence, mixed-use development has signed more than 240 leases.

The residential completion includes several milestones: One

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS Santa Fe’s state-of-the-art resident amenities have opened; the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has begun moving into 35,000 square feet of creative office space in a portion of the project’s ground floor; One Santa Fe has begun unveiling a comprehensive resident transportation program; and The Yards, a curated collection of 25 unique shops, restaurants and community art spaces, has announced tenants for a spring 2015 opening.

“One Santa Fe, which debuted its iconic profile on the Los Angeles cityscape in September 2014, begins 2015 with exciting news,” said Charlie Rose, director at Canyon Capital Realty Advisors. “The leasing success alone validates the investment mandate of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and the vision of One Santa Fe’s development partners. The property is 55% leased, with residents eager for homes within this architectural landmark which is quickly becoming the heart of the Arts District.”

One Santa Fe stands out for its design features: its sheer

length (over one quarter of a mile, 1,624 feet), making it L.A.’s longest building, and one of the longest residential structures in the world; a bridge structure above a central opening; gardens and plazas that wind through the branching forms of the project; and inspiring views. Rents — studios to two-bedroom, two-bath townhomes — range from $1,580 to $4,530.

Amenities Punctuated by ‘Architectural Moments’ One Santa Fe’s exclusive recreational facilities respond to the surrounding creative environment and comprise a set of “architectural moments” within Maltzan’s design. At the far north end of the linear property, perched on its fifth floor, is “Spa World”: Two whirlpool spas (for six and 12 people) sit atop a landscaped platform, with views along the building’s extended torso and across the Downtown skyline. An outdoor TV and fire pit glow in the evening and offer views that include the Los Angeles River, First Street Bridge and San Gabriel Mountains.

One Santa Fe’s central, third-floor amenities deck includes: the resident clubhouse, a fitness center with technogym cardio and weight-training equipment, a zero-edge pool, one of the property’s three salt-water whirlpools, and custom pool-side cabanas. The circular gym building also contains an elliptical yoga and spinning studio. Adjacent is One Santa Fe’s outdoor movie theater, gaming deck and additional fire pits. To round out the residents’ experience, One Santa Fe offers a business center and full concierge services.

For leasing inquiries, contact (855) 207-1872.

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

28 Downtown News

Distinction,8

February 23, 2015

HISTORIC CORE

The Regent

FINANCIAL DISTRICT

photo courtesy of 8TH+HOPE

photo courtesy of 8TH+HOPE

photo courtesy of 8TH+HOPE

8TH+HOPE

M

any Downtowners have been disturbed by the number of low-rise housing projects opening in the community, feeling a rare opportunity for density is being squandered.

That’s not the case at 8th + Hope, where Atlanta-based Wood Partners spent $120 million to build an ultra-modern, upscale tower with 290 apartments. The 22-story structure adds to the residential base in the Financial

District, and inhabitants can easily walk to the restaurants and bars on Seventh Street and the shops and coming movie theaters in the adjacent The Bloc. 8th + Hope is another case of a project many thought would never come: Wood Partners bought the site before the recession and saw its plans delayed. However, the team never gave up, and now has achieved its vision.

E

ven as the Old Bank District boomed over the past 15 years, the Regent Theatre sat ugly and empty. No more. Mitchell Frank of Downtown-based Spaceland Productions oversaw a lengthy renovation, and in November the 1914 building at 448 S. Main St. was reborn as Los Angeles’ best new music venue, with space for 1,100 people and killer sight lines, including from a newly constructed mez-

zanine. The upgrade modernized the building but paid heed to the past, with a new paint scheme for the original stage proscenium and other moves. Historic Core residents don’t have to check out an indie rock show or DJ to benefit from the Regent’s transformation — the project also includes the new Love Song Bar and Prufrock Pizzeria, with separate entrances on Main Street.

O T H E R N O T A B L E P R OJ E C T S :

O T H E R N O T A B L E P R OJ E C T S :

Q Sushi, Psomas Paper Yacht Challenge, H&M and Zara Open at FIGat7th, Tender Greens

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Thank You DT News for honoring the Star Apartments with a Downtowners of Distinction award as we celebrate our past and look forward to another 25 great years!

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February 23, 2015

Downtown News 29

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

L I T T L E TOKYO

S O U T H PA R K

Faith & Flower

photo courtesy of East West Players

photo courtesy of East West Players

photo courtesy of East West Players

East West Players

T

he Little Tokyo theater company East West Players is celebrating a milestone: its 50th anniversary season. This is no small feat for an independent house, and much of the credit goes to producing artistic director Tim Dang, who for 21 years has guided the company headquartered in the Union Center for the Arts at 120 Judge John Aiso St. EWP, which moved

to Little Tokyo in 1998, has become part of the fabric of Downtown, drawing theatergoers to shows that speak to the Asian-American experience. The lineup remains adventurous, a mix of new works and revivals of musicals by big names such as Stephen Sondheim. One can only hope that EWP keeps bringing people to the community for another half century.

T

he accolades for Faith & Flower have come fast and furious, and include being named one of the best new restaurants in America by Esquire magazine. The buzz is deserved, as the space at 705 W. Ninth St., on the ground floor of the Watermarke Tower, is drawing diners eager to sample the small plates with globetrot-

ting flavors prepared by chef Michael Hung.

The restaurant, which opened in June, is attractive and airy, and it’s frequently packed.

While the food stands out, it’s got a worthy star at the bar in the form of bar director Michael Lay English Milk Punch — Esquire named it the “Cocktail of the Year.”

