There’s a lot going on at the La Brea Tar Pits.
We recently talked with Dr. Emily Lindsey, associate curator and excavation site director at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. Said Lindsey, “Because of its location, [the site] really has the power to bring its story to millions of people. We can take a world-class fossil site and actually share both the science of the site, and also the process of that scientific enterprise, with the public at a scale that is hard to do anywhere else.”
Lindsey told us, “We have an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to start demystifying [the scientific] process and to help people understand how it’s done, how it relates to their daily life — or to things that they do in their daily life — and why science is a trustable endeavor; why it is a trustable way of getting information that allows us to make valuable, reliable predictions about the future.”
As noted, news and planning activity are emanating from the Tar Pits on a regular basis.
President and Director of
Published by the Larchmont Chronicle 323-462-2241
larchmontchronicle.com
This annual special section is delivered to residents, businesses and employees in the greater Miracle Mile area. It also is delivered to residents in Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Fremont Place, Park LaBrea and Larchmont Village, bringing the total readership to 100,000.
Front page photos by Casey Russell (top) and courtesy of Metro (bottom).
the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga recently was named a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Recognition by the AAAS is one of the most prestigious distinctions that can be bestowed upon a scientist. Bettison-Varga is also helming an expansion of the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. Architectural firm Weiss/ Manfredi was chosen to lead the conceptual design of the project. The firm was selected because of its approach to unifying the many parts of the 13-acre site, which includes the park, the George C. Page Building, the excavation pits and the Lake Pit.
The design firm chosen to focus on the interior of the museum — on storytelling and exhibit designs — is Kossmanndejong.
In a beautiful video produced by Weiss/Manfredi on the La Brea Tar Pits website, (tarpits.org/transformation), people can glimpse a vision for a museum “20 million years in the making… a living museum for a community.”
The planned design will expand visitors’ ability to observe the scientific research that happens daily at La Brea Tar Pits. There will be a shaded outdoor classroom, improved excavation visibility and a new public terrace that will provide a view from the rooftop. A new exhibi-
tion building will be built and will include a theater, a multipurpose room and more exhibition space. A restaurant will also be included in the renovation.
As residents know, the open green space the Tar Pits now have is a wonderful place for families to enjoy time outside. Kids have long loved rolling down the big green hill. Kids on field trips, youth sports groups and picnickers take advantage of the fields. Couples, families and joggers enjoy the path around the park.
Museum leaders and Weiss/ Manfredi see this existing space as a vital part of the community and the museum area. Plans will preserve the grassy slopes and enhance the recreation areas while incorporating climate-appropriate native plants.
More shade will be provided by canopies and entry plazas and a pedestrian walkway will loop through the site taking visitors on a “journey from prehistoric time to today,” as the website states.
Through the redesign, the team hopes to expand on the site’s ability to teach people about the science of the past, the science of climate change and global change, extinction, survival and also the scientific process in general.
The site is home to a vast quantity and variety of fossils, and the time period the site covers is the past
60 thousand years. Because of this, paleontologists are able to actually document the kinds of changes that happened in response to climate changes, like warming and
droughts, to human arrival on the landscape and the loss by extinction of about twothirds of the large mammals from the terrestrial ecosys(Please turn to page 4)
FIELD TRIP kids playing and rolling on the grass outside the George C. Page Building. PRESTIGIOUS distinction was awarded to Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga. DR. EMILY LINDSEY THE PARK in Hancock Park that adjoins the Tar Pits Museum is popular with families.
By Suzan Filipek
Whether you build under ground or above, the issues facing the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) are formidable, which is why we were gladdened when just-elected mayor Karen Bass told us she was looking forward to joining the board of Metro to help tackle some of the challenges (many of the most current ones involving cleanliness and safety on buses and trains).
Miracle Mile
While denizens of the Miracle Mile and surroundings are looking forward to the “D” (formerly Purple) Line subway opening its Wilshire Boulevard stations at La Brea Avenue and at Fairfax Avenue in 2024, with the full extension to Westwood and the Veterans Administration site in Brentwood scheduled for completion in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics, other parts of town are still having debates about transit planning and whether rail transit should be above or below ground.
(Continued from page 3) tem, which happened in a very short time and was the biggest extinction event since that of the dinosaurs.
