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DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT The latest information on 94 projects, plus a Downtown Residential section.

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DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM SEPTEMBER 16, 2013 I VOL. 42 I #37

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T DT WS NEWS A construction worker at the Hall of Justice.

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2 Downtown News

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AROUND TOWN

Downtown Guide Arrives Next Week

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re you ready to learn everything you need to know about life in Downtown Los Angeles? OK, almost everything. Good, because on Sept. 23, Los Angeles Downtown News will publish the annual Downtown Guide. The 92-page publication is a glossy magazine with an extensive array of information on Downtown’s history, restaurants, hotels, events and dining destinations, along with in-depth descriptions and shopping opportunities in Downtown’s 16 diverse districts. Altogether 110,000 copies of the Downtown Guide will be printed. In addition to the 45,000 distributed with Downtown News, they will be available at multiple Downtown News distribution locations, stores and visitors centers. The Guide can also be seen online at downtownnews.com or losangelesdowntown.com.

Additional copies can be requested by calling Downtown News at (213) 481-1448.

Cal Hospital Reveals $9 Million Emergency Room Renovation

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n the last seven years the patient load at the California Hospital Medical Center emergency room has nearly doubled, going

September 16, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS from 38,000 people needing help annually to 70,000. Now, the hospital is better equipped to handle it. On Thursday, Sept. 12, officials with the institution at 1401 S. Grand Ave. held a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark $9 million worth of improvements at the J. Thomas McCarthy Emergency Services Center and Leavey Trauma Center. “The most important thing is it gives us more space,” said Dr. Marc Futernick, medical director of emergency services, noting that the center went from 27 to 35 beds. Nearly the entire facility has been expanded, with a revamped nursing station and a larger waiting room. Additional hightech equipment has also been added, including a CT Scan dedicated to the emergency department, and an ultrasound machine. The improvements took place over seven years, Futernick noted, without the trauma center ever closing. “We really had to make a lot of adjustments on the fly while we were doing construction and taking care of patients,” he said. “It has really enhanced our capacity, our efficiency and our quality of care.” California Hospital, said Futernick, has the busiest private trauma center in the city. Most of the money for the renovation, he said, came from about a dozen foundations, with a lead gift from the Dorothy Leavey Foundation.

Petition Aims to Reopen Angels Knoll

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hile many Downtowners have criticized the closure of Angels Knoll, one man has taken his complaints to City Hall. In a petition drafted on change.org, Chris Yamashita has asked Mayor Eric Garcetti to reopen the

TAKE MY PICTURE GARY LEONARD

Cee Lo Green

Dodger Stadium

Summer 2013

park near the top of Angels Flight made famous in the movie (500) Days of Summer.

The petition calls it a “beautiful and beloved park in the heart of urban Downtown.”

Said Yamashita in an email to Los Angeles Downtown News, “I thought that a petition and a Facebook page would be a good way to show the decision makers behind the closure (and potential sponsors of its re-opening) the consensus behind having it re-opened.”

On July 30, the Community Redevelopment Agency’s successor agency, with no advance warning, erected fences around the park off Olive Street and at the base of the Angels

Flight funicular at Fourth and Hill streets. The now defunct CRA owned the property, which will be sold. Yamashita’s petition points out that Angels Knoll has been ranked as a top Downtown retreat. Additionally, he compares it to the nearby, concrete-heavy Pershing Square, saying it is more serene, natural and beautiful. While Yamashita said on his Facebook page, “Re-Open Angel’s [sic] Knoll,” that the successor agency has contracted with a company to maintain the park, multiple calls and emails to the successor agency have not been returned.

Continued on page 27

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September 16, 2013

Downtown News 3

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4 Downtown News

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EDITORIALS

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

September 16, 2013

Urban Scrawl by Doug Davis

Another Year Without Pro Football

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he start of the National Football League season brings about numerous rituals: people getting together to watch the games; bars touting Sunday morning and Monday night eating and drinking specials; businesses losing countless hours of productivity to employees playing fantasy football.

Then there’s the particular Los Angeles spin on the matter: Folks do all of the above, and then they start discussing the lack of a team in the nation’s second largest media market.

It really seems that football should be here by now, but the absence of a team is, well, no longer that big a deal. Having football would be nice, but L.A. has not fallen into the ocean without pro pigskin action.

The Rams and Raiders both left Los Angeles after the 1994 season (the latter team played in the Coliseum in Exposition Park). The ensuing 19 years, time enough for an entire generation to grow up without local pro football, have proved something few thought possible back then: Los Angeles doesn’t need the NFL, and the NFL doesn’t need Los Angeles.

There have been many tries at rectifying the situation. In the late ’90s then-City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas (now a county supervisor) got closer than anyone thought possible to bringing an expansion team to the Coliseum. His successor, Councilman Bernard Parks, also took a shot. The idea of a football team in the Dodger Stadium parking lot dates to the days when Peter O’Malley owned the baseball team and entertained the concept. There have been numerous other attempts in non-Downtown locations.

The most recent effort came from former Anschutz Entertainment Group President and CEO Tim Leiweke, who energized L.A. with his vision of building the 68,000-seat Farmers Field adjacent to the Convention Center. Although the council approved the framework of a deal, it has generated little attention since March, when Leiweke left the company.

Now, the stadium effort appears to be back at square one, or whatever football analogy applies (first and 10? At the 20 yard line? Kickoff?).

This isn’t terrible. Angelenos have plenty to do on a Sunday. There’s the beach, the mountains, Griffith Park, Grand Park and so much more. Those who need football can easily watch it all day on TV. The city is unlike a smaller market where municipal identity is tied up in a pro team — it’s hard to imagine Green Bay without the Packers or Minnesota minus the Vikings.

Would a football team and stadium be a positive for Downtown? If paired with a revamp of the Convention Center, as AEG sought, then absolutely. Having 10 annual Sunday games won’t change the local economy much, but being able to lure another five to 10 huge conventions each year would — these events bring visitors who book hotel rooms and cumulatively spend tens of millions of dollars.

So here we are, week two of the NFL season completed, and no team in L.A. It’s not what anyone anticipated, but really, it’s not a problem.

Angels Flight’s Wild Ride

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he Sept. 5 derailment at Angels Flight instantly brought to mind its horrific accident of 12 years ago. Fortunately in this instance no one was injured, but with the past problems and a nine-year shutdown, some troubling questions must be asked: Were the operators simply lucky this time that things were not worse, that no one was severely hurt or killed?

Is the current management team able to capably operate the funicular? Can anyone operate it capably? Or is the quaint and popular railway inherently dangerous? If it is, is it any more so than any other public transit system, all of which have their problems?

It is impossible to answer any of those questions right now.

Although the railway operators released a statement hours after the incident describing what went wrong, the public cannot feel comfortable that all problems have been addressed.

The California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees rail safety, had an inspector on site within an hour of the derailment, and an investigation is ongoing. The commission should delve into every aspect of the tiny railway, even things that might seem minor. Although many people will want Angels Flight to reopen as soon as possible so they do not have to climb the 153 steps between Grand Central Market and Bunker Hill, the investigation should not be hurried.

The CPUC must decide whether the culprit, as the Angels Flight operators quickly stated, was an issue with a grounding brush for the funicular’s electrical system. Additionally, they should inspect all aspects of the railway and determine if there are other mechanical problems. Finally, the CPUC needs to evaluate whether the team that runs Angels Flight can be relied on to ensure that incidents such as the derailment do not happen again. In one sense they are heroes who saved an historic treasure and made it functional. In another, they are the public face of the railway, and hard questions must be asked.

It would be one thing if the derailment was an isolated incident, but it is not. Instead, last week’s accident needs to be considered in the context of the history of the railway.

Angels Flight opened in 1901 and operated for 68 years before being shut down. It returned in 1996 to much fanfare. Credit for the revival of a charming bit of Downtown nostalgia went to the Community Redevelopment Agency and individuals including John Welborne, president of the Angels Flight Railway Foundation.

Then came the 2001 tragedy. A problem with the gear and drive

system caused one car to hurtle down the track and slam into the other. The crash killed 83-year-old Leon Praport, a Holocaust survivor, and injured seven other people.

It took five years to settle the legal cases. Convincing the CPUC that Angels Flight was safe took longer: The railway did not resume operations until 2010.

Part of what sparks concern now is a string of further issues.

Three months after resuming service a CPUC safety manager saw that one of the end-gates was open while passengers were riding; the railway closed for a week.

The following year, the CPUC ordered that operations cease due to excessive wear on the steel wheels of the cars. The agency sent a letter stating that the condition “results in unacceptable risk of an incident, including, potentially, derailment of the vehicles.”

Angels Flight was closed for about a month before fixes were made and approved by the CPUC. Everything appeared fine until the derailment. Fortunately, firefighters arrived quickly on the scene and helped pull six people out of the cars.

Welborne’s statement, released about five hours after the incident, said the culprit was incomplete electrical grounding, which depleted the batteries on the Sinai car. According to the statement, the loss of power caused the main drive system to shut down and the rail brake to set, lifting the rear wheels off the track.

Welborne, who did not state when operations might resume, sought to cast the incident in as positive a light as possible, stating, “The stoppage was a result of the new Angels Flight safety systems working as designed.”

If systems worked as intended, that’s a good thing. However, it does not address why the electrical grounding was inadequate in the first place and why safety systems had to be triggered. If the backup batteries, as Welborne’s statement says, were being “gradually depleted,” then how is it nobody knew this? What kind of monitoring did or did not occur? If no one was aware of the grounding issue, what else can be missed?

One also has to wonder if the complete problem can be adequately diagnosed in just a few hours.

The CPUC needs to dig deep and issue a thorough report. Keep Angels Flight grounded until all the hard questions have been answered and the railway is unequivocally safe.

September 16, 2013

Downtown News 5

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Just Saying No With Bob Blumenfield Why Does Today’s City Council Seem Unwilling to Disagree in Public?

By Jon Regardie ast week, newbie City Councilman Bob Blumenfield said two really shocking things. The first was when he quoted Otto von Bismarck, which stood out because references to the mustachioed 19th century Prussian statesman happen in Downtown about as frequently as former mayors join quality companies such as Herbalife.

The second shocking thing was when Blumenfield, who at the time had been the

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THE REGARDIE REPORT Third Council District rep for 71 days, stood up in front of about 50 local attorneys, business and community leaders and proudly declared that he votes “No” on matters before the City Council more than any other member of the 15-person panel.

This is surprising because, in referencing his penchant for nyet, Blumenfield touched on an issue that troubles many who follow local politics. In recent years, true public debate among the council has grown rare. You’ll frequently see the gang of 15 stand up and, one after another, voice rah rah support and agreement on some project or motion. Only on sporadic occasions do Angelenos get to take in a heated and thought-provoking exchange of ideas.

Blumenfield’s comments came on Monday, Sept. 9, as he spoke at the Downtown Palm during a luncheon hosted by the Los Angeles

Current Affairs Forum. Perhaps Blumenfield didn’t intend for it to stand out, as the reference was stashed amid a rundown of his governmental philosophy. The thoughtful and fiscally aware Valley guy, who before joining the council spent five years in the State Assembly, touched on topics such as empowering people and reaching consensus.

Then he noted that sometimes, as part of an effort to find a different political solution, he has to just vote no.

The Joy of Committees The comment sparked some questions, starting with, why don’t more council members say no in public? The figures representing 15 far-flung districts can’t actually agree on nearly everything, can they?

At that Blumenfield backtracked a little. Or maybe he didn’t. I’m not quite sure. What he did do was note that frequently council members address and resolve their differences before an issue reaches the main council floor. He described it more or less as reaching consensus in council committees.

That’s all well and good except for the fact that almost no one from the general public pays attention to weekly committee hearings.

In a recent study, attending a City Council committee meeting was voted as the third most preferable activity after having kidney surgery and sitting through a screening of The Smurfs 2.

OK, I made the study up, but the point is,

Bob Blumenfield voted against the ordinance overturning a city ban on murals on private property. He got booed, and didn’t seem too bothered by it.

photo courtesy office of Councilman Bob Blumenfield

it’s already hard enough to get Angelenos invested in politics — just think of the paltry 23% turnout in the May mayoral election. Having any real discussion take place in hard-to-decipher zones just further numbs the citizenry.

There’s a belief among many City Hall watchers that a trend toward back-channel agreement has increased since Herb Wesson became the benevolent dictator, I mean president, of the council. Wesson, a former State Assembly Speaker, has seen and facilitated an influx of his former Sacramento colleagues into City Hall.

Practices prevalent up north, say observers, now occur here too.

While some might think this has few practical implications, consider the recent contract negotiations for Department of Water & Power employees. The council was publicly united on the deal despite the fact that seven members of the panel were new to the body. Did folks who had been there only a few months or less really believe they knew all they needed to know and did not have to question or debate the proposal, especially when Mayor Eric Garcetti went on the attack? Or had some high-

ranking council members told the rookies that this is how things play in L.A., and they had better go along to get along?

Paging Jan Perry The just say no concept prompted me to turn to Jan Perry. The longtime Downtown councilwoman who was termed out in July and ran for mayor, and who is now the interim general manager of the city’s Economic and Workforce Development Department, was known for never being afraid of a Council fight. I found her speaking to another group of connected Downtowners last Tuesday at a luncheon hosted by the engineering and consulting firm Psomas.

Before serving on the council Perry worked for three elected officials, and witnessed former council members including John Ferraro, Richard Alatorre, Nate Holden, Ruth Galanter and Joel Wachs, among others, battle it out.

So, I asked Perry, what happened to healthy debate, and what does the current lack of backand-forth mean for Angelenos?

“I think there’s a loss for the public,” Perry Continued on page 36

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6 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

The Central City Crime Report A Rundown on Downtown Incidents, Trends and Criminal Oddities

By Donna Evans n the Central City Crime Report, we survey the recent week in public safety. All information is provided by the LAPD’s Central Division.

I

Just Say No to Drugs: Three suspects approached a man wearing headphones at 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 1 at the corner of Seventh and Maple streets, and offered to sell him drugs.

When the man said no, one suspect pretended to have a gun while the other two stole his earbuds and cell phone. The suspects all fled.

The Car Man: A man returning to his car at 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 7 saw a man inside the vehicle.

As he approached the car at Seventh and Main streets, the owner yelled for the man to get out.

The suspect climbed out, clutching the man’s bag. The suspect ultimately dropped the bag and walked away. That’s when the car owner chased after the suspect, tackled him and held him until police arrived.

Bad Day: A man waiting for a bus at Spring and Fourth streets just before 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 told police that a man he believed to be

homeless had smacked him in the face with a wooden cane saying, “This is going to be the worst day of your life.” The victim was able to snatch the cane away, but another suspect joined in and the two beat him before bolting southbound on Spring.

Wife to the Rescue: A man walking along Cesar Chavez at Spring Street at 7 p.m. on Sept.

6 told police he was jumped by five men. He was beaten with a bat and punched until he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he called 911, but said no one came. He then called his

wife, who drove him to an emergency room, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and fractured nose, among other injuries.

Horror Show: A fight at Regal Cinemas at L.A. Live on Sept. 1 ended in multiple bites. The person initiating the bites during the 5 p.m. incident was identified as HIV-positive. A surveillance tape shows a man trying to fend off some punches before biting the other combatant twice on the back and once on the right forearm. donna@downtownnews.com.

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September 16, 2013

Downtown News 7

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

DOWNTOWN DevelOpmeNT Action Across the Spectrum Downtown’s Got 94 Projects and a Bridge Is One

By Donna Evans, Richard Guzmán, Jon Regardie and Ryan Vaillancourt o understand why people are so bullish on Downtown Los Angeles, just look at nearly any neighborhood in the community. Odds are, you’ll see a healthy batch of projects moving forward.

Consider Little Tokyo, where Second Street south of the Doubletree Hotel is giving way to a pair of big apartment complexes. Think of Chinatown, where the Jia Apartments and the Lotus Garden are both scheduled to debut next month. There’s the Financial District, where Carmel Partners’ 700-unit rental building, complete with a Whole Foods, is rising at Eighth Street and Grand Avenue, with a 2015 opening planned. Then there’s the Historic Core, where developments include a dramatic reenvisioning of the Pershing Hotel as low-income housing.

The action continues in other neighborhoods, with projects powering forward in the Arts District, in South Park, in City West and Central City East.

Not only are a lot of projects happening, but a lot of different kinds of projects are happening. In addition to approximately three dozen purely residential plays, there is a replacement for the historic Sixth Street Viaduct and several hotels, including Broadway’s boutique Ace Hotel. An Urban Outfitters is also coming to Broadway, in an old theater, and a large brewpub is planned for the former Crazy Gideon’s space in the Arts District.

Everywhere you turn, there is something new to see. In the following pages, Los Angeles Downtown News details the latest information on 94 Downtown projects.

Financial District landmark in 2012 and have their headquarters there. Chinatown-based architecture firm Johnson Fain is overseeing the architectural and interior improvements on the complex that is comprised of three buildings anchored by a 12-story Beaux Arts edifice. The project will include the creation of a pocket park with an 80-foot-high wall. A landscaped courtyard on Sixth Street will hold patio dining for the restaurants Tender Greens and Le Pain Quotidien. The courtyard is expected to open this fall.

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DELIJANI BROADWAY THEATERS The plan to reactivate four historic Broadway theaters is moving forward, said Kate Bartolo, a land-use consultant working on the project with the Delijani family. In June, the city Zoning Administrator approved liquor and various other permits for close to a dozen proposed bars, restaurants and lounges at the Palace (630 S. Broadway), Los Angeles (615 S. Broadway), State (703 S. Broadway) and Tower (802 S. Broadway) theaters. The approval consolidates permits for all four venues so they can be developed as a single “theater complex.” The most extensive work would take place at the Los Angeles Theatre, where plans call for two restaurants and two bars, all with outdoor patios.

Bartolo said the Delijanis are now looking for renters for the spaces in the approximately century-old buildings. There is no timeline yet on when new businesses would open in the theaters.

PACMUTUAL BUILDING Rising Realty Partners, the father-son company run by Nelson and Christopher Rising, is updating the 1921 Pacific Mutual Building at 523 W. Sixth St. The Risings paid $60 million for the

URBAN OUTFITTERS/RIALTO THEATRE

REDBIRD AT VIBIANA A late fall opening is expected for a restaurant from Bill Chait and chef Neal Fraser. The approximately $2 million establishment will fill a ground floor space of a rectory adjacent to the former St. Vibiana’s cathedral. The property at Second and Main streets is owned by Tom Gilmore and Richard Weintraub, who are also partners in the project. Redbird would be Chait’s third Downtown restaurant.

photo by Gary Leonard

THE BLOC

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

Construction has begun on the transformation of the 1917 Rialto Theatre into an Urban Outfitters, said Jessica Wethington McLean from the office of 14th District City Councilman José Huizar. The project at 810 S. Broadway will restore the theater’s marquee. The 10,000-square-foot store is scheduled to open in early 2014.

rendering by Johnson Fain

BARRY SHY PROJECTS Developer Barry Shy is in the planning stage for three new residential projects that he expects will break ground within 12 months; the structures would be built concurrently. They include the transformation of a 12-story building at Broadway and Olympic Boulevard, immediately south of the under-construction Ace Hotel. Shy plans to convert it into 150 apartments. At the same time, he is working on a 250-unit apartment building on the parking lot south of the first project. The building would rise 13 stories along Broadway, but would be 20 stories tall on the Olympic side. He is planning a third structure at 916 S. Hill St.; it would have 250 apartments in a 20- or 21-story tower. Shy plans to build the three projects at the same time as SB Omega, a 40-story tower planned for Sixth and Main streets.

etor Cedd Moses has scrapped a 3,000-square-foot bar from his project at 828 Traction Ave., but is moving forward with the rest of the 17,320-square-foot, 258-seat brewpub. Moses’ license would allow 5,000 barrels of beer to be sold off-site annually, and the restaurant would have full alcohol service, said Eddie Navarrette, chief consultant for F.E. Design & Consulting, which is representing the project. More than half of the business, which would occupy the site of the former Crazy Gideon’s electronics store), would be dedicated to manufacturing and kitchen and beer service, Navarrette said. The craft beer would be brewed on site, with the facility also offering 27 skeeball lanes and two ping pong tables. Also in response to neighborhood protests, the project’s two outdoor patios would close at 11 p.m.