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30 Downtown News

February 23, 2015

Solving Downtown Traffic Problems in a Single Morning CCA Event Brings Together Industry Leaders to Discuss Gridlock and Solutions

By Eddie Kim owntown is quickly becoming a hub of technology, new business and innovation. Yet when you’re mired in gridlock on Spring Street, staring at a sea of red taillights, it can feel like the neighborhood is stuck in the transportation dark ages.

Leaders in transportation, mass transit and technology came together on Thursday, Feb. 19, to discuss and predict the future of traveling in and around Downtown. The “L.A. Fast Track” conference was hosted by the Central City Association at the L.A. Hotel.

Seleta Reynolds, general manager of the city Department of Transportation, was bullish on the community’s potential.

“Downtown is where I think L.A. is going to establish itself as a national leader in transportation,” said Reynolds, who took over the department in August after being hired by Mayor Eric Garcetti. “People here are open and ready for the kinds of investment and 21st century infrastructure that we can make.”

Participants in a panel discussion addressed the need to move away from car-centric planning and refocus on ways to diversify travel in a dense urban center. Reynolds, who moderated the panel, pointed to Broadway, where driving lanes have been trimmed and the sidewalks widened.

It is currently in a “dress rehearsal” phase, but Reynolds is optimistic about the results and what they could mean for both residents and businesses. She said studies show that streetscape improvements can boost revenues by 5%-12%.

“Downtown is a fantastic place for us to start,” she said.

Another point of discussion was the proposed $270 million

D

Los Angeles Streetcar, which is currently undergoing environmental review. The 3.8-mile project propelled by 14th District City Councilman José Huizar would help connect regional transit (light rail, for example) to local transit (buses) in an efficient and effective way, said Steve Ortmann, vice president of streetcar project manager URS Corp.

“We’ve spent 100 years figuring out how to get more cars through Downtown at the expense of our communities and the built environment and accessibility,” Ortmann said.

He also expressed optimism that the streetcar would get a dedicated lane, rather than sharing it with other vehicles, which some studies have shown boosts traffic efficiency.

Garcetti, who delivered the conference’s keynote speech, addressed the importance of innovation and risk-taking. He also pointed to a telling statistic: The city averages 1.1 persons in a car at any given moment. If that was bumped to 1.6, Los Angeles wouldn’t have a congestion problem, he said.

“Traffic is perhaps the most vexing issue and the one we lose the most productivity and dollars and sleep over,” he said. “The potential for [Downtown] to be the center of solving transportation problems and being a model for L.A. is more robust, more fertile than ever before.”

What could such innovation look like? Alan Clelland, a senior vice president at transportation consulting and engineering firm Iteris, championed the idea of shared driverless cars that roam the streets. It makes no sense, he said, for “your second-most expensive purchase” to sit idle for 22 hours of the day.

photo by Gary Leonard

Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke at a panel last week on traffic and transportation in Downtown. “Traffic is perhaps the most vexing issue and the one we lose the most productivity and dollars and sleep over,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kathleen Penney, vice president of the Washington, D.C., consulting firm CH2M Hill, discussed the construction of a 27mile bike path along the city’s Anacostia River, saying it has become a valued transportation resource as well as a recreational feature.

Such changes will come with pushback, Garcetti said, but he urged attendees to believe in the city’s transportation potential.

“There will always be counterarguments. ‘Why are we spending all this money? You’re trying to force me out of my car. Can’t you just have more parking spaces?’ We’ve had that philosophy for many years,” Garcetti said. “Can we all just say it’s a failed philosophy?” eddie@downtownnews.com

Broadway Art Deco Building to Be Revived Beverly Hills Developer to Turn 1931 Edifice Into Creative Office Space

By Eddie Kim or all of Broadway’s revived theaters, new retail and dining options and streetcar talk, there’s still an array of empty, aged buildings awaiting infusions of money and elbow grease.

One more building, at least, will see a restoration. Beverly Hills-based developer King’s Arch has purchased a six-story structure at 537 S. Broadway. It plans to transform the 1930s Art Deco-style building, which has been vacant for years, into creative office space.

“We want to return it to an art piece rather than a sore thumb on the street,” said Richard Shamooilian, a partner at King’s Arch. “We want to help make Broadway walkable and vibrant rather than shuttered. All you used to see is just property owners who didn’t care. We consider ourselves part of a new breed of ownership.”

King’s Arch spent $7.35 million to acquire the

building from Begonia Development. It plans to spend up to $5 million to restore and upgrade the roughly 45,000-square-foot edifice, with an eye toward attracting tech, fashion and media tenants. King’s Arch plans to complete construction by the end of the year.

The 1931 building was designed by architects Percy A. Eisen and Albert R. Walker, whose Downtown Los Angeles credits include the Fine Arts Building and the James Oviatt Building.

It originally housed an outpost of the household goods business F&W Grand Silver Stores.

In the middle of the century it held a Hartfield’s Department Store. More recently, the structure served as an office building.

Today, glimmers of its luxurious Art Deco styling distinguish it from others on the block.

The building’s facade features intricate gold inlay work that fills the spaces between its windows. That will be cleaned and restored,

Shamooilian said.

The developer is undertaking a full seismic retrofit on the structure, something that wasn’t required by the city but will give “peace of mind” to future tenants, Shamooilian said. New plumbing and electrical systems are being installed, as is fiber optic cabling. There will be outdoor decks on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors. The concrete floors are being polished and the walls are being stripped to the original brick.

The work has already yielded a happy discovery: After chipping away interior plaster, the developer found original painted signage on a few walls. Creative office tenants appreciate those character touches, said King’s Arch partner (and Richard’s brother) Allen Shamooilian.