Scientists at the site are now partnering with local organizations involved in policy and land management. The Nature Conservancy, the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Recreation and Parks are interested in information garnered from fossil records that can help inform conservation planning in and around the Los Angeles area today. “We look for what characteristics make a species resilient in the face of dramatic changes. Knowing this can help inform restoration efforts,” said Lindsey.
She told us she believes that now, more than ever, what is being done at the Tar Pits is important. “We’ve
A widely circulated Valentine’s Day letter to elected officials and others, subsequently published as a guest commentary in the online “City Watch,” is titled “Facts about Tunnels Metro Doesn’t Want You to Know.”
Written by Fred Rosen, a prominent retired businessman who lives in Bel Air and is active with the local residents’ group the Bel Air Association,
the letter and article outline what he believes are issues facing the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project. This is Metro’s long-range planning project for a transit line to extend north from the D Line in Westwood and through or under the Sepulveda Pass to Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley. Metro suggests that this might be a project that could open in 2033-2035; Rosen says the mid-2040s is
more realistic and still not likely. Options include an underground tunnel and an aboveground monorail.
“Believe it or not,” Rosen writes, the project “was conceived of in 2014 and a decision on the solution is not expected until 2025 — 11 years in the planning.”
He adds, “To be clear, the current CEO has been dealt a very difficult hand — it’s an entrenched bureaucracy seriously deep rooted and lost in 19th century technology — with no fear of being fired, held accountable or losing their job. To date — and I hope it changes — political oversight has meant that each politician’s district gets taken care of — and there has been little to no oversight of what an independent Board of Directors duties are in public companies — which is desperately needed here.”
To learn more of Rosen’s views about transit in the Westside, read the full article, published Feb. 13 on City Watch at tinyurl.com/y4s3t9u3.
That’s the question inquiring photographer Casey Russell asked locals.
just gone through this very difficult several-year period where it’s become very clear that there is a lot of distrust of science and scientists and
a lot of misunderstanding of what science is — what scientific methodology entails.”
Lindsey concluded that she is excited to be involved
in the redesign and expansion and in helping make the scientific process more accessible to, and understandable for, the public.
“I love to play with friends at the Tar Pits because we can be around nature and we can also learn about history and the cool Ice Age animals.”
“It’s a good place to just be in the sun when the weather is nice. It’s nice to be able to come and work and be calm.”
Briana
“When my son was a toddler, we used to walk here all the time. I love the sculptures around here. They start great discussions with my kids.”
Mira and MaryAnne Napierala Miracle Mile
Not too far from the Miracle Mile, on Crescent Heights and Sunset boulevards, is an empty lot that now is for sale. It had been planned to be home to a residential-and-retail complex designed by famed architect Frank Gehry.
The backstory to this vacant piece of land is a cautionary tale that includes preservationists pitted against developers, the California Supreme Court and the mid-century modern Lytton Savings building designed by the late Los Angeles architect Kurt Meyer.
In the end, the historic bank was demolished, and the much-touted Gehry project has been abandoned.
But the entitlements and the property are now available to the highest bidder.
“Who is to say that won’t happen here?” a caller to the
Chronicle asked in regard to a project closer to home, the TVC 2050 Project at the historic Television City studio on Fairfax Avenue and Beverly Boulevard.
TVC 2050 developer Hackman Capital Partners now seeks City of Los Angeles adoption of a Specific Plan for the property that it purchased from CBS Corporation in late 2018. The request includes allowing buildings with heights up to approximately 20 stories on the 25-acre site. The request would allow 1.9 million square feet of sound stage, office and other uses, plus 1.6 million square feet of additional development.
The developer says the project will create jobs and modernize and expand the aging TV studio, originally developed in 1952.
“We know that the TVC
Project will benefit not only studio workers…but local businesses and neighbors…”
Zach Sokoloff, senior vice president, Hackman Capital Partners, told us in an earlier statement.
Opponents of the project as currently presented argue that the plans are vague and, if approved, would allow developments twice the size of the Crypto.com Arena (the former Staples Center).
“While the developer’s rhetoric is all about building a studio… the developer is not promising to build a studio at all!” Danielle Peters, co-chair of Neighbors for Responsible TVC Development, said in a recent statement.
“The developer also seeks for the property to become a ‘Regional Center,’ allowing the same density as the Century City shopping and business district, as well as a Sign District, in a primarily residential and low-rise neighborhood,” Peters continued.