Developer Wayne Ratkovich’s $160 million plan to transform Macy’s Plaza into a modern office and retail hub has been renamed The Bloc. Ratkovich closed on the acquisition from Jamison Properties this spring, and Downtown-based architecture firm Johnson Fain is handling the planning and design on the 40-year-old complex bounded by Seventh, Eighth, Hope and Flower streets. The complex holds a 700,000-square-foot office tower, a 487-room Sheraton hotel and a 400,000-square-foot shopping area anchored by a 240,000-square-foot Macy’s. Plans call for creating an open-air complex on the street level, with the towering, unfriendly brick walls being replaced by windows and dining terraces. Ratkovich previously undertook renovations of historic Downtown structures including the Oviatt Building and Fine Arts buildings at theblocdowntown.com.

TOPAZ Jade Enterprises, a development company with a long history in the Fashion District, has submitted plans for a 159-unit apartment complex in the Historic Core, but is still waiting on entitlements, said a company spokesman. The plan calls for erecting a seven-story building at 550 S. Main St. on what is now a parking lot. The Jade spokesman would not comment on specifics of the plans, but according to documents filed with the city, the project, dubbed Topaz, is just north of the Santa Fe Lofts at Sixth and Main streets. It would stretch between Main and Los Angeles streets. The proposal would require some special city approvals, including a transfer of floor area rights to allow the proposed density.

TRACTION AVENUE BREWPUB Following a neighborhood uproar, Downtown nightlife propri-

URBAN VILLAGE AT SOUTH PARK A groundbreaking for a housing complex from Orange Countybased development company Urban Village has been pushed to the end of the year, said founder Brett Shaves. The firm expects an approximately 16-month construction process for a sevenstory, 100-unit building that will have four live/work residences on the ground floor. The site at 1027 S. Olive St. south of Olympic Boulevard is currently a parking lot. The project, Urban Village at South Park, would rise adjacent to the AT&T Center and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Studios in the building would range from $1,400-$1,600, and one bedrooms would go for approximately $1,750-$1,900.

RESIDENTIAL 916 GEORGIA ST. Bruce Beck, a spokesman for TRG, a Century City real estate services firm, declined to provide an update on the project that has been proposed for 916 Georgia St. in South Park. The developer had previously announced plans to turn a three-story apartment complex near L.A. Live into luxury rentals. TRG in the spring paid $3.05 million for what it said is a 100-year-old building at 916 Georgia St. The 18,000-square-foot structure is on the same block as the under-construction Marriott hotels complex.

Initial plans called for TRG to spend $1 million on upgrades to the building by next March.

950 E. THIRD ST. Legendary Development is finalizing the site plan for a 472-unit apartment complex on a six-acre site that abuts the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Legendary hopes to break ground next spring, said project spokesman John Lytell. The Continued on page 8

Development

development, which calls for seven structures to rise around a 922-space parking facility, already has entitlements. To proceed, Legendary needs approval for a site plan change, which it is expected to get. The project at 950 E. Third St. would be comprised of five- to six-story structures. Once it starts, construction would take about three years, with a first phase of 248 units. The project cost has not been finalized.

1027 WILSHIRE Planning and the search for financing for an apartment complex at 1027 Wilshire Blvd. in City West continues, said Hamid Behdad of the Central City Development Group. The company is partnering on the proposed 376-unit project with the Amidi Real Estate Group. The development would be across the street from 1010 Wilshire, a corporate housing complex that Amidi created. The building would also contain 6,500 square feet of retail and 5,000 square feet of office space. The timeline will depend on how long it takes to secure financing, said Behdad.

1111 SUNSET Exterior work on the former Metropolitan Water District headquarters at 1111 Sunset Blvd., which developer Linear City is converting into 92 apartments, is 80% complete, said company partner Yuval Bar-Zemer. The project is on target for occupancy in January, added Bar-Zemer, whose company also created the Arts District’s Biscuit Company and Toy Factory lofts. Linear City paid $6.8 million for the sevenstory structure just east of Dodger Stadium.

Residences will measure 800-1,000 square feet.

The 1973 building was originally designed by William Pereira. At linear-city.com.

AVA LITTLE TOKYO

photo by Gary Leonard

PROJECT UPDATES, 7

The structural concrete for a two-level underground parking garage was recently poured for the first part of a two-building project

by Avalon Bay Communities in Little Tokyo.

Crews are now framing the 104-unit, six-story apartment building at the southeast corner of Second and Los Angeles streets. Phase one will include 13,500 square feet of retail space and is scheduled to open in late 2014. Work is also underway on phase two, a 176-apartment building with street level townhouses facing a promenade. Completion of phase two is expected in early 2015.

AVANT A topping off has occurred and windows and drywall are being installed in a pair of seven-

story buildings that comprise the first phase of the $154 million Avant in South Park, said Kim Manning, a representative of developer Century West Partners. A fourth quarter opening is expected for the project that will bring 247 apartments to two former parking lots at 1360 S. Figueroa St. and 1355 S. Flower St. The structures will be connected by a walkway.

Construction on phase two, a building at 1420 S. Figueroa St. with 193 units, began in late April. Excavation and shoring for an underground parking lot is complete and wood framing is scheduled to begin early next year for that portion of the project. The complex, which will create a total of 443 units, will hold studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments as well as live-work residences above 11,000 square feet of retail space. The project will include a fitness center, outdoor pool and media room. At centurywestpartners.com/avant.

BALTIMORE AND KING EDWARD HOTELS Eric Shomof, vice president of Pacific Investments and the son of longtime Downtown developer Izek Shomof, said the family is slowly working on beautifying the common areas of the hotels at Fifth and Los Angeles streets. The vision includes reactivating the ground-floor retail spaces, which had been used for storage or shut down for more than 30 years. Izek Shomof purchased the buildings between Skid Row and the Historic Core in 2012 and has been overseeing a phased upgrade of the 265-unit Baltimore and the 150-room King Edward hotel. The work is being conducted in a manner that doesn’t displace current residents, the younger Shomof said. There is no anticipated completion date for the buildings, he said.

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BARKER BLOCK

Construction continues on phase two of the Barker Block, and model units are slated to open in the Arts District development in December, one month after the sales gallery begins operating. Developer CityView and its financial partner, Blackstone, are behind the $25 million second phase, which will create 68 for-sale lofts and townhomes. Kor Group, which developed the 241-condominium first phase in 2006, remains involved in the project, and will market the second phase. The 72,451-squarefoot effort at 530 S. Hewitt St. will create lofts that range from 650-2,000 square feet and townhomes that are 1,100-1,300 square feet.

Interior elements will include steel staircases with wood steps and dual-pane windows. The project is also incorporating exposed brick, heavy timber beams and other historic elements from the nearly century-old building originally constructed for the Barker Furniture Company. Prices have not yet been determined.

DA VINCI Work continues on developer G.H. Palmer Associates’ 526-unit apartment complex in City West and an opening is expected early next year for the 578,172-square-foot project

September 16, 2013 at 909 W. Temple St., said company head Geoff Palmer. The project, rising on a 193,000-squarefoot lot, will have five floors of housing above three levels of parking and 8,200 square feet of street-front retail. Residences will contain stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

The project will offer a fitness center, a pool and barbecue areas. The Da Vinci’s design follows the same Italian-inspired style as Palmer’s other apartment complexes in Downtown. At thedavinciapts.com.

EIGHTH AND GRAND APARTMENTS

photo by Gary Leonard

8 Downtown News

San Francisco-based Carmel Partners broke ground in January on a 700-unit apartment complex at Eighth Street and Grand Avenue, and in July the company and Whole Foods announced that a 42,000-square-foot supermarket would open there in 2015. Crews have completed excavation and shoring for the four-level underground parking structure and will begin pouring foundations shortly, said Dan Garibaldi, the firm’s senior vice president of development. Since buying the three-acre property last year for $63 million, Carmel has made some modifications including a façade redesign and the addition of retail space and parking. With most units featuring floor-toceiling glass and balconies, Carmel is building the entire development in a single phase. The apartments are scheduled to open in fall 2015.

EIGHTH AND HOPE APARTMENTS Construction continues on Wood Partners’ 22-story apartment tower in South Park. As of last month, eight floors of the 290-unit building at 801 S. Hope St. were visible. The project by the Atlanta-based developer calls for one- and two-bedroom residences with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, balconies, a pool deck and a sixfloor garage with two underground levels, along with 5,000 square feet of retail space.

Completion is expected by late 2014.

FOURTH AND BROADWAY TOWER Izek Shomof, who has turned a number of old Historic Core buildings into modern housing, is working on what would be his first groundup project. Architects are currently preparing designs for a tower at least 22 stories high, with up to 400 units, on the southeast corner of Fourth Street and Broadway. The tower would rise where a one-story retail building with rooftop parking now stands. Shomof’s son, Eric Shomof, vice president of Pacific Investments, said they are working with several city departments, but declined to offer additional details.

G12 A 640-unit residential complex at 12th Street and Grand Avenue is now known as G12.

Developer Sonny Astani and parking lot giant L&R Group are in the plan check stage for the $250 million project that Astani said is slated Continued on page 10

September 16, 2013

Development

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Downtown News 9

10 Downtown News

photo by Gary Leonard

GATEWAYS APARTMENTS

SRO Housing Corp. expects to finish construction on a 108-unit affordable housing project by the end of this month, said Joseph Corcoran, SRO’s director of development. The project is rising on a formerly vacant 22,000-square-foot lot at Fifth and San Pedro streets. All apartments will be efficiency units with an average size of 300 square feet. The project will aim for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental

JADE ENTERPRISES PROJECT Jade Enterprises, a commercial property owner with significant holdings in the Fashion District, is still looking to get city entitlements for a 419unit, two-building complex at Pico Boulevard and Flower Street, said a company spokesman.

Jade has submitted plans to the city to build its first Downtown residential project; the complex would rise on two side-by-side parking lots over 42,000 square feet of commercial space.

JIA APARTMENTS The first move-ins for the $92 million project from developer Equity Residential are expected to begin in October, said Allison Geiman, a project representative. The Jia will open in phases with full completion expected by early 2015. Work began last year on the six-story edi-

fice at 639-643 Cesar Chavez Ave., at the southern entrance to Chinatown. The development will house 280 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and 18,000 square feet of retail.

The project is being designed by Thomas P. Cox Architects and will include a plaza, 17-foot wide sidewalks and a 588-car subterranean garage.

A temporary leasing office is at 880 N. Alameda St. According to the project’s website, studios start at $1,770 and two-bedrooms begin at $2,650. At equityapartments.com.

LORENZO The first phase of the project is complete and move-ins began in May at G.H. Palmer Associates’ $300 million, 950-unit apartment complex, said company head Geoff Palmer. The project sits on a 9.4-acre lot at Flower Street and Adams Boulevard near USC. It includes 495 units and follows the Italian Renaissanceinspired design seen in Palmer’s numerous other Downtown projects. It offers four swimming pools, two indoor basketball courts and a sand volleyball court. Rents for the one- to three-bedroom residences pitched to university students start at $826 a bed. The second phase of the project is under construction and is scheduled to open in March 2014. At thelorenzo.com.

LOTUS GARDEN An October opening is expected for the $24 million Lotus Garden apartment complex, said Katelyn Silverwood, a spokeswoman for developer Affirmed Housing Group. A 63-car garage in which vehicles will be moved vertically and horizontally to allow for a space-saving stacking effect is complete. The 60-unit development at 715 Yale St. is for families earning 30%-60% of the county’s median household income. Rents at the eight-story complex will range from $370 for studios to $1,236 for a three-bedroom apartment.

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NEW PERSHING APARTMENTS Skid Row Housing Trust is in the process of transforming the former Pershing Hotel at Fifth and Main streets into the New Pershing Apartments. Construction is in the early phase and completion is scheduled for October 2014, said Dana Trujillo, housing development director for SRHT. The former 69-unit residential hotel has been dismantled, though the historic facades have been preserved. The development, designed by Killefer Flammang Architects, will offer studio and one-bedroom units that run 350-500 square feet, roughly three to four times larger than the original SRO units. The new building will offer community space, social service offices, an outdoor courtyard in the center of the building and ground floor commercial space facing both Main and Fifth streets.

OLYMPIC AND BROADWAY APARTMENTS A groundbreaking is scheduled for January 2014 for developer Geoff Palmer’s two-building, ground-up apartment project on two plots at Broadway and Olympic Boulevard. One

photo by Gary Leonard

HELLMAN/BANCO POPULAR BUILDING According to the most recent information available, Neighborhood Effort, a development team run by Allen Gross and his wife Arax Harutunian, is in the plan check stage for a conversion of the Herman H. Hellman building (also known as the Banco Popular Building) at Fourth and Spring streets. The project would create 212 apartments, 20% of which would be set aside as affordable housing. Plans call for units that would average 610 square feet, with an overall range of 4811,576 square feet. Once construction begins it would take about 18 months.

structure would be a 10-story, 439-apartment building on what is now a parking lot between Broadway and Main Street across from the upcoming Ace Hotel. Plans for the second building call for a six-story, 247-unit structure on a lot on Broadway south of Olympic; the land currently holds a small building that is slated for demolition. The project is a partnership between G.H. Palmer Associates and parking lot giant L&R Group. Unlike Palmer’s other projects, which are known for their Italian Renaissanceinspired design, plans call for buildings that fit with the look and style of the neighborhood.

They will be clad in a red brick veneer. The G.H. Palmer website says the complex will open in 2015. At ghpalmer.com.

OLYMPIC AND HILL APARTMENTS The Hanover Company is moving forward on a 281-unit apartment complex at Olympic Boulevard and Hill Street. Crews are currently pouring concrete to form a two-level underground parking garage. The project will have seven floors of housing along with 16,000 square feet of street-level retail, said Aram Chahbazian of TCA Architects, which is handling the designs. The ground floor will also hold three live/work units. Move-ins are scheduled for late 2014. Hanover previously developed the nearby luxury apartment tower 717 Olympic. At tcaarchitects.com/olympic-and-hill.

ONNI TOWER In February, the Vancouver-based Onni Group broke ground on a 32-story apartment tower at 888 S. Olive St. The project is a week ahead of schedule, according to an Onni Group official, and can already be seen rising two floors above the street. The $100 million structure will create 303 one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments. The developer is targeting an opening in the first quarter of 2015. The project is the first of three developments that Onni has planned for Downtown.

PWC FAMILY HOUSING

photo by Gary Leonard

to break ground early next year. Astani and L&R purchased the land last year for $29 million. The site is bounded by 12th and Olive streets, Pico Boulevard and Grand Avenue. The partnership is planning a two-phase development, with the initial segment consisting of a 347-unit, seven-story structure. The complex will eventually have 42,000 square feet of retail space. The property currently operates as a parking lot.

Design) Silver certification. Crews have installed solar panels on the roof and are doing interior and exterior finishes, Corcoran said. At srohousing.org.

photo by Gary Leonard

PROJECT UPDATES, 8

September 16, 2013

Development

The City West project is about 95% complete, and move-ins are expected by late next month, said Takao Suzuki, a project representative. The 45-unit development at 153 N. Glendale Blvd. includes 22 residences for homeless individuals, along with 54 parking spaces and approximately 4,000 square feet of common space. The Continued on page 19

September 16, 2013

Downtown News 11

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

DOWNTOWN RESIDENTIAL

a special advertising supplement

The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live Now Past 90% Sold Remaining ‘Crown Collection’ at Southern California’s Most Successful High-Rise Includes 10 Penthouses

T

he Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live has announced it has sold more than 90% of its 224 homes, with the remaining homes including 10 elegant penthouses.

The continued brisk pace of sales extends

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS the role of The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live as the best-selling luxury high-rise in Southern California. They are also the highest residences in Los Angeles.

“The international range of our buyers, as well as our many buyers from California,

proves that the homes in this stunning highrise are some of the most desirable in the world,” said Vice President of Sales & Marketing Kimberly Lucero. “The Crown Collection represents the last opportunity to purchase these stunning works of architecture and design, served by impeccable Ritz-Carlton amenities, and centered above the entertainment and business capital of Downtown Los Angeles.”

Of the 10 remaining penthouses, nine are being built out with premier finishes. Each includes custom cabinetry, European appliances, automatic shades, built-in AV system,

and special touches that are unique to each floor plan, and each embodies the sky-high luxury and glamour offered in Los Angeles only by The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live.

The Residences’ HOA-included services and amenities encompass: 24-hour valet parking, 24-hour dedicated lobby ambassador, dedicated residential concierge, catered continental breakfast, private Champions Lounge with a wine-tasting room and billiard room, private screening room, private residential fitness center, rooftop swimming pool and spa with landscaped sky terrace, and more.

Those who purchase at The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live are a broad group that includes international, local and regional buyers — as primary residents, second home owners or investors.

Said Lucero, “Downtown Los Angeles, because of its ongoing renaissance, is especially desirable. The area is seeing enormous development activity and infrastructure investment, and yet there are few new condominiums available. Within this climate, The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live is the only property in the city to join five-star hotel services with panoramic view homes perched quietly above the entertainment, sports and restaurant excitement of L.A. Live.”

Homeowners enjoy having the many exciting venues of L.A. Live steps away from their exclusive lobby entrance, including Staples Center, Nokia Theater and Club Nokia, the Grammy Museum and dozens of restaurant and entertainment venues.

For more information visit AllAccessLiving.com or call (213) 622-4242.

Cultural Connection The Towers Deliver a Rich Downtown Experience

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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. Down-

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS town breeds success, housing prominent firms in impressive architectural sculptures composed 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 Towers place residents among all the excitement Downtown offers.

Continued on page 15

12 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

Downtown Residential

A Real Estate Maverick

Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore!

Lande Realty Specializes in Downtown Properties and Development

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

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structuring. The company is recognized as a market strategist and strong closer able to assess needs, formulate and present ideas, and build key relationships with thought leaders and high net-worth individuals as well as world-renowned developers, architects and designers.

Lande has lived in the Arts District since 2008 and has sold more than 120 units in phases 1, 2 and 3 at Barker Block, 20% of the all the units in the Beacon Lofts and 100% of the units at Gallery Lofts. Additionally, Lande has brokered commercial warehouse deals, and handled many leases for her investor clients.

Lande Realty has served as a consultant to major West Coast developers in development, pricing, marketing, and the sale of luxury condominiums, homes and estates. In addition, the company has devised pricing matrices, unit pricing, market projections, and comp studies, and acted as a liaison to developer and buyer through all phases of pre-sales, construction and contract execution.