“A 60-story office tower doesn’t offer the historic feel and funk that a building like this does,” he said. “You have 14-foot ceilings on most floors — you don’t find those in office

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Developer King’s Arch is tackling a renovation of a six-story building at 537 S. Broadway. Once home to a five-and-dime store and later Hartfield’s Department Store, it will be transformed into creative office space.

towers. A creative feel is needed to bring these tenants in.”

The renovation of the building follows a handful of conversions of other Broadway structures into creative office space. The 1928 Schulte United Department Store building at 529 S. Broadway was rehabbed and reborn last September as the Broadway Arts Tower. Developer and architect David L. Gray is spending $8.5 million to renovate the six-story edifice at 353 S. Broadway.

Richard Shamooilian, a New York City native, compared Broadway to “Times Square 20 years ago.” As he put it, there are plenty of diamonds in the rough on the street. They just need the right team to apply the polish. eddie@downtownnews.com

February 23, 2015

DT

Downtown News 31

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East West Players Misses the Mark in the Relationship Play ‘Washer/Dryer’

Starts Feb. 2

photos by Michael Lamont

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The Little Tokyo theater company East West Players’ new Washer/Dryer centers around a couple who elope after three months of dating.

E-NEWS s.com SIGN UP Sign up at DowntownNew her modest acting income and, best of all, it comes with the coBy Jeff Favre op Holy Grail: a washer/dryer. urviving for half a century is no small feat for any artistic Sign Up for Our E-News Blasts & On top of that premise, Michael’s angry, mean-spirited mother, organization, and Little Tokyo’s East West Players deserves Be Entered to Win Movie Tickets!

Dr. Lee (Karen Huie), is about to meet her non-Chinese daughtercredit for its longevity and its well-earned reputation as a in-law for the first time. Toss in Sonya’s over-the-top gay best friend top-tier Asian American theater company. Plenty of the accoand neighbor Sam (Corey Wright) and you have the makings of eilades go to Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang, who has bolther a standard dramedy or, potentially, a wild farce. stered the budget and put together seasonal schedules that vary That’s a problem, because Shenoy seems unsure what type of from vibrant Stephen Sondheim musicals to edgy and experiplay she has written, and Kuo follows suit. mental dramas to classic mainstream comedies.

Shenoy shoehorns all of the needed backstory for a farce into Dang’s position also requires him to take care when showthe first 10 minutes, but instead of following that with a rollickcasing fresh writing talent in the David Henry Hwang Theater ing ride through mistaken identities and wild physical comedy, in Downtown Los Angeles. Unfortunately, something has been Washer/Dryer drifts for the next half hour into a sluggish family missed with Nandita Shenoy’s Washer/Dryer, an uneven, unsitcom with mismatched characters. While Michael and Sonya original and rarely funny one-act that feels much longer than are quirky but believable, Dr. Lee is cartoonish. Her immediate its 90-minute length. Director Peter J. Kuo, working with a game insults are not veiled, but simply crass. She calls Sonya a liar, tells and competent cast, seems as lost as Shenoy when it comes to her she’s a bad cook and asks her son how she “tricked you into the tone, theme and pacing of this relationship comedy. ws nNe tow wn com/L.A.Do ebook. marrying her.”

Shenoy has Fac plenty of writing credits, but few full-length proThe pacing is slowed both in delivery and action. Kuo twice ductions, and Washer/Dryer has all the markings of a fun 15-minDowntown News on Facebook spends a minute having characters simply clean up before an arute ideaLike stretched well beyond its limitations. riving guest, not using the time to find funny physical bits. Later, That idea is centered (Ewan Chung) and Sonya & Be EnteredontoMichael Win Movie Tickets! when a concept for a comical dance by Sam is incorporated, it (Rachna Khatau), who elope after dating for just three months. lasts twice as long as necessary, losing the steam and humor Only then does Michael discover that Sonya can’t have anyone else live in her single-occupancy Manhattan co-op. They can’t af- that it initially generates.

Shenoy and Kuo attempt to shift into farce mode late in the ford to live anywhere else, and if nosy co-op president Wendee game. That includes a character hiding in plain sight, which (Nancy Stone) finds out, Sonya will be evicted. The catch is that breaks the rules of a good farce that things can be ridiculous but she loves her tiny dump of a home because she paid for it with

S

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must remain within the realm of the possible.

Throughout Starts Feb. 6 /the 13production Shenoy employs an everything-butthe-kitchen-sink approach. There’s even a subtle moment where Sonya reads a sweet letter from her grandmother about marriage and Hindu customs that is elegant and clever, yet falls flat because its style and tone don’t match anything else in the play.

Little fault can be found with the cast, which is working within difficult confines. Huie tries to bring out the gentle side of Dr. Lee after 80 minutes of insanity and ugliness. Wright may be embodying a stereotype as Sam, but he does it with joy; he has little choice, so he plays it big to get a laugh. Stone, meanwhile, is trapped in the two-dimensional WASP-y Wendee, and she dutifully provides the uptight walk and stammering, passive-aggressive tone.

Khatau and Chung do find a sense of love between Sonya and Michael. That’s not easy, because Shenoy hasn’t put anything on the page that makes them seem compatible, other than Sonya telling Sam that Michael understands the real her.

Kuo is obviously handcuffed by the script, but the comedy would be increased by a much faster pace. He is also limited by Starts Feb. 20 Sasha Monge’s appropriately cramped set and needs to find ways to use more physical humor within the small space provided.