At Lande Realty, the focus is the client, whether buying a first home, listing a home for sale, looking for an investment property, wanting to market and sell a development or looking to expand a business with a commercial purchase.

The Lande Realty Team offers expertise in the Los Angeles and New York Metro marketplace representing buyers, sellers and developers. Through many economic environments, the company’s experience in sales, marketing and pre-development projects, including conversions and adaptive reuse, residential and commercial, have added value to its client’s portfolios.

From new development marketing, processes and controls design, brand management and licensing, to private sector consulting, the Lande team knows how to maximize success for developers, sellers, landlords and buyers alike.

Some of the company’s projects and clients have included: n Pacifica Companies/Gallery Lofts n The Kor Group/Barker Block n KB Homes/L.A. Live n Apple Bank Condos n Gramercy Yoo n 15USW n Element n 580 Carroll Street For more information about Lande Realty or to contact Elizabeth Lande, call (917) 817-1472.

September 16, 2013

90%

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Downtown Residential

Downtown News 13

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A HOME LIKE NO OTHER. Centered above excitement, in the heart of L.A. LIVE, are the city’s only homes with sky-high amenities, VIP access, and the legendary service of The Ritz-Carlton.

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The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE are not owned, developed or sold by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC. Olympic and Georgia Partners, LLC. uses The Ritz-Carlton marks under license from The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC. Owned and developed by Olympic and Georgia Partners, LLC, a single purpose entity. Some of the amenities and services described are available for purchase from the hotel and others are provided through one of the two owner associations at no additional cost to residents. The developer reserves the right to make modifications in materials, specifications, plans, pricing, various fees, designs, scheduling and delivery of the homes without prior notice. All dimensions are approximate and subject to normal construction variances and tolerances. Plans and dimensions may contain minor variations from floor to floor. This is not an offer to sell or solicitation to buy to residents in jurisdictions in which registration requirements have not been fulfilled, but is intended for information only. Listing Broker: The Agency, CA DRE #01904054. 3/11/13. Obtain the Property Report or its equivalent by Federal and State law and read it before signing anything. No Federal or

State agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property.

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9/13/13 2:56 PM

14 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

Downtown Residential

KOI Takes Center Stage

Innovation Is Key at Pilgrim School

Interior Specialist Helps Builders, Owners and Real Estate Professionals Sell and Lease Fast

New School Year Brings Exciting Programs for K-12

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quote that often pops up at Pilgrim School is by Alvin Toffler: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn and unlearn and relearn.” Pilgrim is a college preparatory school that believes all students need a firm footing in a well-

I

t’s the first 40 seconds that truly count when a prospective buyer or tenant walks through the doors of any property, so make the impression a compelling one. Don’t risk listing your properties on the market without the help of an

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS experienced professional team that will provide all of your staging needs.

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The team has provided builders and real estate professionals assistance in reaching their goals for the past five years in the Los Angeles area.

KOI’s team is experienced in providing various creative design schemes that will highlight every corner of a property; indoors, outdoors, lobby entrance, and much more. Two priorities are always at the forefront: completing a breathtaking project and helping clients achieve their goals.

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS Providing client access to thousands of global furniture manufacturers has made the company an industry standout.

KOI purchases directly from manufacturers, which means it never provides used furniture from other projects. In addition, staging props are never used, only real pieces including televisions and accessories.

From commercial to outdoor furniture, KOI has clients covered. Service and prices are impeccable. Own an older leasing community? Still collecting rent below market value due to cosmetic issues? Contact KOI immediately and you’ll delight in your property’s transformation, and the higher rental rates collected. In addition to furniture, KOI’s services include painting, modern upgrades and more.

For newer leasing communities looking for more residential amenities, why not offer fully furnished guest suites that can be rented to residents’ families and friends when they visit. This has been successful with numerous buildings, as the urban demographic consists of people from across the world who enjoy entertaining out-of-town guests.

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rounded traditional education (including fine arts and athletics), while faculty and staff are constantly exploring innovations in education, teaching techniques, and learning technology.

This fall, Pilgrim students will take part in the Fab Lab. In this new innovation space, students pursue hands-on learning in STEM studies. In addition to traditional secondary math and science offerings, students are now able to take elective courses in computer science and engineering design and modeling. The Fab Lab is creating a more three-dimensional experience for students, including the use of cutting-edge technologies such as 3D printing, rocketry and more, and will allow the faculty to expand the STEM program to include courses in more specialized fields of engineering.

Pilgrim School elementary students also have access to a new program to supplement their science curriculum — Engineering is Elementary is a cross-curricular, science-based learning scaffold that increases students’ interest and confidence in science using fun, engaging engineering challenges that allow students to apply science knowledge. The innovation is not only in science — Pilgrim has introduced a new comprehensive theater program this fall.

Continued on next page

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TOWERS APARTMENTS, 11 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

Rethink the way you shop.

Come pick up a loaf of bread for the week and paper towels for a month. Steak for two or snacks for the office.

Smart & Final gives you the low prices and bulk savings of a warehouse combined with the freshness and convenience of a local market. And you never have to worry about carrying a club card or membership fees.

shop big shop small

Big SAViNgS

COME iN ALL SiZES

Warehouse Prices Big & Small SizeS

No membership fees

no club cARDs c

5

101 WIL S B HIR 8TH LVD. E ST.

OLY BLVMPIC D. 110

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Life comes in all sizes.

We think your savings should too.

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.

FIG GR UER AN OA D A ST VE . .

Continued from previous page Look for innovation in early education as well. Pilgrim was voted Best Preschool by readers of the Downtown News, and is introducing exciting new programs under the new Director of Early Education Dr. Sheryl Cohen.

Pilgrim students are entering a world where they will need to process, assess and synthesize huge amounts of information, and quickly find the relationships between seemingly unrelated elements. It is becoming increasingly important that they have exposure to a wide range of multi-disciplinary, projectbased learning experiences that exercise their minds in new directions. In October, as part of the school’s Visiting Writer and Artist Program, all K-12 students will participate in a wide range of cross-curricular experiences during a unique Explorer-in-Residence week with writer, photographer and Emmy-nominated documentarian Denis Belliveau (In the Footsteps of Marco Polo).

For example, in one class, students will use math to analyze Islamic geometric motifs and then will create ceramic tile art based on those principles, while studying the history and influence of Islamic architecture and Marco Polo’s role in introducing it to the Western world along the map of his travels — math, art, history and cartography all at once!

A Pilgrim School education is dedicated to developing wellrounded individuals and innovative thinkers, and this fall kicks off a year of exciting and creative experiences for Pilgrim students and their families.

For more information about Pilgrim School visit pilgrim-school.org.

Downtown News 15

Downtown Residential

10

Free DOWNTOWN Parking!

90 minutes LOS ANGELES 845 S. Figueroa St. 213-629-0039 Open Daily 6 am-10 pm

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Warehouse Prices. Big and Small Sizes.

Scan this code or visit us at smartandfinal. com for store locations, recipes, specials and more. Call 1-866-411-SMART for the location nearest you.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest ©2013 Smart & Final Stores, LLC.

16 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

Downtown Residential

Everything You Need Under One Roof

Is a HELOC Right for You?

TENTEN Wilshire Helps Small Business Thrive in Downtown Los Angeles

T

ENTEN Wilshire is the ideal place for entrepreneurs and businessminded individuals to live, work and play. Perfect for start-ups and entrepreneurs in industries including high-tech, entertainment, fashion, legal, 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.

Using Your Home Equity to Fund Home Improvements

by Linda Heidtke any homeowners are now discovering the good news: They have equity in their homes again.

After years of a declining real estate market, we now see that the trend has

M

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS 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 professionals to grow, network and expand across Downtown, a large and up-and-coming market.

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 better 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 longterm jobs for Los Angeles.

Located within walking distance of the center of Downtown, TENTEN Wilshire is an ideal place for meeting people and networking, providing guests and residents an unparalleled professional and social environment. TENTEN Wilshire, together with its sister communities of Plug and

CASH AHEAD

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS 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.

reversed in many regions of the country.

According to DataQuick, in June Los Angeles County home values were up an average of 28%. But if you have a good interest rate, you may not want to refinance to access your equity.

If you are contemplating making some home improvements or repairs and are not yet sure of the costs, you might consider opening a home equity line of credit, also called a HELOC, to pay for them. It is different than a second mortgage or home equity loan where you get a lump sum amount, and start paying back fixed monthly payment amounts for a fixed amount of time.

With a home equity line of credit, you Continued on next page

Open your Home Equity Line of Credit

by October 31, 2013 and receive a $50 Home Depot Gift Card at funding!*

Home values are up, rates are still down.

Home values are rising! It’s time to take advantage of your home equity with a Home Equity Line of Credit.

800-300-9728 wpcu.org/loans

WPCCU offers a variety of home loan options including

LINES OF CREDIT • REFINANCING • FIXED ADJUSTABLE • JUMBO • FHA • VA Federally Insured by NCUA.

WPCCU home equity lines of credit (HELOC) are for owner occupied homes up to $100,000 or 70 percent CLTV, whichever is less. All HELOC closing costs will be paid by lender. Some restrictions apply. See your branch real estate department representative for details. Loan may be tax deductible. Please check with your tax advisor. * Water and Power Community Credit Union is not affiliated with The Home Depot®. The Home Depot® is a registered trademark of Homer TLC,Inc. Applications must be received by Oct. 31, 2013. The $50 Home Depot gift card will be given to qualified members at loan funding.

Elizabeth Lande | 917.817.1472 | elizabeth@landerealty.com | landerealty.com

September 16, 2013

Downtown Residential

Downtown News 17

Welcome to L.A. Living in High Definition 717 Olympic Creates a Distinctive Home With Action, Style and Luxury

7

17 OLYMPIC residences are a rather nice slice of urban luxury living. Located in the rich and vibrant South Park neighborhood on the northeast corner of Figueroa Street and Olympic Boulevard, and just a stone’s throw from

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS

Continued from previous page are assigned a maximum amount you can borrow, also known as your home equity credit line. This line of credit is determined by taking a percentage of your home’s appraised value and subtracting the balance owed on your first mortgage. Your HELOC interest rate and loan amount may also be determined in part by your credit history, income and your amount of debt. When you need an advance on your credit line, most often you simply call the lender and have a check mailed to you, or the amount you wish to borrow transferred into your checking account. Unlike the home equity loan, you borrow just what you need when you need it.

It is important to compare loans and lenders, as all are not cre-

ated equal. Closing costs on most loans secured by real estate, which include appraisal fees and other loan funding fees, may amount to hundreds of dollars. Lenders may waive some, if not all, of the fees. If you anticipate that your interest paid on your HELOC is tax deductible, be sure to read the IRS Publication number 936, as well as consult your tax advisor to see if your HELOC will qualify.

With some research, you’ll find the perfect loan that meets your needs.

Linda Heidtke is marketing director for Water and Power Community Credit Union headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles. For more information about home loans, call (800) 300-9728 and ask for the real estate department.

L.A. Live, this 26-story residential high-rise offers residents a distinctive home with action, style and luxury.

The amenities are hard to beat, as 717 OLYMPIC offers private valet and concierge services, rooftop dog walk and an exclusive 8th floor Orbit Lounge that opens to a lushly landscaped terrace with fire pits, orbit loungers and unparalleled skyline views from the outdoor kitchen and heated plunge spa. Other compelling features include controlled-access garage parking, state-of-the-art fitness club, private screening room, wine bar, WiFi HDTV lounge and a stunning observation deck on the 26th floor.

717 OLYMPIC provides a selection of 151 deluxe residences with flexible and open floor plans ranging in size from 660 square feet to more than 2,200 square feet.

Within your residence are contemporary style and classic architectural details such as entry vestibules, floor-toceiling windows, built-in niche bookcases and computer desks, plus private terraces.

The exclusive luxury penthouses — with two levels — are artfully etched in the top floor of 717 OLYMPIC. Each penthouse has a unique floor plan offering extraordinary finishes and panoramic city views, with surprising elements such as wraparound terraces, indoor fireplaces

» P e d e s t r i a n a c c e s s to L a’ s P r e m i e r e b o u t i q u e s , d i n i n g , e n t e r t a i n m e n t, s P o r t s a n d P e r f o r m a n c e venues incLuding L a Live, staPLes center arena a n d n o k i a t h e at e r L a L i v e » d e d i c at e d c o n c i e r g e , va L e t a n d b e L L c a P ta i n services » Premier resident services such as PersonaL trainer

and private studies.

The residences are also within walking distance to some of the best entertainment, lounges and fine dining that Downtown L.A. has to offer: Staples Center, Nokia Theater, Grammy Museum, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, and The Farm of Beverly Hills.

In conjunction with the breathtaking, endless city views, 717 OLYPMIC combines luxury living with exceptional service to make a living experience incomparable to any other.

For more information, call (213) 624-8439 or visit 717olympic.com.

717 Olympic Luxury LEASEABLE rESIDENCES IN THE

HEArT OF LA LIVE

» 8th fLoor outdoor orbit Lounge with rooftoP P Lu n g e s Pa a n d d i n i n g L a n a i » o v e r s i z e d s Pa - i n s P i r e d f i t n e s s c Lu b » Lu x e c Lu b h o u s e w i t h P r i vat e s c r e e n i n g r o o m , e - Lo u n g e w i t h h d t v, w i - f i i n t e r n e t c a f é a n d r e s i d e n t w i n e b a r w i t h c L i m at e c o n t r o L L e d bottLe storage » P r i vat e d e d i c at e d Pa r k i n g w i t h c o n t r o L L e d - e n t r y acc e s s; s to r ag e r o o m s ava i L a b L e » d r a m at i c L i v i n g s Pac e s w i t h h i g h c e i L i n g s , w i n d o w waLLs with sLeek Lined soLar shades and custom coLor accent waLLs » Lu x u r i o u s h a r dwo o d a n d t r av e rt i n e f Lo o r i n g » s Pac i o u s b e d r o o m s w i t h P Lu s h c a r P e t i n g a n d oversized waLk-in cLosets » s Pa i n s P i r e d b at h r o o m s w i t h c u s to m f r a m e d mirrors, sumPtuous soaking tubs and frameLess shower doors » oPen concePt gourmet kitchens with granite sLab counter toPs, custom euroPean-st yLe cabinets and stainLess steeL aPPLiances » two-story Penthouse residences with firePLace

717 West Olympic Blvd.

213-624-8439 • 717olympic.com

18 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

Downtown Residential

Returning to Its Roots Smart & Final Extra! Provides Downtown With the Necessities of Daily Life square-foot Smart & Final Extra! store is larger than a typical Smart & Final warehouse store and is designed to offer everything business and household grocery shoppers love about Smart & Final, plus a huge selection of fresh produce and fresh meat at the best prices in town.

“Our product offering at Smart & Final Extra! is unlike any other retailer — we combine the high quality fresh produce of a farmer’s market, the low prices of a discount grocer and the large club size products of a traditional club

A

Smart & Final Extra! store is now open in Downtown Los Angeles, where the company began more than 140 years

ago.

Smart & Final traces its roots back to the Hellman, Haas Grocery Co., one of the city’s

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS first businesses and also one of seven names in the first Los Angeles phone directory. From a two-story brick building on the corner of Los Angeles and Aliso streets, Hellman, Haas Grocery sold necessities of the day such as flour, salt, patent medicines, rope, sheepherd-

Koi Interiors

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Los Angeles

ing supplies, chewing tobacco and gunpowder.

The company later merged with Smart & Final Wholesale Grocers, a similar business founded in the early 1900s by partners J.S. “Jim” Smart and H.D. “Hildane” Final.

Today, Smart & Final is the convenient warehouse grocery store committed to offering superior service, exceptional value and quality products to households, business and community groups. And, just as in 1871, the company is still dedicated to providing the necessities of everyday life for today’s Downtowners.

Located at 845 S. Figueroa St., the 24,000-

store,” said Dave Hirz, Smart & Final president and chief executive officer. “In addition, we have everything that small businesses, clubs and organizations need on a daily basis — all with no club card or membership fees. Our store is the perfect match for the mix of businesses and residences that now exists in Downtown.”

The store also houses the Downtown Grind

by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Smart & Final’s first in-store coffee bar. In addition to hot and cold coffees and teas, the Downtown Grind offers a broad assortment of food items including sandwiches, salads, soups and sushi. Downtown Grind customers can enjoy their purchases on the private patio, which offers free Wi-Fi. For more information about the Downtown location call (213) 629-0039.

Coming next Week!

Our annual Los Angeles Downtown Guide will publish September 23.

Our professionals at Koi interiors have helped Homeowners, Realtors and Developers sell their properties faster in this real estate market. We are a hassle free, full service Staging Firm that strives to help our clients obtain top dollar for their property by utilizing all areas of space to create a warm and inviting environment for any buyer to fall in love with. Consult with us before you list to sell or lease out your property.

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September 16, 2013

PROJECT UPDATES, 10 development is a partnership of the Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation and the Pilipino Worker’s Center.

RELATED TOWER Work continues on Grand Avenue project developer Related’s 19-story luxury apartment tower. Crews are pouring concrete that will become the building’s third floor, said Bill Witte, president of Related California. The $120 million edifice is rising on Grand Avenue just south of the under-construction Broad art museum. The tower will consist mostly of luxury units, but 20% of the 271 apartments will be set aside as affordable housing. The structure represents a scaled-down version of what Related received entitlements for in 2007, when it envisioned two buildings of up to 35 stories. Designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, the project is slated for a late 2014 completion. Related is in negotiations to bring up to two restaurants to the ground floor. The project will also contain a three-level parking structure.

Downtown News 19

Development

FOR SA LE In the Los Angeles Arts District 2030-2060 East 7th Street 821 South Santa Fe Avenue 2053 Violet Street

ROSSLYN HOTEL APARTMENTS SRO Housing Corp. expects to complete the first part of a threephase renovation of the 264-unit affordable housing complex at Fifth and Main streets by November, said Joseph Corcoran, SRO’s director of development. The nonprofit has relocated 60 tenants who volunteered to take relocation benefits. Another 90 building inhabitants were temporarily moved to other apartments within the property. The company, which bought the Historic Core edifice in 2010 with help from the Community Redevelopment Agency, is required to preserve the affordable residences. During the first phase, crews performed lead and asbestos remediation. The work includes the addition of a restroom and kitchenette to all apartments and a restoration of the lobby, during which a now-covered 1,500-square-foot skylight will be revealed. The project cost, including acquisition of the building, is $33 million. At srohousing.org.

A Birthplace Of American Ingenuity, Redefined For Today.

photo by Gary Leonard

SARES-REGIS LITTLE TOKYO

Developer Sares-Regis Group recently broke ground on a 240unit apartment complex in Little Tokyo, according to a representative of project architect TCA Architects. Construction on the development at 232 E. Second St. is expected to take two years.

Crews are currently doing excavation work on what was until recently a parking lot. The seven-story building is slated to include 17,000 square feet of retail space, according to the developer’s website. At sares-regis.com.

SB OMEGA Developer Barry Shy is still in the planning stage for a 40-story tower that would rise at 601 S. Main St. The 350-unit development would include 35 residential floors over a five-level, 1,200-space parking facility. Shy is currently preparing a geological report required by the city while an architect works on designs. The building would be Shy’s sixth Historic Core apartment project, but his first ground-up development. He plans to break ground on the project within the next 12 months, along with three other Downtown residential buildings.

SINGER SEWING MACHINE BUILDING Seismic work will begin at the Singer Sewing Machine Building at 806 S. Broadway within the next month, said Steve Needleman, who runs the Downtown property firm Anjac Fashion. Needleman is converting the eight-story commercial edifice into eight apartments, with one residence and three full bathrooms on each floor.

Each unit will span 6,000 square feet, with the penthouse stretchContinued on page 20

www.cbre.com/fordmotorfactory For More Information Please Contact: Brandon Gill

John Hillman

Greg Stanton

+1 213 613 3754

+1 213 613 3755

+1 213 613 3757

brandon.gill@cbre.com

john.hillman@cbre.com

gregory.stanton@cbre.com

©2013 CBRE, Inc. The information above has been obtained from sources believed reliable. While we do not doubt its accuracy, we have not verified it and make no guarantee, warranty or representation about it. It is your responsibility to independently confirm its accuracy and completeness.

Development

PROJECT UPDATES, 19 ing to 9,000 square feet. All units will have a patio and the penthouse will offer a rooftop terrace.

The building, which rises between the Tower and Rialto theaters just south of Eighth Street, had long been home to garment manufacturers.

Occupancy is slated for 2015, Needleman said.

SPRING STREET APARTMENTS/GARAGE A complete redesign with a team of architects new to the project, Martinez & Cutri Corporation, is underway for Downtown Management’s apartment building proposed for the lot on Spring Street between the Spring Arcade Building and the Alexandria Hotel. Vice President Greg Martin said the company headed by Joseph Hellen is now looking to build a 40-story residential structure with six levels of parking and one floor of retail. Downtown Management had been planning a 12-story effort for the site in the heart of the Historic Core, but Hellen was not happy with the way the design was going, Martin said. Downtown Management is in the preliminary stage of getting city officials to sign off on the changes, he said. The project does not yet have a budget or firm timeline.

STAR APARTMENTS

cated to health and wellness activities, including a running track, basketball court, exercise room, community kitchen, library and community gardens. The County Department of Health Services will operate a medical clinic and office in two street-level retail spaces.

THE CHELSEA Due to permitting issues, plans are being redesigned and construction has been delayed again on the $5 million project at 216 W. Fifth St. Developer Nick Hadim said construction could now start by October. The redesign will allow the project to meet code requirements and could mean the addition of an extra staircase and a change in the number of units, said Hadim; initial plans had called for 28 apartments. Completion is still expected sometime next year, he said. The structure was built as an annex to the Alexandria Hotel in 1910, but a dispute between two property owners led to it being walled off from the rest of the building in 1934. The seven-story former hotel is nicknamed the Ghost Building.

TITLE INSURANCE BUILDING According to the most recent information available, Bel-Air based Capital Foresight is planning to convert the Title Insurance Building at 433 S. Spring St. into an as-yet-undetermined number of residential units. The company has yet to finalize its proposal but had expected to submit plans to begin the entitlement process for the 1913 Art Deco structure in the spring. The deal is tied in to the adjacent building at 419 S. Spring St., where an entity called PNK I Group plans to create a hotel. The status of the hotel deal is uncertain.

photo by Gary Leonard

MIXED USE

Skid Row Housing Trust’s Star Apartments is 90% complete and is expected to receive its certificate of occupancy by early October, said Dana Trujillo, housing development director for SRHT. Construction crews are currently removing exterior scaffolding, preparing to stucco the interior courtyard and are getting ready to paint the interior common spaces. The Michael Maltzan-designed permanent supportive housing complex is comprised of 102 prefabricated housing units stacked above a commercial structure at Sixth and Maple streets. All of the prefabricated residential units are complete with finishes and appliances installed. The development also features an entire floor dedi-

photo by Gary Leonard

BLOSSOM PLAZA

The start of construction on Blossom Plaza has been pushed back until early October at the request of newly elected First District City Councilman Gil Cedillo, said Frank Frallicciardi of developer Forest City Residential West.

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Frallicciardi said Cedillo wanted to delay the work, which was scheduled to begin in August, until after the Sept. 21 Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival, which brings thousands of people to the neighborhood’s Central and West plazas. A ceremonial groundbreaking took place in May for the long-delayed $95 million project; that event was orchestrated by now termed-out Councilman Ed Reyes. The project, at 900 N. Broadway, will replace the shuttered Little Joe’s restaurant with about 240 market rate and affordable rental units, 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a 175-space parking garage and a public plaza that would connect Broadway to the Gold Line station.

The construction delay is not expected to push back the 2015 opening, said Frallicciardi.

CITY MARKET The environmental impact report phase is underway for the 10 acres of mostly unused produce warehouses bounded by Ninth, San Pedro, San Julian and 12th streets, said Sean Rossall, a spokesman for the City Market project. The first scoping meeting has been held and Rossall said a draft EIR is expected to be readied by the end of the year. The project, overseen by City Market owner Peter Fleming, would transform the 1909 produce mart into a $1 billion hub of housing, office space, hotel rooms and a college campus. It would include 945 residential units, 210 hotel rooms, 225,000 square feet of retail and 295,000 square feet of creative office space. The first phase calls for transforming two existing buildings: One would become 150 housing units, and the other would be an office structure. It could be 20 years before the entire project is complete.

At citymarketla.com.

MEDALLION 2.0 The effort to reinvigorate a mixed-use complex in the Historic Core continues. Developer Saeed Farkhondehpour, who opened the $125 million Medallion on the northeast corner of Fourth and Main streets three years ago, is embarking on a second phase, which would add 300 residential units in three structures facing Main and Third streets. That, he said, could be a year away. Coming sooner is a reinvention of the open area and about 180 empty small retail spaces that will bring dozens of restaurants, a weekly farmers market and potentially a movie theater to the complex that already has 96 apartments. Farkhondehpour is teaming with John Edwards, president of Raw Inspiration Inc. and California Certified Farmers Markets, on the retail revival. So far six restaurants have been announced for Medallion 2.0 including Café Uzes, a 2,000-square-foot eatery by Tara Thomas of Traxx, and Downtown outposts of Bigmista’s Barbecue and Bread Bar bakery.

METROPOLIS IDS Real Estate Group has reached a deal with a Chinese company that plans to invest in the $1 billion, long-stalled South Park mega-project.

Shanghai Greenland Group Co. has agreed to buy a stake in the planned hotel, residential and office complex that is entitled for the 6.5acre site at Francisco Street, between Eighth and Ninth streets. The deal is not finalized. The site could accommodate up to five buildings and would likely have a mix of office and hotel space. If the deal closes, Greenland and IDS would look to break ground as soon as possible, an IDS official said.

ONE SANTA FE The $160 million One Santa Fe continues on schedule. Framing is up and windows are being

September 16, 2013

photo by Gary Leonard

20 Downtown News

installed in the Arts District campus, according to a spokesperson for Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds Investments, one of the developers of the project. Roof, plumbing and electrical system installation have also begun. The first move-ins at the 438-unit development are expected in fall 2014 with completion of the project by the end of the year. The massive complex rising east of the Southern California Institute of Architecture will be a six-story building with 78,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. One Santa Fe will include a 15,000-square-foot space slated for a grocery store, a 47,400-square-foot plaza facing Santa Fe Avenue and 802 underground parking spaces. Twenty percent of the units will be reserved for low-income tenants. The development team also includes McGregor Company, Polis Builders, Cowley Real Estate Partners and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group.

THE GRAND Grand Avenue project developer Related received an extension in May to start construction in March 2015 on a mixed-use complex at Second Street and Grand Avenue, said Bill Witte, president of Related California. Related plans to build a residential tower near the corner of Grand Avenue and Second Street that would likely be taller than the company’s 19-story building rising just south of The Broad museum. Related this month submitted a concept plan to the Grand Avenue Joint Powers Authority, which will review the proposal and provide feedback, Witte said. The site, which is across the street from Walt Disney Concert Hall, was originally slated to be phase one of the Grand Avenue project and called for a $2 billion mixed-use complex with hotels, condominiums and retail designed by Frank Gehry. Related has moved on from that proposal and Witte has said that future development will depend on changes in the market.

WILSHIRE GRAND REPLACEMENT Demolition of the old Wilshire Grand hotel is just about complete, with the building having been razed to ground level in July. Workers are now removing the old parking levels and excavating down to where the new ones will go, said Sean Rossall, a spokesman for the $1 billion development on the northwest corner of Seventh and Figueroa streets. A groundbreaking on Korean Air’s 71-story structure with 900 hotel rooms and 400,000 square feet of office space is slated for December or early 2014. The project, being overseen by AC Martin, would be the first Downtown high-rise to utilize a sloped roof, instead of a flat surface to accommodate a full helipad. The building, slated to be the tallest structure west of the Mississippi, is scheduled to be complete in December 2016 and open the following March.

CIVIC AND NONPROFIT BROADWAY REVITALIZATION Phase one of the Broadway Streetscape Continued on page 22

September 16, 2013

Downtown News 21

Development

State of the Art

Workplace

Two California Plaza is a Downtown Los Angeles landmark surrounded by world-class

Art,

Performance and

Culture.

www.twocalplaza.com

•

350 South Grand Avenue

•

Los Angeles

For more information, or to schedule a property tour, please contact:

www.cushwake.com

Norman S. Mitchell Senior Director (213) 629-6516 norm.mitchell@cushwake.com CA Lic. #00339426

Richard B. Grande Senior Director (213) 629-6552 rich.grande@cushwake.com CA Lic. #1056963

Steven E. Marcussen, MCR.h Executive Director (213) 629-6550 steve.marcussen@cushwake.com CA Lic. #00656631

Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc. • CA Lic. #00616335 • 601 South Figueroa Street, 47th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 • (213) 955-5100

PROJECT UPDATES, 20 Master Plan, which calls for widening sidewalks, creating additional sidewalk dining and increasing loading areas to help businesses, is set to be implemented by the end of the year.

The effort, dubbed a “dress rehearsal” by the office of 14th District City Councilman José Huizar, will simulate a long-term aim to create more pedestrian space on the street and reduce auto traffic, said Jessica Wethington McLean of Huizar’s office.

Huizar is more than halfway through his 10-year Bringing Back Broadway initiative. Later this year the recipients of 10 Broadway façade lighting grants on the corridor between Second Street and Olympic Boulevard will be announced. The money will pay for design, permitting and construction of lighting improvements. Meanwhile, work continues on an effort to create a set of guidelines to activate the 1.5 million square feet of vacant space above street level; Wethington McLean said they expect a proposed ordinance this year. Also underway is the effort to help re-create historic signs and encourage neon and vertical “blade” signs on the street. The activity comes as more retail leases have been signed. Urban Outfitters is under construction on a space in the Rialto Theatre at 812 S. Broadway and Swedish firm Acne is preparing a location in the Eastern Columbia Building at Ninth Street and Broadway.

rendering courtesy of Little Tokyo Service Center

BUDOKAN OF LOS ANGELES

The fundraising effort for the Little Tokyo Service Center’s proposed $22 million recreation center has reached the halfway point, said Scott Ito, the project manager. The most recent contribution came from the city in the form of a $1.3 million grant awarded through Prop K. Ito said the second half of the campaign will focus on obtaining donations from corporations and foundations. The project would create a 38,000-square-foot facility between Second and Third streets that will include a four-court gymnasium, community space and a rooftop garden with a jogging track. The space would be used for several sports with an emphasis on martial arts tournaments. Groundbreaking is expected in 2015 with completion approximately 16 months later.

FEDERAL COURTHOUSE A groundbreaking ceremony was held Aug. 8 for a $400 million federal courthouse. The approximately 600,000-square-foot facility will rise on a 3.6-acre site at the southwest corner of First Street and Broadway. The property in the Civic Center will have 24 courtrooms and 32 judges’ chambers and will house district judges, jury assembly facilities, offices for the U.S. Marshals and other services. The city’s federal courthouse operations are currently split between the 1938 Spring Street Courthouse and the 1992 Roybal Federal Building. The new courthouse is being designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architects. Clark Construction is the builder. Completion is expected by 2016.

FIGUEROA CORRIDOR BIKEWAY The environmental impact report has been completed and planning work continues for the My Figueroa project, which would run from Seventh Street in Downtown to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, with a spur along 11th Street. The project would remake a three-mile section of Figueroa into a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly corridor. Two segments of the northbound path would feature a curb that separates lanes, called “cycle tracks” from vehicular traffic. Sidewalks would be widened, more trees would be planted and improved street lighting would be installed. Prop 1C bond funds, which must be spent by the end of 2014, would fund the $20 million project, and construction

September 16, 2013

Development

tion of the 32-acre park on the edge of Chinatown, said Sean Woods, a California State Parks superintendent. The park will be closed for a year as part of the project. The renovation will add a welcome pavilion, a promenade for a farmers market, an amphitheater, wetlands areas and infrastructure improvements such as permanent restrooms. Woods said that keeping part of the park open during the construction process would have made the work take much longer. The park is currently a busy concert venue. Woods said he expects most events to return once the park reopens in 2015.

must commence by January to meet the deadline. Some area businesses have voiced opposition to the effort to eliminate lanes for cars. At myfigueroa.com.

FIRST AND BROADWAY GRAFFITI PIT After sitting derelict for decades behind an iron fence, the nearly two-acre site across from City Hall is slated to be turned into a park. The city purchased the long-blighted, state-owned parcel in the Civic Center in June for $7.5 million, using a mix of fees paid to the city by developers, along with funds allotted to the Department of Recreation and Parks for green space investment. The site, known as the graffiti pit because it was routinely tagged, became available after Gov. Jerry Brown ordered state officials to sell surplus property to help shore up budget woes.

The timeline for developing a park and its design are uncertain, but officials believe the project will take two to three years. It is still unknown how the park would interface with Grand Park, which is immediately north of the site.

GOOD SAMARITAN EXPANSION Construction began in mid-August on a 190,000-square-foot medical office building at Wilshire Boulevard and Witmer Street in City West, said George Okita, a project representative.

Foundation concrete is now being poured for the $80 million effort that will create a facility with a pharmacy, an outpatient surgical center and five levels of physicians’ offices. Plans call for a December 2014 completion. The City West building will also house the hospital’s cardiology, orthopedics and primary care clinics.

HALL OF JUSTICE The $234 million renovation of the Hall of Justice is on track for completion by the end of 2014, with an opening in early 2015, said Kerjon Lee, public affairs manager for the County Department of Public Works. Pressure washing of the exterior is about halfway done; it will eradicate the gray grime that has built up over the decades to reveal the building’s original white granite exterior. The renovation of the 1925 structure at 211 W. Temple St. includes elevator upgrades, new electrical and mechanical systems and the building of an underground 1,000-car garage. When completed, the first floor will feature a display area with some of the building’s historic elements including a cellblock that once held Charles Manson. The edifice was red-tagged after being damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The revamped building will house the Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s office.

LOS ANGELES RIVER The ongoing effort to revitalize the Los Angeles River took another step forward on May 27, when for the first time in about 80 years a stretch of the waterway was opened to the public for kayaking, walking and fishing. The Pilot Recreational Zone is a 2.5-mile stretch of the river in Elysian Park and is managed by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. The Recreational Zone was open through Sept. 2. Previously, the Environmental Protection Agency had designated the river as “traditional navigable waters,” which led to supervised canoe and kayak trips down a 1.5-mile stretch in the San Fernando Valley. Meanwhile, a recently awarded $2.5 million federal grant will study ways to activate the river in communities such as Atwater Village, Cypress Park and Lincoln Heights. The Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study has been included in President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget.

LOS ANGELES STATE HISTORIC PARK Construction will start in late January on an $18 million renova-

LOS ANGELES STREETCAR An application to secure $52 million from the federal government’s Small Starts program will be filed by the end of the year.

It is needed to make up the construction difference for the $125 million circulator; last year, residents within a few blocks of the proposed project approved a plan to tax local property owners (including condominium owners) up to $85 million to cover a majority of the capital costs. The streetcar would run from L.A. Live to the Civic Center with main spines on Broadway and Hill Street. Streetcar officials hope to open the project by 2016.

The City Council in March approved a 30-year plan that would provide up to $294 million to fund maintenance and operations. The money would come from the Measure R sales tax, but would not kick in until the streetcar is built.

MERCED THEATRE RENOVATION Work continues on the upgrade of the 1870 Merced Theatre.

On Sept. 27, the City Council is expected to approve an agreement with L.A. Opera to operate a public performance space at the theater. According to a motion authored by 14th District Councilman José Huizar, the opera would use the theater space, which is on the second floor, for various events. In April the council approved moving the city’s Channel 35 television station from its current Little Tokyo home to the theater at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. The $23 million project would require seismic upgrades and an elevator that could accommodate freight and disabled access. The project is expected to take about three years. The annual savings in lease costs would be $341,710. Channel 35 airs all City Council meetings and other programs related to city departments and events.

METRO BUS FACILITY

photo by Gary Leonard

22 Downtown News

Metro has completed approximately 40% of the Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations facility. Excavation for the project on the northeast corner of Vignes Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue is nearly complete, and crews have begun pouring foundations and building columns. The first pouring of decks above ground will occur in approximately two months. The previous budget of $95 million has risen to $104 million due to increases in moving utilities. The project is intended to hold 200 buses and will contain a multi-level garage, a fueling depot and areas for washing vehicles. The development is intended 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. The project will create 397 parking spaces for District 13 employees. Completion is expected by late summer 2014. At metro.net.

PARKER CENTER REPLACEMENT A long-awaited draft environmental impact report analyzing proposals for what to do with aged Parker Center was released on Sept. 3. The city is looking at options for the former police headquarters at 150 N. Los Angeles St. The outdated and bedraggled edifice essentially became obsolete in 2009 when most of the LAPD moved into the $440 million Police

Downtown News 23

Development

rendering courtesy of HNTB

Administration Building. The three options are rehabbing the 1955 structure, during which the 319,000-square-foot edifice would be updated with improvements including seismic retrofitting and expanding the parking garage; rehabbing some of the building while tearing down the dilapidated Parker Center jail, and then adding a new structure, creating more than 522,000 square feet of usable space; and razing the building and replacing it with either one or two office structures that could stand up to 450 feet tall and have a total of about 750,000 square feet of space. The public is allowed to comment on the draft EIR through Oct. 21.

REGIONAL CONNECTOR The Metropolitan Transportation Authority continues preliminary construction activities and final design work for the $1.37 billion Regional Connector. Crews have been relocating utilities along the 1.9-mile underground light-rail route. The agency’s next milestone is awarding a design/build contract for the project; that is expected in October. Major construction of the connector is slated to start late this year; it would entail digging an underground tunnel from Little Tokyo to the Financial District via Second Street, then cutting a trench down Flower Street to Wilshire Boulevard. The project calls for three new underground stations at First Street and Central Avenue, Second Street and Broadway and Second and Hope streets. The project is facing a legal challenge from Japanese Village Plaza, Thomas Properties Group and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, whose operators fear that construction will hamper business. A trial is expected to start in November. The tentative timeline calls for completion in 2019. At metro.net/projects/connector.