Over five decades East West Players has proved its artistic mettle. It’s just unfortunate that this play lands in the middle of an otherwise thoughtful golden anniversary season.

Washer/Dryer runs through March 15 at East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers.org.

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32 Downtown News

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February 23, 2015

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE Photos by Gary Leonard Eli Broad’s $140 million art museum won’t open until Sept. 20. However, about 3,500 Angelenos got a sneak preview of the Grand Avenue institution on Feb. 15.

During an event dubbed Sky-Lit: Volume, Light and Sound at The Broad, celebrities, business bigwigs and Angelenos wandered through the large third-floor gallery with 318 skylights, checking out the architecture from the firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro and installations by BJ Nilsen and Yann Novak. Along with Broad and his wife Edythe, attendees included former Mayor Richard Riordan, artists Catherine Opie and Mark Bradford, MOCA head Philippe Vergne and restaurateur Michael Chow.

February 23, 2015

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Downtown News 33

The Power of D.C. Punk Documentary on 1980s Music Scene Comes to The Regent

By Jon Regardie he Washington, D.C., punk rock scene of the 1980s didn’t garner the attention of music movements such as the Greenwich Village folk revival in the ’60s or the Seattle grunge wave of the ’90s. Still, it grabbed a young Scott Crawford and, decades later, hasn’t relinquished its grip.

Crawford, 43, spent more than four years making Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C. (1980-90). The documentary chronicles the rise and evolution of the hardcore scene that spawned bands — many still adored today — such as Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Government Issue, Rites of Spring, Beefeater, Fugazi and Scream (the latter with a teenage Dave Grohl on drums). It will receive a pair of screenings on Thursday, Feb. 27, at The Regent on Main Street. Crawford will attend the 8 and 11 p.m. events. Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris will introduce the early show.

Crawford spoke with Los Angeles Downtown News about the bands, the pioneering record label Dischord and his film.

T

Los Angeles Downtown News: What convinced you that this scene needed to be chronicled in a movie?

Scott Crawford: It was such a pivotal point in my life and for many others. It informed my life in ways I was probably not fully aware of. In ways I’m still probably not aware of.

It was something I felt hadn’t been told, at

Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat during the Washington, D.C. band’s heyday. The documentary Salad Days, named for a Minor Threat song, screens this week in Downtown.

least in 100-minute-long movie form. Books have been written and touched on D.C., but there was so much happening here and so many stories to tell. I feel like they hadn’t been told.

Q: We’re talking about a lot of footage that is 2535 years old. How hard was it to track down?

A: It wasn’t easy. Some of it was available only because I was friends with the people who took it to begin with it — the people carrying around big Beta Cams.

There was some footage I had never seen that I was given a month before the film was meant to premiere. I had to get it in. There was even footage of me I had never seen as a 12-year-old outside of a Beefeater show. Someone asks me, “What did you think of the show?” It was years and years of tracking down footage and photos.

Q: What made the scene so important that it is remembered so fondly today?

A: I think there are a number of things. You had a record label in Dischord that really put their money where their mouth was. Then you had bands like Fugazi who did $5 shows. For the most part, if you were in a punk rock band in D.C. in the ’80s you were expected to play allages shows. That wasn’t the case everywhere else.

You also had the backdrop of politics — being in the seat of government.

Q: How anchored was this scene to Dischord?

photo by Jim Saah

A: A lot of the bands you’ll see in the film spent some time on Dischord at one time or another.

That label was hugely important, but we made a point of showing there were other labels, bands that weren’t on Dischord.

Q: Whereas bands from other scenes, like Seattle, later broke into the mainstream and became rich and famous, not many if any D.C. acts did. Why do you think that was?

A: I explore that in the film, toward the end, and I think it’s because there has never been a music industry here. There was never a feeling of wanting to break out and move to Los Angeles and New York and make it big. The goal was to make a community here. You know, a lot of the bands that were in the film never even

toured. They’d play 10 shows, break up and then form a new band.

Q: Are you surprised of the interest that this scene generates decades later?

A: Yes and no. It’s sort of validation — I knew what it meant personally and I think it has just grown. The music still stands on its own, it’s still as vibrant now as it was then. Especially with bands like Fugazi, they really drew a spotlight on D.C. But in a way it is a little surprising, because you don’t have any sense of it — you only know what it meant to you.

Salad Days screens Thursday, Feb. 27, at 8 and 11 p.m. at The Regent, 448 S. Main St. or theregenttheater.com. regardie@downtownnews.com

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34 Downtown News

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

DT The Dont Miss List

CALENDAR LISTINGS EVENTS

The Mayor Likes ‘Airplane!,’ The Phil Likes Alice and Everyone Loves Cumbia

sPONsOred LisTiNGs Vagabond Cheese @ The Robert Reynolds Gallery 408 S Spring St., (818) 613-5535 March 5, 7 pm: Vagabond Cheese Company pairs cheese and wine with the art of Robert Reynolds.

Tickets at vagabondcheese.com/events

by dan n johnsLEo @ A ND R

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From Kobe (that’s the city, not the Laker) by way of Kyoto, Japanese visual artist Miwa Yanagi will pop into REDCAT this week for her latest theatrical endeav or, Zero Hour: Tokyo Rose’s Last Tape. The vibrantly staged stor y picks up the true tale of a Japanese-American girl pressed into service as an anti-American broadcaster during World War II. This exploration of the woman considered an arch-villain by most Americans has a whodunit format and plenty of evocative eye candy. Shows are ThursdaySaturday, Jan. 26-28, at 8:30 p.m.

At 631 W. Second St., (213) 237-2800 or redcat.org.

On Thursday, Feb. 26, the Million Dol TWO lar Theatre plays host to none other than Mayor Eric Garcetti for a screening of his favorite film, Airplane! Yes, this is real, as Zocalo Public Square is bringing the honorable statesman Downtown to watch a movie that touches on a Turkish prison, a different kind of drinking problem and something icky being thrown at a fan. After the 7 p.m. screening, KCRW host Madeleine Brand will be speaking jive with Garcetti, or at least talking about what the movie means to him . While the film chronicles a plane flight from L.A. to Chicago, you can assume tonight’s event is part of an eventual Garcetti journey to Sacramento. At 307 S. Broadway, (213) 617-3600 or zocalopublicsquar e.org.

THREE

IMAGE COURTESY OF LA CHAMBA

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If you were given 26 guesses abo ut where in Downtown the L.A. Cumbia Festival would take place, a venue in Little Tokyo is probably not one of them. Surprise! On Sat urday, Feb. 28, this celebration of Latin music lands in the Aratani The atre in the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center.

Expect four of the finest purveyors of cumbia — and plenty of mo ving bodies — in the form of Buyepongo, Viente Callejero, La Cha mba (shown here) and Eduardo Martinez. Showtime is 7 p.m., though there is a pre-performance discussion and open marketplace star ting at 4 p.m. At 244 S. San Pedro St., (213) 628-2725 or festivalofsacred music.org.

FOUR

ROCK, POP & JAZZ Blue Whale 123 Astronaut E. S. Onizuka St., (213) 620-0908 or bluewhalemusic.com.

Feb. 23: Thelonious Monk Institute Jam Session.

Feb. 24: Simplicado.

Feb. 25: David Binney Group.

Feb. 26: Kei Akagi Trio.

Feb. 27: Slumgum.

Feb. 28: Julian Lage Trio.

Bootleg Bar 2220 Beverly Blvd., (213) 389-3856 or bootlegtheater.org.

Feb. 23, 8:30 p.m.: This is the final night of the Scavenger Hunt residency. Grand prize of an imaginary unicorn to whosoever can find the jerk who broke into my car on Beverly Boulevard two years ago.

Feb. 25, 7 p.m.: No matter how Alice Boman’s gig goes, we’re willing to bet the Malmo, Sweden native is just happy to be in Los Angeles.

Feb. 26, 9 p.m.: The Suffers are a 10-piece vintage R&B group from Houston. What could go wrong?

Feb. 27, 9 p.m.: La Luz is Spanish for “the light.” Up in their native Seattle, their band name is a cruel bit of commentary.

Feb. 28, 9 p.m.: You can’t swing a cat at the Bootleg these days without hitting a singer/songwriter. Grab that tabby by the tail and give Peter Bradley Adams a whack tonight.

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Tuesday, February 24 Two Writers Turn to Visual Art at Aloud Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7500 or lfla.org.

7:15 p.m.: Bernard Cooper and Benjamin Weissman were both respected visual artists who became writers. Now they’re becoming artists again, and people will be on hand to listen to them pontificate on interdisciplinary transformation.

Thursday, February 26 John Chiang at Town Hall-LA City Club Los Angeles, 555 S. Flower St., (213) 628-8141 or townhall-la.org.

11:30 a.m.: The State Treasurer has some lovely things to say about California’s economy. Are you prepared for fiscal realism tinged with optimism?

Lorraine O’Grady at MOCA MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., (213) 626-6222 or moca.org.

7 p.m.: One of America’s most cherished conceptual artists dishes concretely on the abstract.

Friday, February 27 Invicta Fighting Championships Shrine Auditorium, 665 W. Jefferson Blvd. or invictafc.com.

7 p.m.: A batch of women will be going all MMA in the ring. According to the website, the main event is the world featherweight title featuring “Cyborg Vs. Tweet.” Insert your own joke here. saTurday, February 28 Firecracker Bike/Run/Walk Chinatown Central Plaza, 943 N. Broadway or firecracker10k.org.

7:30 p.m.: Celebrate the onset of the Year of the Ram in Chinatown with the 7th annual bike ride, then on Sunday the 37th annual 10K/5K run/walk.

LA Cumbia Festival JACCC, 244 S. San Pedro St., (213) 628-2725 or festivalofsacredmusic.org.

7 p.m.: Some of your favorite Cumbia acts gather for an evening of musical motion.

February 23, 2015

Speaking of unlikely bedfellows, this week classical music melds with the best-known work of Lewis Car roll. On Friday-Saturday, Feb. 2728, the Walt Disney Concert Hal l hosts the L.A. Philharmonic in a visually oriented performance of Alic e in Wonderland. Susanna Malkki conducts and Netia Jones is the dire ctor, costumer and set designer of a staged and orchestral version journey through the proverbial looking glass. Rachele Gilmore play s Alice and Marie Arnet is the Cat, and behind dancers and musicians , specially commissioned work from verge-of-sanity illustrator Ral ph Steadman will adorn already out-there performances. The shows are at 8 p.m. At 111 S. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7211 or laphil.org.

F OFFICE

URTESY O IMAGE CO

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CHIANG

FIVE When State Treasurer John Chiang comes to the City Club on Thursday, Feb. 26, he’ll be covering a subject straight out of an O’Jays song: money, money, money, money , MONEY! What exactly will he say about money and the future of the Golden State? That’s what you’ll find out when you attend the noon luncheon presented by the public affairs forum Town Hall-Los Angeles. Expect plenty of references to Gov. Jerry Brown. Also, real ize that you’ll be looking at a man who many think will one day run for senator or governor. At 555 S. Flower St., (213) 628-8141 or townha ll-la.org.