SIXTH STREET VIADUCT The city Bureau of Engineering tapped the firms of Skanska/ Stacy and Witbeck to construct the $400 million replacement for the Sixth Street Viaduct. Downtown-based HNTB Inc. continues to be the lead designer on the development. Constructed in 1932, the concrete in the existing bridge, which connects Downtown with Boyle Heights, has been subject to an internal

chemical condition called Alkali Silica Reaction, which has weakened the viaduct. HNTB’s design features a “Ribbon of Arches” that amplifies the sweep and style of the 81-year-old bridge’s original look. The project will integrate bicycle and pedestrian access, open space and direct connections to the Los Angeles River. Construction will begin in 2014, though work is not expected to be completed before 2018. Prominent L.A. architects Michael Maltzan and the firm AC Martin are part of the design team. At sixthstreetviaductreplacement.com CULTURAL/ENTERTAINMENT FARMERS FIELD There has been little apparent progress on the plan to build an NFL football stadium in Downtown since March, when Tim Leiweke, the president and CEO of developer Anschutz Entertainment Group and the prime driver of the project, left the company.

Leiweke is now working in Canada, and although he has been replaced by Dan Beckerman, and company founder Phil Anschutz pledged to propel the project forward, the public push has slowed dramatically on erecting a 68,000-seat football stadium and renovating the aged Convention Center. AEG’s $1.4 billion project would raze the Convention Center’s West Hall and place the stadium where it now stands. A replacement for the lost Convention Center building, dubbed the Pico Hall and being designed by the firm Populous, would rise contiguous to the current Convention Center. Architecture firm Gensler is handling designs of the sta-

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dium that would feature a “deployable,” or removable roof. AEG has repeatedly said it would not begin construction until a deal to move a team to L.A. is signed. The project would include a $10 million expansion of the Blue Line’s Pico Station as part of AEG’s effort to have 25% of game attendees utilize public transit. Though what will happen with football is unknown, the City Council in June approved a plan to transfer management of the Convention Center to AEG. ITALIAN AMERICAN MUSEUM A renovation of the Italian Hall is 65% complete and the city has drafted a deal with a nonprofit group to run the $4.5 million Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, according to officials with El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. Drywall installation is in progress, the ceiling truss has been repaired and next up is roof repair work, which will include the installation of an air conditioning system. Project completion is expected in early 2014 with the museum inside the 1908 structure opening sometime after that. The museum will be on the second floor of the building at 645 N. Main St. It will house a 4,000-square-foot main showroom and multipurpose space and will have exhibits that can be moved to make way for cultural and educational programs and events. At italianhall.org.

REGENT THEATRE Interior demolition on the project that will create a new concert venue in the Historic Core is complete, said Darius Sabbaghzadeh, a representative of project head Mitchell Frank. The foundation concrete will be poured this month and will be followed by the installation of the electrical system and a kitchen for the theater at 448 S. Main St. The project will include a pizzeria. Frank owns the concert promotion company Spaceland Productions. Completion of the Regent is expected by early 2014.

THE BROAD Most of the skylights have been installed, and the drywall installation in the curved lobby walls and ceiling of the $130 Continued on page 24

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UPCOMING IMPROVEMENTS

September 16, 2013

September 16, 2013

Development

PROJECT UPDATES, 23 million contemporary art museum The Broad is nearing completion. The installation of the veil, the lattice-like exterior of the project being designed by the New York firm Diller Scofidio +

Jessica Wethington McLean, from the office of 14th District City Councilman José Huizar. Construction is ongoing for the project that is transforming the 13-floor United Artists Theatre at 933 S. Broadway into a 180-room hotel. When it opens it will have a 1,600-seat entertainment space in the theater, a pool, restaurant and bar. It will also hold live theater programs. The hotel was built in 1927 by United Artists founders D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. At acehotel.com.

Renfro, is expected to begin in spring 2014, said Karen Denne, a spokeswoman for The Broad Foundation. The museum is rising on top of a three-level, 370-car garage. Once completed, the 120,000-square-foot attraction with approximately 50,000 square feet of exhibition space will house philanthropist Eli Broad’s 2,000-piece contemporary art collection. The project on Grand Avenue across from the Colburn School and MOCA will also hold a lecture hall that seats 200 people. At broadartfoundation.org.

BUSINESS

photo by Gary Leonard

351 S. BROADWAY Major construction is set to begin by the end of this month on a $7.5 million renovation of the property at 351 S. Broadway, said architect and developer David Gray. The project will turn the edifice into office space for creative use tenants. It will add a sixth floor and a ground-floor bar; work is expected to take up to two years. The building’s original façade, which had been covered for about 60 years, has already been unveiled as part of the renovation. A 12-foot ficus tree that has grown out of the wall near the roof is still there but will be removed as part of the project. Gray is looking for a permanent home for the tree.

845 S. FIGUEROA ST./SMART & FINAL A 24,000-square-foot Smart & Final Extra opened July 18 on the ground floor of the recently renovated 1969 building at 845 S. Figueroa St. The Commerce-based company signed a 20-year lease for the space in the building that was purchased last year by the State Bar of California (which acquired it from parking lot giant L&R Group, which had initiated the renovation). The upper floors will be occupied by some 280 State Bar employees. They are expected to move in by the end of the year, said Laura Ernde, a State bar spokeswoman.

1130 S. HOPE ST. According to plans filed with the Department of City Planning, development firm BIMHF, LLC plans to create a 10-story, 44room boutique hotel with a bar, lounge, meeting spaces and a pool deck. The ground-up construction at 1130 S. Hope St. would mean demolishing nearly half of a 76-room, three-story apartment building while preserving the masonry façade. The developer has previously stated that $25 million in financing is lined up, but neither a budget nor design details have been released for the South Park project.

ACE HOTEL A November opening is anticipated for the Ace Hotel, said

rendering courtesy of Evoq Properties

photo by Gary Leonard

ALAMEDA SQUARE

Landowner Evoq Properties has completed the upgrade of the 777 Alameda building, and VF Corp moved the headquarters for two of its fashion brands, Splendid and Ella Moss, into the top two floors of the property in May, said Christie Ly, a spokeswoman for Evoq. The floors offer 82,000 square feet of creative office space. The 1.4-million-square-foot, four-building industrial complex at Seventh and Alameda streets has long been dominated by tenant American Apparel, which occupies two buildings and 700,000 square feet of space. Evoq is planning upgrades for the last remaining vacant building as part of a plan to turn the complex into an active mixed-use center. The proposal includes upgrading the common outdoor areas between the buildings.

The timeline, Ly said, depends on when the company can sign additional tenants. At alamedasquare.com.

CLARK HOTEL Construction on the 347-room venture at 426 S. Hill St. is complete but a labor dispute has slowed the opening of the hotel just north of Pershing Square. An appeal hearing in front of the City Planning Commission is set for Sept. 24 to determine if the project will receive its final city approvals. The project has garnered opposition from Unite Here Local 11, the politically connected hotel workers union. If approved, the 11-story boutique hotel could open by October. It would include an 11,500-squarefoot banquet space.

CLEANTECH MANUFACTURING CENTER Trammell Crow Company and Principal Real Estate Investors have secured entitlements and grading permits to begin development of the 446,000-square-foot Cleantech Manufacturing Center, said Jason Gremillion, vice president of Trammell Crow. CBRE, the project’s listing agent, is marketing the property to clean technology and other tenants seeking state of the art industrial/manufacturing buildings. The 20-acre project is at 2445 E. Washington Blvd. and represents the southern bookend of the four-mile long Cleantech Corridor on the eastern edge of Downtown. The project would consist of three buildings.

Gremillion said the project is on track to be complete and ready for occupancy by the second quarter of 2014.

CLIFTON’S CAFETERIA Andrew Meieran, the owner of Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria, said he expects to open the first part of a multi-phase project in the first quarter of 2014. Clifton’s, which occupies the ground floor of the four-story building, will feature an updated cafeteria, though it will hold on to its historic character, and a bar will be added to its mezzanine. The second floor will become a jazz and blues lounge called The Brookdale, and a speakeasy-style bar will operate in the basement. The third floor is slated to become a tiki bar dubbed Pacific Seas. The top level will host a fine dining restaurant, and an existing bakery will be renovated and sell wholesale and retail pastry products. The project at 648 S. Broadway has been repeatedly delayed, largely from the challenges of working in a historic building with outdated systems.

DESMOND BUILDING Lincoln Property Company is in the midst of processing permits for a renovation of the Desmond Building, a five-story structure

in South Park. Working with architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Lincoln plans to turn the 1917 building at 11th and Hope streets into a luxury creative office and retail complex. The firm is on track to start construction by the end of the year, said Lincoln Vice President Rob Kane. Lincoln plans to spend about $9 million to convert the building and add a sixth floor. Other work will include updating the mechanical systems and interior finishes and restoring windows. Plans also call for restaurant and retail space on the ground floor. If construction starts this year, occupancy could begin in May 2014, said Kane.

EMBASSY HOTEL AND AUDITORIUM According to the most recent information available, plans to turn the vacant Embassy Hotel and Trinity Auditorium in South Park into a 183-room hotel remain on hold. The New York-based Chetrit Group had been pursuing a plan to upgrade the approximately 12,000-square-foot theater in the building and turn the historic structure at 849 S. Grand Ave. into the Empire Hotel, with a 7,600-square-foot outdoor garden, an approximately 2,000-square-foot ground-floor restaurant with more than 200 seats, a lobby bar and a lounge.

LA KRETZ INNOVATION CAMPUS/CLEANTECH INCUBATOR A groundbreaking was held in June for the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, a 30,000-square-foot clean technology business incubator in the Arts District. Ian Harris, the vice president of partnerships for LACI, said the project at 525 S. Hewitt St. (411 S. Hewitt St. was the incubator’s temporary location) is moving into the construction phase. The DWP paid $11.1 million for the building on the block bounded by Hewitt, Colyton, Fifth and Palmetto streets.

The project will have a workforce training component, and the LADWP’s Energy Efficiency Group is slated to house its testing and demonstration labs on site. The project also includes converting an asphalt parking lot on the corner of Fifth and Hewitt streets into a public park. At laincubator.org.

L.A. HOTEL RENOVATION A sign outside the establishment at 333 S. Figueroa St. still bears the name L.A. Hotel and states that it will soon become a Hyatt; officials had previously said the name change would occur in the spring. According to the most recent information available, the $20 million renovation of the former Los Angeles Downtown Marriott is almost complete. The hotel is now part of the Hyatt chain. The renovation includes upgrades to all the guest rooms, along with improvements to the lobby, the meeting and ballroom areas and the restaurants. The hotel has remained open during the renovation.

LITTLE TOKYO GALLERIA A $6 million bowling alley, sports bar and entertainment center called X Lanes opened in May as the centerpiece of an ongoing renovation of the 28-year-old mall at 333 S. Alameda St. The 50,000-square-foot facility with 24 bowling lanes also has a 150seat restaurant, a 100-game arcade, a nine-table billiards room and a sports bar. The upgrade of the 250,000-square-foot galleria will include three more restaurants, though there is no timeline on when they will open, said Jay Chun, the CEO and director of operations for X Lanes. Property owner Three Alameda Plaza also plans $300,000 in improvements to the bland, gray exterior.

That work could start this year, said Chun.

MARRIOTT TOWER The topping off for the 23-story Marriott Tower took place over the summer, and all of the concrete for the project has been put in place.

The $172 million project from Seattle-based American Life Inc. and Portland’s Williams/ Dame & Associates remains on schedule to open in July 2014. The framing and drywall work is 65% complete.

The pre-cast exterior elements and windows have been installed up to the roof, and fin-

photo by Gary Leonard

24 Downtown News

ishes will start to be installed in the next few weeks. The rooftop pool and deck are now being installed. The 373,000-squarefoot development will hold a 174-room Courtyard by Marriott and a 218-room Residence Inn in a high-rise just north of the Ritz-Carlton/J.W. Marriott. The project is being built by SODO Builders L.A., LLC, with designs by Portland’s GBD Architects.

PICO AND FIGUEROA HOTEL The city is still in the selection process for the proposal it will bring to council members about the Pico and Figueroa housing complex, said Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller. Last fall, the city launched a public bidding competition, asking developers to offer plans for a 19,000-square-foot city-owned parcel across from the Convention Center. The city hopes to sell the site on the northeast corner of Figueroa and 12th streets to a developer that will erect a four-star or boutique hotel. The winning bidder would have to move the proposal through the city entitlements process. The city has not revealed an asking price for the land, but the adjacent 2.7-acre parcel at 1220 S. Figueroa St. sold last year for $31 million.

RENAISSANCE HOTEL In March, a press release announced that Anschutz Entertainment Group and Portland-based developer Williams/Dame & Associates had signed an agreement for AEG to sell a 60,000-square-foot parcel that Williams/Dame would turn into a 450-room Renaissance Hotel. However, according to a Williams/Dame spokesman, the final deal has not yet been signed. The companies, the spokesman said, are in serious discussions for the site on the northeast corner of Olympic Boulevard and Georgia Street. The March release had classified the project as a $200 million hotel that would break ground in the first quarter of 2014 and open two years later.

Williams/Dame is developing the nearby $172 million Marriott hotels project that will bring 392 Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn rooms to Downtown.

SPARKLE FACTORY Alfonso Campos, who is the husband and business partner of prominent jewelry designer Tarina Tarantino, said a search is underway for designers and artists to sell their wares in the ground-floor store of the building at 908 S. Broadway. The couple are converting the long-vacant 1914 building into their business headquarters, and have dubbed it the Sparkle Factory, after Tarantino’s designs. The 26,800-square-foot edifice will house design and production operations as well as a store; Alfonso foresees an inventory of women’s and men’s accessories such as scarves, wallets and cufflinks. Project completion has been pushed back to spring or summer 2014, he said.

Campos said an additional possibility is creating a speakeasy type bar in the basement.

WAL-MART NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET A 34,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at 701 W. Cesar Chavez Ave. is scheduled to open in the near future. The store will fill a long-vacant ground floor space at Grand Plaza, a 302-unit senior complex near Downtown’s arts high school. The supermarket will employ about 65 people and have a meat section, bread baked on site daily and a range of traditional grocery items. There will also be a pharmacy in the same complex across

Downtown News 25

Development an outdoor corridor. The project includes a 140-space parking lot for customers.

OPENED IN THE PAST FOUR MONTHS CAMINO NUEVO MIRAMAR CAMPUS The Camino Nuevo High School Miramar Campus, formerly known as Central Region High School No. 12, opened in August.

The 500-seat charter high school in City West is run by Camino Nuevo Charter Academy. The school debuted with ninth and 10th grade students, and will add 11th and 12th grade classes over the next two years. The 55,361-square-foot, three-story institution at 1215 W. Miramar St. houses 19 classrooms with 47 underground parking spaces, administrative offices, a dining area, a library and science labs. The school is just east of the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex athletics fields.

HOPE STREET FAMILY CENTER The community service center moved into a new $15.7 million headquarters in August. The four-story, 25,500-squarefoot Hope Street Margolis Family Center is at 1600 S. Hope St. The project was a partnership between Abode and California Hospital Medical Center. The building includes an outdoor basketball court and a children’s play area. The property is slated to secure LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The organization offers services to low-income families.

LAPD PARK REPLANTING The Police Administration Building replanting was completed in early summer, said Tonya Durrell, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Public Works. The landscaping overhaul undertaken by the Bureau of Engineering addressed a slew of maintenance mishaps around the $440 million LAPD headquarters building that opened just four years ago. The $400,000 renovation included weed eradication, improvements to the irrigation system and the replacement of dead plants and trees.

METRO CHARTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Classes started on Sept. 3 for a charter elementary school that was launched by a group of South Park parents. Metro Charter Elementary occupies a 12,000-square-foot space at 1401 S. Grand Ave. that formerly housed the Hope Street Family Center.

The school opened with about 115 students in kindergarten through second grade, with three kindergarten classes and one each for the upper levels. The school will grow by a grade a year.

Plans call for more than 500 students when the school expands to fifth grade in 2016. By then, officials plan on finding a different home that can accommodate a larger school.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM The final major component of a seven-year, $135 million transformation of the Natural History Museum opened July 14.

Becoming Los Angeles is a permanent, 14,000-square-foot exhibition that traces the evolution of the city over 500 years. The full upgrade touched on virtually every aspect of the century-old, Exposition Park attraction. A historic structure known as the 1913 Building underwent a full renovation, including seismic upgrading, and the opening two years ago of the Dinosaur Hall

doubled the paleontological display space. The museum also received a new entrance positioned to capitalize off the light rail Expo Line, and the Nature Garden transformed the exterior, creating a 3.5-acre garden with 31,000 plants. The vast majority of the funds came from foundations or the private sector. The county and state governments contributed $45 million.

NINTH STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

photo by Gary Leonard

September 16, 2013

Classes began at Ninth Street Elementary School on Aug. 13, following the completion of a $56 million renovation undertaken by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The project at 820 Towne Ave. on the edge of Skid Row removed the approximately 100 outdated bungalows and replaced them with 78,000 square feet of state-of-the-art educational space. The school now offers 33 classrooms and can hold 855 kindergarten to eighth grade students (405 seats are set aside for a Para Los Niños charter middle school that operates on the campus). The school had closed in 2010 so the renovation could take place.

Other additions include a library, playgrounds, athletic facilities and a multipurpose room with a large stage, an electronic scoreboard and basketball hoops that can be raised or lowered.

SPRING STREET PARK The .7-acre Spring Street Park opened on June 17, with a timeline accelerated so that it could debut before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa left office. The $8 million facility ($5 million in land acquisition costs, with construction priced at $3 million) on Spring between Fourth and Fifth streets is highlighted by a small grassy oval next to a children’s play area, though the grass has been hampered by pet owners who treat it as a doggy toilet.

The L-shaped park in the middle of the Historic Core includes a fountain, benches, walking paths and a large plaza. The city Department of Recreation and Parks estimates it will cost approximately $100,000 a year to maintain the park.

URBAN RADISH The long-awaited Urban Radish held its soft opening on July 4. The 8,200-square-foot upscale market at 660 Mateo St. in the Arts District filled a former metal warehouse known for its large exterior mural of a chipmunk. The store, just steps from the Biscuit Company and Toy Factory lofts, created 25 jobs and cost about $1.7 million. It is owned by Carolyn Paxton and Keri Aivazis. Urban Radish stocks an assortment of grocery staples as well as prepared foods, wines, spices, a meat station and a large cheese area. A grand opening ceremony took place on Aug. 17.

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26 Downtown News

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

September 16, 2013

Veteran Developer Planning 40-Story Tower for Historic Core Joseph Hellen Aims to Get in on the Ground Floor Of What He Thinks Is a High-Rise Movement

By Donna Evans oseph Hellen, a longtime Downtown landowner who in recent years has created nearly 300 apartments by turning century-old buildings into housing, has what he considers to be the perfect addition to the Historic Core: a 40-story residential tower that would rise between his Spring Arcade Building and the Alexandria Hotel.

The concept of erecting a steel and glass high-rise amidst mid-level early 20th structures might strike some as architecturally jarring, but the 87-year-old Holocaust survivor believes this is a defining time for Los Angeles, and if it wants to be considered a “world class city,” he said, it should exhibit world-class high-rises.

During an interview last week in the offices of his Central City real estate and development firm, Downtown Management, Hellen described how he has scrapped various plans for the site that had been considered over the past eight years. In August 2012, he envisioned a 12-story apartment complex on the property in the 500 block of South Spring Street.

Instead, he has hired a new architecture team, Martinez + Cutri Corporation, which has worked up renderings for the mammoth structure that folks are more apt to see in South Park than the Historic Core.

“It is a show building for Los Angeles,”

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said Hellen, who spends most of his time in Melbourne, Australia, and travels to Downtown to oversee his business interests a few times a year.

Preliminary cost projections for the Spring Street apartment project’s basic core and shell are $120 million, with the likelihood of a much higher price tag depending on the quality of the residential finishes, Hellen said. The company is looking to create 252 units, which will be built to condominium specs, though the plan is initially to market them as apartments.

Known for financing his buildings out of his own pocket, Hellen said he is not seeking a construction loan at this time, and plans to use existing resources to fund the project.

The high-rise, which Hellen is calling the Stationer’s Building for the former stationery business that once occupied the now parking lot, will offer approximately 12,000 to 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail, along with six levels of parking. The rest of the structure would be residential.

A timeline for the project has not been announced. The development needs to secure entitlements from the city.

Hellen said he suspects he’ll keep the Stationer’s name for the building, In his past Downtown adaptive reuse projects, the Spring Arcade, Jewelry Trades and Chester Williams buildings, he has also utilized the historic monikers.

Melbourne Precedent If Hellen gets the green light from the city, it would mark the first time that he has built from the ground-up in Downtown, instead of restoring an old property. In addition to the trio of apartment complexes that came online between 2010 and 2012, Hellen owns the Roxie, Cameo and Arcade theaters on Broadway, which currently operate as swap meets. Hellen, who made his fortune in real estate in Australia, bought most of his Downtown buildings in the early 1990s.

Renderings show the proposed Spring Street structure towering over its neighbors, markedly altering the streetscape and skyline. Though the design will undoubtedly raise eyebrows, Downtown Management Vice President Greg Martin said there is a precedent in Melbourne,

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Joseph Hellen in his Downtown Management company office at the Spring Arcade Building, with renderings of his proposed Stationer’s Building, a 40-story residential tower.

photo by Donna Evans

where old colonial buildings coexist alongside high-rises that are 70 stories or more.

“Los Angeles has a lot of beautiful, existing architecture with lots of areas where we could build high-rise architecture,” Martin said. “[Modern high-rises] are not going to compete with the existing architecture. They’re only going to enhance it.”

Hellen is not the only Downtown real estate veteran looking to go tall in the heart of the community. Izek Shomof, an early adaptive reuse developer who turned several old Spring Street buildings into housing, is working on creating a 22-story tower at Fourth Street and Broadway with about 400 units. Barry Shy, who has created hundreds of apartments in former Historic Core office structures, has plans for SB Omega, a 40-story tower that would rise at 601 S. Main St. It would have 350 apartments.

Although 14th District City Councilman José Huizar has not yet seen the latest concept design for Hellen’s Spring Street tower, his spokesman Rick Coca said Huizar is “generally supportive of more high-rises being built.”

Huizar last week introduced a motion intended to incentivize high-rise development and hotel uses in Downtown.

“The towers in Downtown define the city’s skyline, a landmark in the region and around the world,” Huizar stated in his motion.

Some in Downtown circles have worried that a rush of six- and seven-story apartment structures now in development could imperil a chance to increase density by building highrises in one of the few Los Angeles communities that generally supports taller projects. In a recent Los Angeles Downtown News story, Shomof pointed out that as high-rises inch skyward, that can equate to more units, which add

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rendering courtesy Downtown Management

Hellen’s structure would rise on Spring Street between the Spring Arcade Building and the Alexandria Hotel. It would include 252 apartments.

up to a better return.

That’s certainly what Hellen concludes.

“When you have a [40-story] building, you can break even in less than five years,’’ he said.

Hellen acknowledges that it may take a decade for the real estate community to recognize that he and other developers are on the ground floor of Downtown’s high-rise movement. He said he’s not worried about others eventually catching up. donna@downtownnews.com

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September 16, 2013

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Using the Past to Build the Future At New Pershing Apartments, the Roof Comes Down as the Walls Stay Up

By Donna Evans alking near Fifth and Main streets these days, it’s hard not to stop and look up.

The scene is halting: blue sky topping the roofless structure at 500 S. Main St., clouds visible through the only Victorian windows left in Downtown Los Angeles, and steel beams holding up the walls that stitch together the old Pershing Hotel and Roma Hotel buildings.

While the image hearkens to the past, the project is all about the future.

Together the structures will become the New Pershing Apartments, a 69-unit, low-income housing development from Skid Row Housing Trust. The approximately $19 million project is scheduled to open in October 2014.

While one expects to see mounds of bricks and rows of nail-studded wood piled high when a building is being photo by Gary Leonard taken apart, those materials often have Nonprofit developer Skid Row Housing Trust is going to great lengths to preserve the historic facade of the outlived their usefulness. At the New century-old building at 500 S. Main St. Pershing Apartments, being designed

by Killefer Flammang Architects, the old (two units are reserved for management), 52 will be supported pieces are gearing up for a second life:

by Section 8 funding, a federal rental subsidy. The remainder are The company has gone to great lengths to preserve the facade also designated for low-income residents. of the building, and is also carefully saving interior elements Additionally, the New Pershing Apartments will have commusuch as handrails, window casings, woods planks and more so nity space, social service offices and an outdoor courtyard in the they can be re-incorporated into the new edifice. center of the building.

“It’s a holy old building; you can’t approach it lightly,” said Wade Killefer, a partner at the architecture firm, who has worked What may be of more interest to Historic Core denizens is that the project will have ground floor commercial space, facing on dozens of Downtown adaptive reuse projects. “You have to both Main and Fifth streets, pitched to the changing neighbortake the history seriously.” hood. That follows what SRHT did with the nearby New Genesis The former Pershing Hotel dates to 1889, and the Roma Hotel, apartments. The property, with 104 units mostly pitched to lowat 508 S. Main St., was erected in 1905. Although the Pershing was income individuals, has an ice cream shop on the ground floor, determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic and a meatball restaurant is in the works. In that instance the Places in 1988, it was never declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural retail was a response to requests by neighbors.

Monument, according to the project’s historic resource report pre Alvidrez said that with the historic focus, larger rooms for resipared by Galvin Preservation Associates in Redondo Beach.

Still, the attention to the past is clear. With most of the interior dents and ground floor retail, the New Pershing will be an asset for the community. gutted since the deconstruction began on May 1, and the his Funding sources include the low income housing tax credit toric elements set aside from the unusable debris, the Westport and the state’s Multifamily Housing Program, as well as city Construction Company has set up huge metal beams to hold up and federal monies, Israel said. In 1988, the Pershing was one the original walls.

“We wanted to preserve as much of the original, historic fabric of the first buildings to utilize a program that allows private investment to be infused into projects dedicated to lowas possible,” said project manager Andi Israel. income housing.

Plus, it’s a greener way of doing things.

The last residents vacated the building this past New Year’s “The less energy expended in building or demolishing a Eve, Israel said. She noted that most inhabitants were relocated building, the better,” added Mike Alvidrez, executive director of to other SRHT properties.

SRHT. “It’s better because it’s more sustainable over time.”

Back at the site, as a John Deere excavator plucked heaps of Community Services steel from a rubble pile and swung it into the corner of the cavern SRHT bought the properties at 500 and 508 S. Main St. in 1988.

Although they operated as a single building, they had been set at ous plot, Oscar Zendejas, assistant superintendent of Westport Construction, said he has worked jobs where the company wanted different heights. Israel described the floors of the old structures to preserve “cool stuff,” but not to the degree of the New Pershing. as a “maze” with the second level higher in one building than the As they pulled out tile and some historic handrails, he could other, and staircases all around to connect them. see why.

“It looked like an Escher painting,” Alvidrez quipped.

“You can’t get this kind of look anymore,” Zendejas said. “It’s The New Pershing Apartments will have level floors and more too expensive if you don’t preserve it.” spacious rooms, running 350-500 square feet, roughly three to donna@downtownnews.com four times larger than the original units. Of the 67 apartments

W

AROUND TOWN, 2 Get the Latest on The Union Station Master Plan

T

he train station is changing and this is your chance to learn all about it.

On Thursday, Sept. 19, the Los Angeles

Headquarters Association is hosting a meeting at the California Club to update its members and other interested Downtowners on the Union Station Master Plan. Metro has undertaken the initiative to address how the 75-year-old station, and a few dozen surrounding acres of land, can be utilized in a growing Downtown. Concepts including more retail, restaurants, housing and office space have been discussed so

far. Speaking about the master plan will be Debra Gerod, a partner at Gruen Associates, which is part of the team that won the contract to create the master plan, and Jenna Hornstock, deputy executive officer of countywide planning for Metro. The event, at 538 S. Flower St., runs from 5:30-7 p.m.; tickets are $60 for members and $75 for their guests.

Tickets and additional information are at laheadquarters.com.

Downtown News 27

CALENDAR

DT

Solo Taper Show Follows a Man Who Ran Away From the Circus

September 16, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

photo by Mark Garvin

28 Downtown News

Send

in the Clown

By Jim Farber or hundreds, even thousands of years, circus families have inhabited a world unto themselves, a lifestyle based on itinerant wandering and endless performances. It is replete with its own code of conduct and unique perspective on child rearing.

This is the world that 36-year old Lorenzo Pisoni, the star of the solo show Humor Abuse, was born into. The play, directed

by Erica Schmidt, blends autobiography with pratfalls as it tells the story of a young boy who, contrary to the cliché, ran away to escape the circus.

It opens Saturday, Sept. 21 (previews are Sept. 17-20), and plays through Nov. 3 at the Mark Taper Forum in Downtown.

“As soon as I could walk,” Pisoni tells his audience, “I tried to run away from my parents’ circus, in footsie pajamas down the shoulder of a highway, but my dad picked me up at the sheriff’s station and brought me back, put bells on my shoes and made me wear a pin that read, ‘I’m Lorenzo and I belong to the circus.’”

Pisoni says emphatically that the show is not about child abuse.

Still, he concedes that when he was 6, his father, Larry Pisoni, the founding member, star clown and manager of the Pickle Family Circus, did force his son to fall down stairs. Other times he dressed the boy for hours in a hot, smelly gorilla costume.

But steamer trunks, Pisoni explains, were his father’s favorite props. He came to know them well.

“Growing up, I spent a lot of time locked in these trunks,” he said.

Often as not he wasn’t alone. Pisoni notes that he shared the compact space with, at various times, his sister, balloons, and even a life-size puppet of himself.

Under normal circumstances a father who did things like this to his child would be risking arrest or, at least, would warrant a visit from Child Protective Services.

“That’s the perspective of someone outside the circus world,” Pisoni said recently during a much-needed break from his physically demanding rehearsals. “For me, growing up, it didn’t feel E was normal in my world. But I can abusive.

That MOBIL IE to 55678* see how it could NMofOV B from Text appearCLU odd theDT point view of someone else.”

The expression “humor abuse,” Pisoni explains, was coined TextaDTNMOVIE to 55678 Movie Club

by Jonah Hoyle, fellow child performer withto theJoin PickleOur Family and be Entered to Win Movie Tickets!

Circus. He was Lorenzo’s circus buddy and the son of a clown *Carrier msg his & data rates apply. Reply HELP for help. STOP to quit. 4 msgs/month max.the circus a second time to go to college. from who performed with father.

“I gave him his first acting job,” Schmidt recalls. “And his sec“When [Jonah] used it, it was a reference to what our fathers ond job and his third.” did to humor, which was to beat a joke into submission, until it Together they conceived a series of productions, mostly was no longer funny,” Pisoni said.

Shakespeare, that combined Pisoni’s flair for acting with his On another level, the show’s title is a reference to the day-in, circus skills, which include acrobatics and juggling. They conday-out physical regimen that Pisoni puts himself through for cocted a scaled-down version of As You Like It in which Pisoni the show. During the 90-minute production, he crams himself was required to wrestle with… himself. into a trunk, falls headlong down a flight of stairs and becomes It was also during his days at Vassar that Pisoni and his old the victim of endless pratfalls. friend Jonah Hoyle created a modest vaudeville show about the Ironically, he insists, “I’m not funny. I’m the straight man.” nNews wntow history of clowning. It had one performance.

Instead, he attests, it’scom his father, ever-present, imaginary /L.A.Dothe Facebook.

“I saw that show,” Schmidt says. “I thought it was the greatest second character in the play, who sparks the laughs. He illustrates thing I’d ever seen.” the idea by sharing his family scrapbook with the audience.

Like Downtown on Facebook Despite the brief run, the seed for Humor Abuse had been “It’s my father who is funny,News ” says Pisoni. & Be Entered to Win Movie planted. Later, after Hoyle dropped out, Schmidt and Pisoni deShakespeare WrestlingTickets! cided to go it on their own.

There is a third critically important member of the production Their first workshop version of Humor Abuse was presented who is not imaginary, but is also never seen — director Erica in 2008 at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. By Schmidt. then, the script had taken a radical shift. Reconfigured as a oneShe and Pisoni go back to their student/teacher days in the man show, it was much less about the history of clowning and theater department at Vassar. That was after Lorenzo ran away

F

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Starts Sept 6 & 13

Lorenzo Pisoni stars in the solo show Humor Abuse.

It taps his acting abilities, along with his juggling and pratfall skills.

much more about the personal relationship between Lorenzo and his father.

That, Pisoni admits, was a point of view he did not immediately embrace. There were too many memories lurking there that he was not anxious to explore, let alone share with an audience.

Still, something clicked, and Pisoni and Schmidt grew Humor Abuse from that tiny workshop into a full-fledged production which has been performed in Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco and, now, Downtown Los Angeles.

Also since those formative days, Pisoni says, “The show has been ‘super-sized,’ with lots of bells and whistles added.” He said all of the extras will be included at the Taper.

So, is Humor Abuse circus? Or is it, “This Is Your Life, Lorenzo Starts Pisoni?”Sept 13 Pisoni laughs.

“Clowns that see the show say it’s a good play,” said Pisoni.

“People who are not clowns that see the show say it’s a great clown show. I love that.”

Humor Abuse runs Sept. 21-Nov. 3 at the Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-4444 or centertheatregroup.com.

Now Playing/Starts Sept 20

September 16, 2013

Downtown News 29

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Another Visit to The Mouths of the South

East West Players revives Steel Magnolias, the 1987 dramedy about a group of women who congregate at a Louisiana beauty parlor. It runs through Oct. 6.

East West Players Brings Back the Talk-y ‘Steel Magnolias’

By Jeff Favre t’s a testament to East West Players artistic director Tim Dang — and his two predecessors — that seeing an all Asian-American cast in a play intended to be about white characters seems perfectly normal.

Along with works that directly speak to the Asian-American experience, the company during its 48-year history has presented classics and audience favorites, changing little but the ethnicity of the actors. The belief is that some stories evoke a universal, visceral response.

As East West did three years ago with Crimes of the Heart, the new Steel Magnolias is set in the South. It features another set of quirky, mostly likeable women, mixed with plenty of gentle laughs and a few dashes of tears thrown in for emotional variety.

The show runs through Oct. 6 at the David Henry Hwang Theatre in Little Tokyo.

Directed by Laurie Woolery at a leisurely pace that befits its surroundings and conversational style, there’s enough honesty on display — overcoming a few acting problems — to sell Robert Harling’s 1987 script, which was inspired by his sister’s life and illness.

Steel Magnolias is better known for the 1989 movie version starring Julia Roberts, Sally Field and Dolly Parton. Today it is a period piece, which is visually suggested in the Downtown show through Sara Ryung Clement’s costume design.

Set in the fictional town of Chinquapin, La., at

I

a beauty parlor owned by gossipy, verbose Truvy (Hiwa Bourne), the story revolves around four visits to Truvy’s over two years by four neighborhood regulars, beginning with the wedding day of Shelby (Ruth Coughlin). Her mother, the reserved M’Lynn (Patti Yasutake), is a bit controlling of her daughter, though it’s mostly from worry over Shelby’s severe diabetes.

Representing the elder generation are the kind, wealthy widow Clairee (Dian Kobayashi) and the loud, always-annoyed Ouiser (Karen Huie).

The odd-woman out is Truvy’s shy new employee Annelle (Lovelle Liquigan), whose recent arrival in town was followed by her noaccount husband taking off with all of her possessions.

Steel Magnolias marked Harling’s debut as a playwright, and while nothing particular stands out in his writing — there are neither surprises nor out-of-the-box thinking — the cute dialogue and bits of Southern wisdom ensure that the play remains in steady community theater rotation.

Women kvetching about their men (who are seen in the movie but only referred to here) and dishing about others in town is easily relatable, if not laugh-out-loud funny.

The material receives a boost from Liquigan and Kobayashi, who display the polar opposites of refined and awkward. The former’s cartoonish mannerisms as the new salon worker

photo by Michael Lamont

are fun to watch, including amusing, clumsy first attempts at shampooing hair and making coffee.

Kobayashi, meanwhile, provides the show’s dramatic weight. She shines in a climatic monologue that requires a believable shift in Clairee’s personality to induce tears from the audience.

What doesn’t ring true are most of the Southern accents, which frequently are distracting, and in the case of Huie, something else entirely.

Also problematic were several instances during the opening night performance when lines appeared late in coming or were almost missed entirely. Even if Harling’s nearly two-and-a-halfhour work is meant to meander, any interruption in the flow is noticeable, and it disrupts the world that director Woolery is building.

But when the cast clicks — such as a moment in the first scene when the ladies con-

vince Annelle to spill her sordid tale of woe about her husband — Steel Magnolias becomes escapist fun.

A key to enhancing the story is to have a salon that feels real, and Christopher Scott Murillo’s set accomplishes that, as do the actions of Bourne and Liquigan, who appear capable of actually styling someone’s hair.

Using Asian-American actresses neither enhances nor detracts from the experience, and that’s because unconditional love and friendship is recognizable to everyone, regardless of their ethnicity or background.

Even with a few missteps, East West Players has no trouble providing ample evidence that Steel Magnolias remains an enjoyable visit with familiar characters.

Steel Magnolias runs through Oct. 6 at 120 Judge Aiso St., (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers.org.

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USC THORNTON EDGE Frank Ticheli, conductor 7:30 PM - Alfred Newman Recital Hall

4:00 PM - Bovard Auditorium William Alwyn’s Concerto for Flute featuring Thornton faculty James Walker along with music by Bernstein, Holst, Mozart and Wagner.

A performance of Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon’s Zaka, Thornton faculty Andrew Norman’s Gran Turismo, and George Crumb’s Madrigals Book IV featuring soprano Diana Newman, and music by Composition Chair, Donald Crockett.

OCT 17

USC THORNTON SYMPHONY Carl St.Clair, artistic leader and conductor 7:30 PM - Bovard Auditorium

A theatrical exploration of the life and music of Tchaikovsky with a multimedia performance of the composer’s final piece, Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, “Pathétique.” Sponsored by Visions and Voices: The USC Arts & Humanities Initiative.

OCT 25

FACULTY RECITAL W/ CHE-YEN CHEN, FORMOSA QUARTET, & FRIENDS 8:00 PM - Alfred Newman Recital Hall

Viola faculty Che-Yen Chen is joined by the Formosa Quartet and Thornton faculty members Paul Katz and Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu in Dana Wilson’s Hungarian Folk Songs, Wei-Chieh Lin’s Pasibutbut, and music by Mozart and Brahms.