Send information and possible Don’t Miss List submissions to calendar@downtownnews.com.

that, inevitably, you have hummed some part of during your life.

Bob Baker’s Something to Crow About Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. First St., (213) 250-9995 or bobbakermarionettes.com.

Feb. 28-March 1, 2:30 p.m.: The puppets are getting down right agrarian as Bob Baker’s marionettes sojourn into the American heartland in Something to Crow About.

Dame Edna’s Glorious Goodbye: The Farewell Tour Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 628-2772 or centertheatregroup.org.

Feb. 25-27, 8 p.m. and Feb. 28, 2 p.m., and March 1, 1 p.m.: So basically this dude Barry Humphries has spent the past 50 years traveling the world performing as an irreverent cross-dresser named Dame Edna. Now, he promises he’s going to stop doing it.

You’ve got til March 15 to see it.

The Ghost of Versailles Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave.,

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THEATER, OPERA & DANCE A Midsummer Night’s Dream Loft Ensemble, 929 E. Second St., (213) 680-0392 or loftensemble.com.

Feb. 28, 8 p.m. and March 1, 7 p.m.: Puck will be in full effect as William Shakespeare’s classic receives a modern interpretation from director Kevin Meoak. Through March 8.

The Barber of Seville Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7219 or laopera.org.

Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.: Figaro hits the scene in the Rossini classic

(213) 972-7219 or laopera.org.

Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. Marie Antoinette is dead, but that isn’t stopping her ghost from haunting Versailles. Patricia Racette stars in this James Conlon-helmed and John Corigliano-penned opera. Through March 1.

Zero Hour: Tokyo Rose’s Last Tape REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., (213) 237-2800 or redcat.org.

Feb. 26-28, 8:30 p.m.: Visionary artist Miwa Yanagi presents a new interpretive biography of the famed Japanese American WWII broadcaster.

The Price Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 628-2772 or centertheatregroup.org.

Feb. 25-28, 8 p.m. and March 1, 1 and 6:30 p.m.: Tonywinning director Gavin Hynes directs this restaging of an Arthur Miller classic. It’s a bang-up cast with Kate Burton, John Bedford Lloyd, Alan Mandell and Sam Robards.

Continued on next page

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Redwood Bar and Grill 316 W. Second St., (213) 652-4444 or theredwoodbar.com.

Feb. 23: Acoustic Punk.

Feb. 25: It’s Casual.

Feb. 27: ’80s Night.

Feb. 28: Evul Maniax, Facelift, Festering Grave, Blood of the Heretic and many, many more.

The Regent 448 S. Main St. or theregenttheatre.com.

Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: When we say Lucinda Williams is a folk singer, we mean long-touring, born-in-Louisiana, actual folk singer, not found-Pete-Seeger-on-YouTube, bored-with-Portland folk singer.

Seven Grand 515 W. Seventh St., (213) 614-0737 or sevengrand.la.

Feb. 24, 10 p.m.: The Makers: You don’t know until you go and then you really know.

Feb. 25, 10 p.m.: GG Jazz Knights are the brainchild of Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra’s Geoff Gallegos.

Feb. 26, 10 p.m.: Fronting the Fran Banish Band is a fellow who looks eerily like Richard Patrick.

The Smell 247 S. Main St. in the alley between Spring and Main or thesmell.org.

Feb. 27: Slutever, No Parents, Batwings Catwings and Slow Hollows.

Feb. 28: Ash Riser & The Cause, Inner Wave, Flako Siete and Papermashay Navarro.

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Club Nokia 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-7000 or clubnokia.com.

Feb. 23-24, 7 p.m.: For two nights this week, a YouTube “celebrity,” Miranda Sings, will be playing. And despite what you think, pigs are not flying.

Feb. 27, 8 p.m.: R&B from Ledisi.

Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Is Bo Burnham funny?

March 1, 7 p.m.: Girl group Fifth Harmony begs the question: Did we miss four other harmonies?

Escondite 410 Boyd St., (213) 626-1800 or theescondite.com.

Feb. 23, 10 p.m.: Warning: The Skip Spiros 10 Piece Jazz Project will require you to count using all the digits on both hands.

Feb. 24, 10 p.m.: Sunday Morning Sinners sounds like a Kris Kristofferson reference if we ever heard one.

Feb. 25, 10 p.m.: Ashli Parker would like to buy a vowel.

Feb. 26, 11 p.m.: The much vaunted, noisy kids in Black Hole Past. Welcome back.

Feb. 27, 8 p.m.: Pretty Lil Demons, Black Tongued Belles and Urban Grass sounds like a highlight reel of my personal interests.

Feb. 28, 10 p.m.: Austin McCutchen has a name straight out of Hill Valley circa 1885.

Grammy Museum 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-6800 or grammymuseum.org.

Feb. 25, 8 p.m.: Richie Furay is in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Ask him which one has the better after-party.

Nokia Theatre 777 Chick Hearn Court, (213) 763-6030 or nokiatheatrelalive.com.

Feb. 27, 8 p.m.: Alan Jackson, the country singer and not the former candidate for District Attorney (OK, we know you don’t follow politics), will be in Los Angeles tonight.

Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: A day late and a dollar short for Paquita la Del Barrio to achieve her lifetime goal of arm wrestling Alan Jackson.

Orpheum Theatre 842 Broadway, (877) 677-4386 or laorpheum.com.

Feb. 27, 8 p.m.: If you’ve mistaken tonight’s act Celtic Thunder for Thunder From Down Under, you have made a horrible mistake.