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THE DON’T MISS LIST

by Dan Johnson calendar@downtownnews.com

SPONSORED LISTINGS

One

Friday Night Flicks Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., (213) 847-4970 or laparks.org/pershingsquare.

Sept. 20, 8:30 p.m.: The summer film series continues with Remember the Titans. In the early 1970s, two schools in Alexandria, Virginia integrate, forming T.C. Williams High School. The white head coach of the Titans is replaced by an African-American coach from North Carolina.

Tensions rise when players of different races are forced together on the same football team.

Bringing Peace to a Conflicted World All Peoples Christian Church, 822 East 20th St., near the San Pedro stop the on Blue Line, (213) 747-6357 To celebrate the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, the All Peoples Christian Church, an open and affirming congregation, will offer the following event: Sept.

22: Peace in Our Lives, Tina Tessina therapist and author.

The event is free and a light lunch will be served. RSVP at events@allpeopleschristianchurch.org.

For three quarters of a century now, the people of Chinatown have been gathering to celebrate the cosmic splendor of the full moon.

On Saturday, Sept.

21, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival marks its 75th year and the fall equinox with a lineup of live rock, a gaggle of food trucks and local artisans.

Packed around Chinatown’s Central and West Plazas, the festival promises acrobats, moon observation sponsored by the Griffith Park Observatory and the legendary capuchin monkey who, you will remember, is to be seen and not touched. The celebration goes from 5 p.m.-midnight. At 943 N. Broadway, (213) 680-0243 or chinatownla.com.

MONDay, SEPTEMbER 16 Wilson: An Intimate Portrait at Aloud Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7500 or lfla.org.

Sept. 16, 7:15 p.m.: President Woodrow Wilson is the topic of conversation between biographer A. Scott Berg and L.A. Times editor-at-large Jim Newton.

ThuRSDay, SEPTEMbER 19 Randall Kennedy at Aloud Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7500 or lfla.org.

7:15 p.m.: Let’s run through special guest Randall Kennedy’s credentials real quick: Harvard law professor, one-time clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and the author of a book with a name that would make our editorial department blush. More importantly, he’s an illuminating authority on the impact of race on America’s litigiousness.

Scott McGregor at Live Talks Gensler, 500 S. Figueroa St., or livetalksla.org.

7:45 a.m.: Broadcom President and CEO Scott McGregor drops by to talk tech at this breakfast forum. Try the danishes.

FRIDay, SEPTEMbER 20 Dance Downtown Grand Park, 200 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7211 or musiccenter.org.

6 p.m.: The final Dance Downtown of the season features free instruction and a robust DJ blasting out the samba hits.

Latin American Celebration Angelus Plaza, 255 S. Hill St., (213) 623-4352 ext. 317 1:30 p.m.: The huge senior housing complex holds its annual Latin American Heritage Celebration. The honoree is longtime County Supervisor Gloria Molina. Susie Hansen and her Latin jazz band will play.

SaTuRDay, SEPTEMbER 21 Book Launch Party at MOCA MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., (213) 626-6222 or moca.org.

3 p.m.: Curator Souris Hong-Porretta presents the ridiculous and enchanting Outside the Lines: An Artists’ Coloring Book for Giant Imaginations. It’s the focal point of an all-out soiree featuring DJ sets by Shepard Fairey and Jega.

SuNDay, SEPTEMbER 22 65th Primetime Emmy Awards Nokia Theatre, 777 Chick Hearn Court or nokiatheatrelalive.com.

5 p.m.: If you like network television, you’ll love the Daytime Emmy’s big bad brother!

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

4.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall Hall’s unabashed fondness for a certain New York borough continues where this year’s promotional Brooklyn Festival left off. Danny Kaye and his wife Sylvia Fine, a pair of classic artists from the recently gentrified hub of all things hip, are getting the royal treatment with the exhibition Two Kids From Brooklyn. It’s a fitting and surprising tribute to the work of singing/dancing sensation Kaye and his lyricist love. The multimedia exhibit just opened and runs through Feb. 23, giving you ample opportunity to be so moved by the production that you move to New York briefly, then remember why you chose to live in Los Angeles in the first place. At 111 S. Grand Ave., (213) 972-0777 or musiccenter.org.

5

two

Berlin, the ’80s new wave band famous for the Top Gun anthem “Take My Breath Away,” is stopping by the Grammy Museum on Tuesday, Sept 17.

As it turns out, the Berliners have reunited with singer Terri Nunn to release Animal, their first album in eight years. Their stated purpose at the Grammy Museum, besides talking up the new effort, includes speculating as to Berlin’s relevance to the recent EDM fad. But feel free to also ask about the 1982 song “The Metro.” Your breath will be taken away at 8:30 p.m. at 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 7656800 or grammymuseum.org.

Three

The future is now with Broadcom, the corporation producing semiconductors that power many of the machines that enable our techno-addicted lifestyle. On Thursday, Sept.19, Broadcom President and CEO Scott McGregor will show up at the headquarters of architecture firm Gensler for a breakfast conversation with tech commentator Gary Beach. In the event, organized by the Live Talks Business forum, McGregor will discuss the global relevance of the tech industry, Broadcom’s huge growth and whether Skynet’s robots are plotting humanity’s demise (we made one of those up). Arrivals begin at 7:45 a.m. at 500 S. Figueroa St. or livetalksbusiness.com.

photo courtesy Broadcom

EVENTS

photo © Matt Beard Photography

Old Rock, New Rock, and The Joys of Loving the Moon

To readers concerned about the omnipresent threa t of a whooping cough outb reak, we apologize for the dece ptive titled band you’ll be se ly eing on the Mayan Theatre ’s marquee before their show on Sunday, Sept. 22. Th e Vaccines have nothing to do with immunology. Th ey are, in fact, a perky indie rock act from the UK. Still filled with the vigor of youth, The Va ccines produce a brand of po st-punk rock that practically dr ips with the type of lukewarm fatalism common to young mus ician still angry at their paren s ts.

Tickets are available.

At 1038 S. Hill St., (213) 746-42 87 or clubmayan.com.

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

photo courtesy of Goldenvoice

DT

CALENDAR LISTINGS

September 16, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS photo by Gary Leonard

30 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

bluewhalemusic.com.

Sept. 17: Brandon Bernstein Quartet featuring Joey Sellers.

Sept. 18: Tina Raymond’s 2 Trios. Does that mean six folks on stage? Only The Shadow knows.

Sept. 19: Carmen Lundy Group.

Sept. 20: Billy Child Electric Band.

Sept. 21: Uri Caine, John Hebert and Clarence Penn.

Sept. 22: Creative Underground Part III. Bootleg Bar 2220 Beverly Blvd., (213) 389-3856 or bootlegtheater.org.

Sept. 16, 8 p.m.: Strange that one letter makes all the difference between Dear Boy sounding like the subdued indie band they are and the precocious hybrid species sideshow beast we all hoped they would be. Darn homophones.

Sept. 17, 8 p.m.: Hot tip for renegade pop punk producer Butch Walker: Writing a non-informative anti-bio scorning the archaic practice of artist bios is generally reserved for musicians who haven’t produced Avril Lavigne and Lindsay Lohan records.

Sept. 18, 8 p.m.: Vintage obsessed rock family Rose Windows channels all the aesthetics (and creepy backroom vibes) of the Mamas and the Papas.

Sept. 20, 8 p.m.: Tennessee native Valerie June furthers the attempt to revive genuine rural blues in this the age of the information superhighway, shiny digital music production and glossy photo retouching. John Reilly and Friends open the night with a reflective chuckle.

Sept. 21, 8 p.m.: Scorning the bubbly, dreamy electro-pop vixen stereotype, Juliette Commagére lays soft vocal lines over Steve Roachesque backing tracks. Look at all the French we just used!

Sept. 22, 7 p.m.: With Andrea Gibson, words will be spoken and feelings will be hurt.

Broadway Bar 830 S. Broadway, (213) 614-9909 or broadwaybar.la.

Sept. 19, 10 p.m.: Clock in for the Late Shift.

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

Sept. 20, 8 p.m.: Sorry Disney fans, when we say Fantasia’s playing Club Nokia, we don’t mean the classic animated film.

Instead, it’s the “American Idol” alum with the Dutch boy haircut.

Sept. 21, 9 p.m.: The Dan Band is perhaps the most dedicated cover band you’ll ever hear.

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

Sept. 16, 10 p.m.: Brian Walker and Monster Mondays are a musical incentive to wake up each week.

Sept. 17, 10 p.m.: Bunny West and Boom Boom Boom fill the night with the excitement of a Thursday packed into the decorum of a Tuesday.

Sept. 18, 10 p.m.: Before they head out on tour, the Get Down Boys drop some classy bluegrass on Skidrokyo.

Sept. 19, 10 p.m.: Trip Rezac and Blackwater Jukebox bring the heat.

Sept. 20, 9 p.m.: Trevor Menear starts the weekend off before Speed Buggy cranks up the party.

Sept. 21, 10 p.m.: If it’s Saturday, it must be Charlie Chan and the SOB’s.

Sept. 22, 10 p.m.: Honkytonk phenom RT N the 44s.

Exchange LA 618 S. Spring St., (213) 627-8070 or exchangela.com.

Sept. 19, 10 p.m.: House DJ Fedde Le Grand knows all there is to know about the crying game. Stop by and catch his set and maybe he’ll explain.

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

Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m.: Berlin drops a fresh new album. Come thee and hang out with Terri Nunn.

Sept. 18, 8 p.m.: My Morning Jacket front man Jim James gives an interview and special performance before a sold-out and sure-to-be adoring crowd.

Ham and Eggs 433 W. Eighth St. or hamandeggstavern.com.

Sept. 18: DIM. Last Bookstore 453 S. Spring St., (213) 488-0599 or lastbookstorela.com.

Sept. 20, 9 p.m.: Folks, the folk is about to get avant garde as MV & EE step in with M. Geddes Gengras on their Fuzz Odyssey Tour. Tickets are $5, and no pretending to root through the literary criticism aisle. We’re on to you.

Nola’s 734 E. Third St, (213) 680-3003 or nolasla.com.

Sept. 17, 8 p.m.: Down Home Blues Jam Session.

Sept. 18, 8 p.m.: Al Marotta.

One-Eyed Gypsy 901 E. First St., (626) 340-3529 or one-eyedgypsy.com.

Sept. 17: Hot Club Vignati.

Sept. 18: Second time in the listings this week for RT N the 44s.

Sept. 20: Will Magid.

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

Sept. 16: Loves It and Grit.

Sept. 17: Tuesday Night Booty.

Sept. 18: The Steal Kids, F Cab, Egrets on Ergot, Slick Savage and Jet Pilot Jerry.

Sept. 19: The Hip Priests, lady Descendents cover band Des & The Cendents, Common War and The Hellions.

Sept. 20: Electric Children, Leaking Pigs, Backbiter, Ingenue, White Murder and Schitzophonics.

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Downtown News 31 Sept. 21: The Fadeaways, The Flytraps, The Blackerbys and The Blood Hounds.

Sept. 22, 3 p.m.: Early Bzzrd & The Bees.

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

Sept. 16: Katisse Buckingham assembles his Oddsemble.

Sept. 17: If you haven’t yet acquiesced to The Maker’s enchanting conglomerate of improvised jazz, you don’t know the meaning of pleasurable submission!

Sept. 18: The Acid Blues Band will be performing. We will all remember the man formerly onstage with them, the late Artwork Jamal.

Sept. 22: Critical Brass christens a new week with their jazzy shenanigans.

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

Sept. 18: Kat Kong, Foodie, Habits and Fritz Sender.

Continued on next page

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DT DT DT NEWS NEWS NEWS 32 Downtown News

Continued from previous page Sept. 20: Telepathe, Palace Of Buddies, Devon Williams.

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM Sept. 21: The So So Glos, Diarrhea Planet, Moses Campbell and Dustin and the Explosions.

Ice and polar bear enthusiasts will likely dig To the Arctic 3D. Experience the gripping story full of hope, crushing disappointment and triumph in Hubble 3D. Library Foundation Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7500 or lfla.org.

Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m.: In the inaugural evening of the Library Downtown Independent Foundation’s new Lost & Found At the Movies program, curator 251 S. Main St., (213) 617-1033 or downtownindependent.

John Nein and critic Kenneth Turan pull out all the stops in their com. exploration of film culture.

Sept. 16, 4 and 6 p.m., Sept. 17, 5 and 7 p.m., Sept. 18, 4 and 6 MOCA p.m. and Sept. 19, 3 and 5 p.m.: In The Muslims Are Coming! a 250 S. Grand Ave., (213) 626-6222 or moca.org. group of Muslim-American standup comedians go on the road to Sept. 19, 8 p.m.: Artist Brian Butler screens his latest excounter Islamophobia.

Their tool?

Humor! periment in existential psychedlia. Babalon Working will be Los Angeles Downtown News Sept.W. 19, First 7 p.m.:Street, Mindshare presentsCA a screening 1264 LosLA Angeles, 90026 of A River followed immediately by a performance of his live stereoscopic, Changes a film about the drastic evolutions in Cambo- sensory overload epic Transmigration. phone:Course, 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 dian culture.

The event features a post-screening Q&A. Pershing Square web: DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com Sept. 20-26: Three college friends hit the biggest party of the 532 S. Olive St., (213) 485-1645 or laparks.org/pershingsquare. facebook: twitter: year, whereL.A. a mysterious phenomenon disrupts the nightDowntownNews in +1.

Sept. 20: Despite what this film may tell you about the left Downtown News IMAX side being the strong side, both halves of the Pershing Square California Science Center, 700 State Drive, (213) 744-2019 film viewing lawn are equally suitable for catching Remember & PublishEr: Sue Laris orEditor californiasciencecenter.org. the Titans.

GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin Explore the remnants and wisdom of an ancient empire in Regal Cinemas ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie Mysteries of Egypt.

1000 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 763-6070 or lalive.com/

FILM

LADT NEWS

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

PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard

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movies.

Through September 19: The Family (11:30 a.m. and 1:10, 2:30, 4:20, 7:30 and 10:40 p.m.); Insidious: Chapter 2 (1:20, 4:10, 5:10, 7:10, 8, 9:50, 10:50 p.m. and 12:20 a.m.); Riddick (12:20, 1, 3:20, 4, 6:40, 7:20, 9:30 and 10:20 p.m.); Instructions Not Included (11:20 a.m. and 12:50, 2, 3:50, 4:50, 7, 7:40, 9:50 and 10:30 p.m.); One Direction: This Is Us (1 p.m.); One Direction: This Is Us 3D (4, 7 and 9:40 p.m.); You’re Next (12:10, 2:30, 5, 7:20 and 9:40 p.m.); Lee Daniels’ The Butler (12:30, 3:30, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.); Elysium (12 and 2:40 p.m.); We’re Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris The Millers (12:40 and 3:40 p.m.); This Is the End (11:30 a.m.

GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin and 2:10, 5, 7:50 and 10:40 p.m.).

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Art dirEctor: Allison Sept. 19-20, Brian 10:30 a.m. and Sept. 21-22, 2:30 p.m.: The musiAssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa cal genre gets the full marionette tribute as Bob Baker leads his ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins

be-stringed constituency through yet another electric routine.

PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard Carmen

4 WEB:213-481-1448 LADowntownNews.com/calendar phone: • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com 4 EMAIL: Calendar@DowntownNews.com email: realpeople@downtownnews.com Email: Send a brief description, street address and public phone number. Submissions must be received 10 days prior to publication datefacebook: to be considered for print.

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Dorothy Chandler AccouNtiNG: Tara Pavilion, LaPlante135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 9727219 or laopera.com.

AdvErtisiNG dirEctor: Steve Nakutin clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Josie Damian, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez

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ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie 700 Wilshire Blvd., #510 citY Editor: Richard Guzmán 213-489-2333 1451 Venice Blvd (1 block west of hoover) stAFF writEr: Donna Evans piparco@sbcglobal.net 213-387-5400 | 24Hrs 7 days coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese www.laundrymatofdowntownla.com coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, GregDOWNTOWNNEWS.COM Fischer, Los Angeles Downtown News Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 Art dirEctor: Brian Allison phone: Premiere 213-481-1448 World of • fax: 213-250-4617 AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa web: DowntownNews.com ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins email: realpeople@downtownnews.com

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DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

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.

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Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m.: The riveting Bizet score and consummate attention to set design meld with Patricia Bardon’s Carmen and Brandon Jovanovich’s Don Jose to coalesce into a visceral and enchanting operatic portrait of Seville.

ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie citY Editor: Richard Guzmán stAFF writEr: Donna Evans coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM Bob Baker’s Musical World coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Los Angeles Downtown News The Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. First St., (213) Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

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ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie citY Editor: Richard Guzmán stAFF writEr: Donna Evans coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Tara LaPlante

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September 16, 2013

DT

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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.

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We welcome your inquiries on personal and business legal concerns. (213) 293-6330

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Beginning September 16th, 2013 and ending September 27th, 2013, the lottery selection will commence for applications for the proposed Taylor Yard Apartments, developed by McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. There will be a maximum income restriction set at 60% of the Los Angeles County Area Median Income. The limits are listed below.

Maximum Income Limits* Total Household Members

For lease 818 N. Spring Street This commercial complex is located in the heart of Chinatown, and can be redeveloped to fit your company's unique needs. Ideal for Medical Office, Manufacturing, Office,and Retail. Call Gil at (213) 625-8883 or Total Space Available: 10,600 SF Rental Rate: $ 0.50 /SF for one year Email at contact@jajchinatown.com Property Type: Commercial/Industrial Property Sub Type: Flexible

Maximun Household Income at 60% of Area Median Income

1 2 3 4 5 6

chinatown Plaza,

$34,800 $39,780 $44,760 $49,680 $53,700 $57,660

Occupancy Limits and Monthly Rents* Occupancy Limits Unit Type 1-Bedroom 2-Bedroom 3-Bedroom

Minimum Occupancy 1 2 3

Maximum Occupancy

Monthly Rents

2 1-BR: $434-$900 4 2-BR: $518-$1,078 6 3-BR: $596-$1,242

* Income limits and monthly rental rates are subject to change annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the State of California.

The random order in which this number is posted by the computer will determine the applicant’s place on the Lottery Wait List.

The resident screening criteria will be available for review to all applicants at time of formal application. Section 8 vouchers are accepted. The Taylor Yard Apartments is a “Smoke-Free” community. No pets allowed. Assistance animal are welcome.

Distribution of pre-application forms will close at 5:00 p.m., Friday September 27th, 2013.

Requests for special consideration for the handicapped or disabled will be taken by phone at (213) 236-2678.

the LOFT expert!

TM

Downtown since 2002

Bill Cooper 213.598.7555 TheLoftExpertGroup.com DRE # 01309009

Bill Cooper 213.598.7555

TheLoftExpertGroup.com BRE #01309009

Voted BEST Downtown Residential Real Estate Agent!

Getting LA Back 2 Work A Training, Retraining and/or Job Placement Initiative City of Los Angeles Economic & Workforce Development Department

To qualify for this program you must: • Have been laid off from one of the listed employers* • Have a valid CA ID/License & Social Security Card, or a valid US Passport • If not a US Citizen, Right-to-Work documents/Permanent Residency Card/Green Card • Unemployment Insurance documents (EDD); Lay-off Notice (if applicable) • Be registered with available Selective Services (for males only) * Sodexo, Inc, Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles Unified School District, American Airlines, Solar Integrated Technology, Dunn Edwards (Compton, Los Angeles, Vernon) City of Los Angeles, Solar Integrated Technology, Compton Unified School District, Bank of America, Mattel Inc. (City of Industry) And More!!!