Downtown News 35

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Continued from previous page Sleepaway Camp Downtown Independent, 251 S. Main St., (213) 617-1033 or downtownindependent.com.

Feb. 24, 9 p.m.: Every Tuesday this irreverent stand-up comedy cavalcade takes up residence at the Downtown Independent.

Washer/Dryer Union Center for the Arts, 120 Judge John Aiso St., (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers.org.

Feb. 25-28, 8 p.m. and March 1, 2 p.m.: Farce by the foot as director Peter J. Kuo guides his cast through a tense if humorous story of modern domesticity. Through March 15. See review p. 31.

CLASSICAL MUSIC Friday, February 27 Alice in Wonderland Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7211 or musiccenter.org.

Feb. 27-28, 8 p.m.: The projected art of Ralph Steadman accompanies a crew of singers and dancers and the L.A. Phil in their orchestrally staged adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic.

Saturday, February 28 Musica Angelica Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., (213) 621-2200 or colburnschool.edu.

8 p.m.: Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” is the sacred music of the day. There will also be Handel’s opera duets.

Sunday, March 1 Colburn Chamber Music Society Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., (213) 621-2200 or colburnschool.edu.

7:30 p.m.: Violinist Scott St. John teaches at Stanford. Aren’t you impressed?

FILM Downtown Independent 251 S. Main St., (213) 617-1033 or downtownindependent.com.

Feb. 23-28: The shinobi struggle to stop the moon from plummeting to earth in The Last: Naruto the Movie.

IMAX California Science Center, 700 State Drive, (213) 744-2019 or californiasciencecenter.org.

Galapagos 3D. If it was good enough to blow Charles Darwin’s mind, it’s probably good enough for you!

Forces of Nature promises a panoply of nature’s worst destruction..

Experience the gripping story full of hope, crushing disappointment and triumph in Hubble 3D. Million Dollar Theatre 307 S. Broadway, (213) 617-3600 or zocalopublicsquare.org.

Feb. 26, 7 p.m.: When asked which film in the cinematic universe he loves the most, Mayor Eric Garcetti replied enthusiastically, “Airplane!” Zocal Public Square responds to that news with a screening followed by a Q&A with Madeline Brand.

Regal Cinemas LA Live 1000 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 763-6070 or lalive.com/movies.

Through Feb. 26: See website for schedule The Regent 448 S. Main St. or theregenttheatre.com.

Feb. 27-28, 8:30 p.m.: Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C. (1980-90) chronicles one of the most vital scenes in all the land. See story p. 33.

MUSEUMS African American Firefighter Museum 1401 S. Central Ave., (213) 744-1730 or aaffmuseum.org.

Ongoing: An array of firefighting relics dating to 1924, including a 1940 Pirsch ladder truck, an 1890 hose wagon, uniforms from New York, L.A. County and City of L.A. firefighters, badges, helmets, photographs and other artifacts.

FIDM Museum FIDM, second floor, 919 S. Grand Ave., (213) 624-1200 or fidmmuseum.org.

Ongoing: The FIDM Museum presents Artfully Adorned, an exceptional collection of fragrance, cosmetics, and ephemera from the house of Lucien Lelong. This group of objects was donated by Monique Fink, wife of artist Peter Fink, who worked for Lelong as package designer and interior decorator.

Ongoing: Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection surveys footwear, fans, gloves, purses and hats.

California African American Museum 600 State Drive, (213) 744-7432 or caamuseum.org.

Through March 1: The figurative work of Michael Kilgore and Anthony “Eve” Kemp are featured in Curvature: Lines and Shapes.

Through March 1: The untold prejudices inherent to albinism are the creative catalysts behind an exhibit of Yrneh Gabon Brown’s work entitled Visibly Invisible.

Through July 5: Formerly of Watts Tower Arts Center fame, Mark Steven Greenfield’s lengthy career in the arts receives its due in Lookin’ Back in Front of Me: Selected Works.

Through May 3: From Women’s Hands features work from five African-American women housed within the CAAM Courtyard.

Ongoing: The multi-functional Gallery of Discovery offers visitors the opportunity to connect with the lineage of their own family, engage in artistic workshops, educational

February 23, 2015

Downtown News 37

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Continued from previous page a Motion-Based Simulator, the Ecology Cliff Climb and Forty tours and other programs of historical discoveries. Hear record- Years of Space Photography. The human body is another big ings of actual living slaves from the Library of Congress archives focus: The Life Tunnel aims to show the connections beand discover stories from the past. tween all life forms, from the single-celled amoeba to the California Science Center 100-trillion-celled human being. The new Ecosystems exhibit 700 State Drive, (323) 724-3623 or explores how life on our planet is shaped by geophysical and californiasciencecenter.org. biological processes.

Ongoing: Mission 26: The Big Endeavour presents Los Angeles’ Grammy Museum very own Space Shuttle/tree destroyer in all its splendor.

L.A. Live, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-6800 or Ongoing: Science in Toyland presents physics through favorite grammymuseum.org. kids toys. This hands-on exhibit engages museum visitors with Through April 22: Lyric journals, long forgotten interview Dominos, Sails and Roller Coasters in a fun, but informational footage, hand written prison complaints, personalized Death Row primer on friction, momentum and chain reactions.

Records memorabilia and a righteous video of an ancient Notori Los Ongoing: The Science Center’s permanent exhibits are ous are all part of All Eyez On Me: The Writings S I N C B.I.G./Pac E 19 7freestyle 2 Angeles Downtown News usually interactive and Los focusAngeles, on human innovations and of Tupac Shakur.