For a complete list of employers please go to: http;//www.wiblacity.org/b2w/

Downtown Worksource Center (213) 629-5800

Fully furnished with TV, telephone, microwave, refrigerator.

Full bathroom.

Excellent location.

Downtown LA. Weekly maid service.

Continued on next page

Sunshine Generation

PUBLIC NOTICE Application Lottery for Income Restricted Apartments

Clean unfurnished bachelor rooms with shared bath at $550/mo. with private bath at $695/mo.

Includes utilities, basic cable channels, laundry room on site.

Gated building in a good area.

208 W. 14th St. at Hill St. Downtown LA

CONCEPTO’S CLEANING Crew.

Professional, experienced, cleans apartments, homes, offices and restaurants. Call for a quote. 323459-3067 or 818-409-9183.

Children’s Performing Group

Downtownnews.com

Casaloma L.A. Apartments

sec. Deposit special @$100 with good credit

cleaning

legal

info@lwvlosangeles.org

Your number 1 source for Loft sales, rentals and development!

Downtownnews.com

SERVICES

Monthly from $695 utilities paid.

(213) 627-1151

The Lottery Selection Method The selection of pre-applications will be done by lottery.

Placement on the waiting list will not be based on date-and-time of pre-application.

This means that: - Applicants do not have to spend the night outside of the pre-application form distribution sites; - Applicants do not need to stand in long lines; - Everyone who wants to submit a pre-application form before the deadline may do so; - The lottery will determine the applicant’s place on the waiting list giving each applicant a chance, providing it was submitted before the dead line listed on the pre-application form; and - Taylor Yard Apartments will be open to anyone who wishes to apply, but there will only be 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments available.

Application Locations: Pre-applications will be available at the following Distribution Sites, beginning: September 16th, 2013.

STUDIO APARTMENTS STUDIO APARTMENTS

Cypress Park Community Center 929 Cypress Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90065 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

Cypress Park Library 1150 Cypress Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90065 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

MONTH $675$675 PERPER MONTH

Cypress Park Recreation Center 2630 Pepper Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90065 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

Central City Neighborhood Partners 501 S. Bixel St, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

Proyecto Pastoral 135 N. Mission Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90033 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

LIFT-Los Angeles 1910 Magnolia Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

Westside Center for Independent Living 12901 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

Family Source Center 6931 Van Nuys Blvd, # 201, LA, CA 91406 Office Hours: M-F 9am-5pm

Move-inNOWNOW LEASING LEASING Specials

5TH LOS ANGELES 5TH & LOS&ANGELES

UTILITIES PAID! ALLALL UTILITIES PAID! 213-622-1437 213-622-1437 EmploymEnt Urth Caffé will be accepting applications for Back of the house positions only: prep cooks, food runner, line cooks & barista.

We are looking for Energetic, Friendly and Hard-Working candidates with experience. Job fair will be held every Fridays and Mondays, 9am-12pm at our Pasadena location, 594 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101. Must apply in person.

The Taylor Yard Apartments does not discriminate in admission or access to its housing programs. Any eligible individual with handicap will be served. Those who have a visual or hearing impairment will be provided with the necessary information to understand and participate in the program. McCormack Baron Ragan Management Services, Inc., as agent for Taylor Yard Apartments, will coordinate efforts to comply with the nondiscrimination requirements of Section 504 and is committed to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. McCormack Baron Ragan Management Services, Inc. encourages and supports an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.

OPPORTUNITY

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

34 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

NISSAN OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

DTLAMOTORS.COM

888-838-5089 635 W. WASHINGTON BLVD. • DOWNTOWNNISSAN.COM

NEW ’’13 113 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5S

LEASE FOR ONLY

129

$

TOYOTA OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

per month for 39 mos

NEW ’13 TOYOTA CAMRY

HealtH

0% APR for 60 months!

Plus $1000 Finance Cash!*

$6,999 2007 Nissan Altima Sedan ..................... $13,999 Only 42,000 Miles, Must See, N130227-1/7N418393 2005 Nissan Armada SE .......................... $15,999 5.6L V8, Silver/Black, Leather, 38K miles, NI4111/5N706134

All models except Camry Hybrid. $16.67 per month per $1000 financed. No down payment necessary. In lieu of factory rebates. On approved above average credit. Must finance through TFS. Expires 9/30/13.*On top of paying no interest for 5 years!

VOLKSWAGEN OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

DOWNTOWN L.A. MOTORS MERCEDES BENZ

Only 87K miles, Looks and Runs great, N130239-1/2C197821

888-781-8102 1900 S. FIGUEROA ST. • VWDOWNTOWNLA.COM

NEW ’’13 113 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA S

LEASE FOR ONLY

137

$

per month for 36 mos

36-month closed end lease, $2,349 due at signing. (Excludes title, tax, options and dealer fees.

Excludes TDI(r) Clean Diesel and Hybrid models.). Monthly payments total $5,004 and include $625 acquisition fee. Residual $10,009.05. Lessees responsible for $0.20/mile over 30,000 miles and excessive wear and tear. VIN 317648 Expires 09/30/2013

$7,512 1996 Ford Bronco 2 Door ......................... $7,544 5.8L V8, Burgundy/Beige, 4WD, 1 Owner. V131221-1/ LA32662 2007 Suzuki SX4 Spt Sdn ......................... $7,999 Blue/Black, AWD, Auto, ABS, 6-disc CD. V132054-1/ X75102442 CARSON NISSAN 2003 Chevy Monte Carlo ..........................

SS Coupe, 3.8L V6, White, Only 65K Miles, Alloys. V132010-2/39203237

888-845-2267 1505 E. 223RD ST., CARSON • CARSONNISSAN.COM

NEW ’’13 NISSAN ROGUE S

LEASE FOR ONLY

179

$

per month for 39 mos

Plus tax 39-month closed end lease on above average tier approved credit., $2999 due at signing. (Excludes title, tax, 1st mo. pymt, options and dealer fees). $0 security deposit. $0.20/mile over 12,000 miles/yr. 1 at this offer # C130048/008216.

$3,995 2006 Chrysler Town & Country .............. $5,995 Top-of-the-line. Must See. Absolutely Loaded. C131176-1 / 821012 2006 Acura TL ........................................ $9,995 Leather, Full Power, Silver, Must See. C131662-1/ 6A037781 FELIX CHEVROLET 1995 Nissan Quest .................................

Low Miles, Great Condition, Must See. C131306-1 / SD864022

888-304-7039 3300 S. FIGUEROA ST. • FELIXCHEVROLET.COM

NEW ’’13 113 CHEVY VOLT w/ Leather

LEASE FOR ONLY

99

$

per month for 36 mos

36 month close end lease on approved credit “tier 1” through US BANK $5350 down, License dealer and government fees due at signing, Tax, License and fees not included or first payment.

Includes $1000 Competitive lease rebate $7250 CCR $0 Security deposit .25 cents per mile over 10,000 miles per year. Base on MSRP of $39,995 see dealer for details. 5 at this price.

$14,995 2012 Chevy Impala ................................ $16,995 Silver/Gray, Only 34K Miles, Must see. UC1213R / XC1138006 2012 Chevy Malibu ................................. $16,995 Black/Gray, Only 36K Miles, A Real Beauty. UC1216R/ CF291806 2011 Chevy HHR .....................................

White/Gray, Only 31K Miles, Great condition. UC1177R/ BS554947

SERVICES

800-574-4891 1600 S. FIGUEROA ST. • TOYOTADOWNTOWNLA.COM

Plus tax, 39 month closed end lease on approved credit. $0 Sec. Dep. $5359 due at Signing. (Excludes taxes, title, other options & dealer fees).

Residual $14,280. Model # 13113. $0.15/mile over 12,000 miles/year. 5 At this Price.

2002 Nissan Altima Sedan ........................

Continued from previous page

KUR SPA Happy Hour from 2 to 7pm, Monday to Friday: Any full body massage or facial $40 (55 mnts) Manicure and Pedicure $25. $2.00 off any waxing. 412 W. 6th Street #1111 relaxatkur. com. adabatun@yahoo.com.

818-574-9882.

EMPLOYMENT management

888-319-8762 1801 S. FIGUEROA ST. • MBZLA.COM

NEW ’’13 113 MERCEDES C250

LEASE FOR ONLY

319

$

per month for 27 mos

27 Month closed end lease on approved credit Tier 1 credit. $2,899 CAP reduction + first payment, Tax, License, acquisition fees. Total due at signing $4,461, $0 security deposit. 25¢ per mile in excess of 10,000 mi/year.

MSRP $38,755. 5 To Choose.

$30,980 2012 Mercedes E350 Coupe ..................

Certified, Palladium Silver, Nav., 16K Miles. 140191-1/ CF136899 $47,891 2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG Roadster .... $78,981 Certified, Iridium Silver, 17K Miles, 7 Speed. 6955P/9F156030 AUDI OF DOWNTOWN L.A. 2012 Mercedes C250 Sport Sedan .......

computer and information Systems manager Mail resume to Sam Bo, Inc., 318 West 30th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007 geneRal

DRiveRS New regional openings with

Great Home-Time! No-touch freight, newer Petes and great pay/benefits

NEW ’14 AUDI A4 2.0T

LEASE FOR ONLY

379

$

per month for 42 mos

+ tax 42 mo. Closed end lease on approved credit. $0 Sec. Dep. $0 Down plus first month payment, license and registration, and bank acquisition fee. Must qualify for the New Owner Appreciation or Audi Loyalty Rebate of $1000. $0.25 per miles over 10,000 miles/year. 1 at this offer EN003135.

$14,996 2011 Audi A5 Turbo ................................

Certified, Gray/Black, Bluetooth, Htd. Seats. A14332D-1/BA037447 $31,987 2010 Audi S4 Quattro ............................

Certified, Black, Driver Asst Pkg., Sport Rear Diff. ZA10691/AA184798$37,735 PORSCHE OF DOWNTOWN L.A. 2012 Kia Forte EX Coupe ......................

Auto, White/Gary, Only 24K Miles, 34mpg. A140047-1/C5480924

888-685-5426 1900 S. FIGUEROA ST. • PORSCHEDOWNTOWNLA.COM

NEW ’14 PORSCHE CAYMAN PDK

LEASE FOR ONLY

599

$

per month for 24 mos

Plus tax 24 month closed end lease on approved credit. $6,999 Down plus tax, 1st month pay payment, $895 Bank Acquisition fee, lic, doc fee. Residual $49,275. .30 cents per mile over 5,000 miles per year. No security deposit. Only 1 available at this price EK171030.

2010 Porsche Boxster ............................

Certified, Blk/Blk, PDK, Heated Seats, 35K Miles. ZP1593/AS710409

2011 Porsche Boxster S Spyder .......

Certified, Blk/Blk, Nav., Park Assist, Chrono. ZP1564-1/ BS745388

2011 Porsche Panamera ...................

Gran Turismo, Certified, Blue/Beige, Prk Asst, ZP1615/BL010537

$37,898 $59,895 $64,895

2009 AUDI A5 2.0T QUATTRO Certified, Turbo, Gray/Black, AWD, 35K Miles A13424D-1 / AA065553 ONLY....$32,995 Call 888-583-0981 www.audidtla. com 2009 CHEVY MALIBU HYBRID 4DR. Gray/Gray, Great Mileage, AC, Loaded F13074-1/ F131890 ONLY....$13,995 Call 888-3047039 www.felixchevrolet.com 2009 MERCEDES CLK350 AMG Certified, White Stone, 3.5L, low miles 5940C / F270087 ONLY....$25,991 Call 888-3198762. www.mbzla.com 2011 NISSAN SENTRA 2.0S SEDAN Certified, Red Brick Pearl/Silver, 30mpg, CU0827R / L651168 ONLY....$11,995 call 888-845-2267 www.carsonnissan.com

For a complete list of our pre-owned inventory, go to www.DTLAMOTORS.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS

866-319-0458

SPecial gReetingS

Certified, Turbo, Arctic White/Beige, 20K Miles. 6947P/ CA634102

888-583-0981 1900 S. FIGUEROA ST. • AUDIDTLA.COM

2008 VW JETTA PASSAT 2.5S Certified, 5cyl PZEV., Gray/Blk, Only 10,115 miles ZV1959 / CC059045 Only...$18,980 Call 888-781-8102 www.vwdowntownla.com

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dtlamotors.com 2005 NISSAN ARMADA SE 5.6L V8, Silver/Blk, Leather, Only 38K Miles. NI4111 / 5N706134 Only...$15,999 call 888-8385089 www.downtownnissan. com 2008 PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS Certified, Sand White/Black, 4.8L V8, Low Miles ZP1556 / 8LA73049 ONLY....$50,898. Call 888-685-5426 www.porschedowntownla.com

County of Los Angeles Department of the Treasurer and Tax Collector Notice of Divided Publication Pursuant to Sections 3702, 3381, and 3382, Revenue and Taxation Code, the Notice of Sale of Tax Defaulted Property Subject to the Power of Sale in and for the County of Los Angeles, State of California has been divided and distributed to various newspapers of general circulation published in said County for publication of a portion thereof, in each of the said newspapers.

Public Auction Notice (R&TC 3702) Of Sale Of Tax-Defaulted Property Subject To The Power Of Sale (Sale No. 2013A) Whereas, on June 18, 2013, I, MARK J. SALADINO, Treasurer and Tax Collector, was directed by the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County, State of California, to sell at public auction certain tax-defaulted properties which are Subject to the Power of Sale. Public notice is hereby given that unless said properties are redeemed prior thereto, I will, on October 21 and 22, 2013, at the hour of 9:00 a.m. at the Fairplex Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, 1101 W. McKinley Avenue, Building 5, Pomona, California, offer for sale

September 16, 2013 and sell said properties at public auction to the highest bidder for cash or cashier’s check in lawful money of the United States for not less than the minimum bid. If no bids are received on a parcel, it will be re-offered at the end of the auction at a reduced minimum price.

and Taxation Code, have a right to file a claim with the County for any proceeds from the sale, which are in excess of the liens and costs required to be paid from the proceeds. If excess proceeds result from the sale, notice will be given to parties of interest, pursuant to law.

Tax Collector.

The minimum bid for each parcel is the total amount necessary to redeem, plus costs, as required by Section 3698.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

All information concerning redemption, provided the right to redeem has not previously been terminated, will upon request be furnished by MARK J. SALADINO, Treasurer and

The Assessor’s Identification Number (AIN) in this publication refers to the Assessor’s Map Book, the Map Page, and the individual Parcel Number on the

Prospective bidders should obtain detailed information of this sale from the County Treasurer and Tax Collector.

Pre-registration and a $5,000 deposit in the form of cash, cashier’s check or bank issued money order is required at the time of registration. No personal checks, two-party checks or business checks will be accepted for registration. Registration will be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., beginning Monday, September 16, 2013, at the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s Office located at 225 North Hill Street, Room 130, Los Angeles, California, and will end on Friday, October 4, 2013, at 5:00 p.m.

If the property is sold, parties of interest, as defined by Section 4675 of the Revenue

Downtown News 35

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

If redemption of the property is not made according to the law before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 18, 2013, which is the last business day prior to the first day of auction, the right of redemption will cease.

Map Page. If a change in the AIN occurred, both prior and current AINs are shown. An explanation of the parcel numbering system and the maps referred to are available from the Office of the Assessor located at 500 West Temple Street, Room 225, Los Angeles, California 90012.

A list explaining the abbreviations used in this publication is on file in the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, 225 North Hill Street, Room 130, Los Angeles, California 90012, or

telephone 1(213) 974-2045.

I certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed at Los Angeles, California, on August 22, 2013.

MARK J. SALADINO Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector State of California

The real property that is subject to this notice is situated in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, and is described as follows: PUBLIC AUCTION NOTICE OF SALE OF TAX-DEFAULTED PROPERTY SUBJECT TO THE POWER OF SALE(SALE NO. 2013A) 3645 AIN 5151-027-087 EGBASE,ANTHONY AND

EGBASE,VICTORIALOCATION COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES $9,122.00 4330 AIN 5539-006-011 SYNOD OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND HAWAII LOCATION COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES $16,270.00 4332 AIN 5539-012-020 123 RAMONA LLC LOCATION COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES $67,410.00

LAST WEEKS ANSWERS

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Restrictions: Offer good on private party ads only. Ads must be pre-paid by cash, check or credit card. Certain classifications excluded. Deadline: Thursday at noon for next issue.

CROSSWORD

36 Downtown News

September 16, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

CITY COUNCIL, 5 said. “I think in large part it has to do with term limits and the change in the culture and how public servants deliberate on the public record.

“I think back to when I was younger and I was a staff person and John Ferraro was the president, and all of those folks there, Richard and Nate and Ferraro — oh my God, they fought. They fought with each other, debated, vetted, but ultimately I think that that’s the way democracy should be.”

The divide famously came into play in the late-’90s in Downtown when the developers of Staples Center were trying to win council approval for the project. Wachs opposed the arena, in part because the initial deal had problems and in part because the opposition was a good tool to use in his later run for mayor. Amazingly, Perry’s Ninth District predecessor Rita Walters also opposed the plan to build a 19,000-seat economic engine in a part of her district that held a bunch of ugly lots and shabby motels. The council members fought bitterly, emotionally and publicly. Ultimately, Wachs came around, but Walters didn’t. The council approved the project over Walters’ objections.

photo by Gary Leonard

Former Downtown councilwoman Jan Perry thinks public governmental debate on controversial matters is good for the city. “Democracy is a shoving match,” she said.

Fast forward to today and it’s the era of public consensus. On most matters, the council seems, for worse or better, to have adopted the ideology of yes, we can and must all get along.

“You know, democracy is a shoving match,” said Perry, who added that she still talks to, and sometimes argues with, some of her old council colleagues. “Just hearing their perspectives, it pushes my process to arrive at a conclusion, and it’s made it better and broader. Debate is a lost art right now.”

Torpedo the Murals Maybe, perhaps, possibly, perchance, things will change.

After detailing how often the council members agree, Blumenfield touched on one of his just say no moments: the council’s vote on an ordinance allowing murals on private property. Blumenfield was on the short end of this month’s 12-3 vote that was strongly backed by current Downtown Councilman José Huizar. He was joined in dissent by Paul Koretz and Bernard Parks.

Blumenfield felt that the ordinance had serious shortfalls, including, he said, not giving neighbors in a residential area enough say if they don’t want a huge and potentially unappealing artwork near their homes. He also objected to a clause that says murals can’t be taken down for two years.

Blumenfield said he wanted to bring the matter back to committee to hash out these and other issues. That didn’t happen as, for once, a large, vocal crowd had shown up in City Hall. People wanted the ban lifted then and there.

“My view was, let’s not approve the bill before it’s fully cooked,” Blumenfield said, and yep, he described another council rep’s legislation as not fully cooked. “I got booed when I spoke up.”

The interesting thing was, Blumenfield sounded OK about being booed. He lost, but he knew he’d fought, to use a cliche, the good fight.

Maybe the ability to fight in public, and the willingness to go to the mat, could help out in our 21st century version of democracy. Or maybe it was a fleeting moment. regardie@downtownnews.com