1264 W. First Street, CA 90026 inventions as well as the life processes of living things. The Through 2015: Leadbelly: A Musical Legacy tracks the career of phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 lobby Court stays busy with the High Wire Bicycle, famous bluesman Huddie William Ledbetter. web:Science DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

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MORE LISTINGS Hundreds of listings of fun and interesting things to do in Downtown Los Angeles can also be found online at ladowntownnews. com/calendar: Rock, Pop & Jazz; Bars & Clubs; Farmers Markets; Events; Film; Sports; Art Spaces; Theater, Dance and Opera; Classical Music; Museums; and Tours.

2 YOUR EVENT INFO

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Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin

4 WEB: LADowntownNews.com/calendar

ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie 4 EMAIL: Calendar@DowntownNews.com stAFF writErs: Donna Evans, Eddie Kim Email: Send aEditor: brief description, street address and public coNtributiNG Kathryn Maese phone number. Submissions must be received 10 days prior coNtributiNG Jeff Favre, to publicationwritErs: date to be considered for Greg print. Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins

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S I N C E 19 7 2 Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

AccouNtiNG: Ashley Schmidt

ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie stAFF writErs: Donna Evans, Eddie Kim coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield

clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Steve Epstein, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez

Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins

circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla

twitter: DowntownNews ©2014 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

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PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Ashley Schmidt clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Steve Epstein, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla

Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin

©2014 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie stAFF writErs: Donna Evans, Eddie Kim coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield

One copy per person.

Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Ashley Schmidt clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Steve Epstein, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla

Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin

S I N C E 19 7 2 Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

twitter: DowntownNews

ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie stAFF writErs: Donna Evans, Eddie Kim coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield

S I N C E 19 7 2 Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News twitter: DowntownNews ©2014 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

One copy per person.

AccouNtiNG: Ashley Schmidt clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Steve Epstein, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla

Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins

©2014 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard

One copy per person.

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

38 Downtown News

February 23, 2015

Map © 2014 Cartifact

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LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT CASE NO. BD602275 PETITIONER’S NAmE IS: ELI GOmEz

Downtown News 39

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To place a classified ad in the Downtown News please call 213-481-1448, or go to DowntownNews.com Deadline classified display and line ads are Thursday at 12pm.

FORfor RENT All submissions are subject to federal and California fair housing laws, which make it illegal to indicate in any advertisement any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income or physical or mental disability. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

NOTICE TO REspONDENT: MARIA CORNEJO NOTICE! You have been sued. Read the following information. You have 30 calendar days after this “Summons and Petition” are served on you to file a “Response” (form FL-120 or FL-123) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter, phone call, or court appearance will not protect you. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnership, you property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www. courts.ca.gov/selfhelp). At the California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca.org), or by contacting your local county bar association. NOTICE: The restraining orders on page 2 are effective against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court makes further order. The orders are enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them. Fee Waiver: If you cannot pay the filing fee ask the clerk for a fee waiver form to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party.

The name and address of the court is: Los Angeles County Superior Court - Central 111 North Hill Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Case Number: BD602275 Dated: December 10, 2014

Call 213.253.4777 LAloft.com

Clerk: Sherri R. Carter Deputy: Martha Escobedo The name, address, telephone number, and fax number of the petitioner’s attorney or petitioner without an attorney are: Eli Gomez 8825 Willis Avenue, #5 Los Angeles, CA 91402 Pub. 02/16, 02/23, 03/02, 03/09/2015.

ment must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et. seq. Business and Professions Code).

Pub. 02/09, 02/16, 02/23,and 03/02/2015.

fictitioUs BUsiness name

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAmE STATEmENT FILE NO. 2015031758 The following person is doing business as: DR. MOJITO BARTENDING SERVICES, 918 W. College St., Apt. 502, Los Angeles, CA 90012, are hereby registered by the following registrant: Mario Pedro Esquivel, 918 W. College St., Apt. 502, Los Angeles, CA 90012. This business is conducted by an individual.

Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 02/05/2015.

This statement was filed with Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Clerk, and by Kenyon Bradley, Deputy, on February 05, 2015.

NOTICE—This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAmE STATEmENT FILE NO. 2015031741 The following person is doing business as: VERDE THERAPEUTIC BODY THERAPY, 1445 Lemoyne St., Los Angeles, CA 90026, are hereby registered by the following registrant: Fernando Reyes, 1445 Lemoyne St., Los Angeles, CA 90026.

This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 02/05/2015.

This statement was filed with Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Clerk, and by Joey Spraggins, Deputy, on February 05, 2015.

NOTICE—This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name state-

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NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR POLICE PERmIT Notice is hereby given that application has been made to the Board of Police Commissioners for a permit to conduct a CAFÉ ENTERTAINMENT AND sHOW NAME OF APPLICANT: PLAYA LAS TUNAS RESTAURANT, INC.

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DOING BUSINESS AS: PLAYA LAS TUNAS RESTAURANT LOCATED AT: 1107 S. Alvarado St., #112, LA, CA 90006 Any person desiring to protest the issuance of this permit shall make a written protest before March 3, 2015 to the: LOS ANGELES POLICE COMMIssION 100 West First Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Upon receipt of written protests, protesting persons will be notified of date, time and place for hearing.

BOARD OF POLICE COMMIssIONERs Pub. 02/23, 03/02/2015

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does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et. seq. Business and Professions Code).

Pub. 02/09, 02/16, 02/23,and 03/02/2015.

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40 Downtown News

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February 23, 2015