But Sokoloff, of Hackman Capital, claims “‘Regional Center’ is a technical term used by the City for sites that ‘contain a diversity of uses such as offices, retail and major entertainment facilities and supporting services,’ which ‘typically provide a significant number of jobs,’ per the City’s General Plan Framework Element. For example, The Academy Museum property, located a few blocks away, is designated as a ‘Regional Center,’” he said.
[In actuality, the Miracle Mile, with its two long-planned subway stations, has been designated a “Regional Center” since 1972, more than three decades pri-
or to the Academy leasing and moving its new Museum onto the remodeled May Co. department store site. – Ed.]
Local community groups opposing the current version of the proposed TVC 2050 project are gaining members. Some 50 people attended the Neighbors for Responsible TVC Development’s second meeting held recently at the Gilmore Adobe at the Original Farmers Market, adjoining the proposed development.
“The last thing our neighborhood needs is this monster 20-story project towering over our neighborhood, bringing more traffic, more pollution and much higher rents,” said the group’s co-chair Shelley Wagers. Both Wagers and Peters are longtime Beverly Grove residents.
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(Continued from page 6)
Another community-based group that opposes the scale and scope of the development, Beverly Fairfax Community Alliance, formed itself last year after the project’s current plans were revealed.
The Miracle Mile Residential Association also is sounding the alarm.
“Every neighborhood group is working very, very hard to rein that [project] in,” said MMRA president Greg Goldin.
The request for a “regional center; that’s a blank check to do whatever you want for 25 years,” Goldin said.
The City of Los Angeles Planning Dept. staff is reviewing hundreds of letters submitted last fall during the public comment phase of the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) preparation.
To receive notification of project publications and hearing and meeting notices, write to Paul Caporaso (paul.caporaso@lacity.org) with “TVC 2050” in the subject line. Also entitled, not under construction Nearby, in the Miracle Mile and not unlike the abandoned Frank Gehry project at Crescent Heights and Sunset, is a parcel of land on La Brea
Avenue that adjoins the nearly finished subway station at Wilshire and La Brea.
That project also has received full entitlements — for an eight-story hoteland-multifamily mixed-use complex. Known in recent years by its tentative name of 639 La Brea, the project was set to start construction in the last quarter of 2022. By then, all of the parcel’s one-story retail buildings on La Brea had been demolished, leaving a large vacant lot.
A spokesman for the developer told us recently that the project is “on hold” pending a better understanding of the present inflationary economy.
“The project has been delayed due to rising construction costs,” he added.
The developer, CGI+ Real Estate Investments, acquired the property in 2017. The nearly
Construction continues at the Town & Country shopping center, tentatively renamed “Third & Fairfax.”
half-city block property has been cleared and now is available for lease (visit: tinyurl. com/mpyrbfju), and advertising apparently may be sold on the construction fences.
The project was approved under the city’s Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) housing incentive program that permits a larger development than zoning allows because of its proximity to the subway and because the developer agreed to set aside 14 residential units as subsidized affordable housing.
The design for the now on-hold project, designed by Morris Adjmi Architects and AC Martin, has 121 multifamily residences on one side and 125 hotel rooms on the other. Both are located above 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and a below-ground, 200-space parking garage.
The longtime shopping destination on the south side of Third Street across from the Original Farmers Market is undergoing a major change. The property soon will include a new eight-story mixed-use complex of 331 housing units over 84,000 square feet of retail space. A pedestrian paseo will run east to west on the ground floor of the project.
The western part of the property, home to a Whole Foods Market and CVS, will remain, and Citibank has just reopened its branch on the Third and Fairfax corner following nine months of renovations. A flagship location for the bank, the branch now includes a Citibank Lounge for some of the bank’s best customers.
George Elum, managing director for the Los Angeles Region of real estate developer Holland Partner Group, told us in an email, “The construction of the project has continued to progress.”
The removal of the above-
grade portion of a former Kmart building is complete. Next up, “The team will be moving toward mass excavation and removal of the basement of the former Kmart.”
While the project’s entitlements were approved in 2022, the applicant will need to get full building permits before proceeding with construction of the building itself, city planning officials said.
Elum said he anticipates receiving the building permits this month.
The final design is a long way from the original proposal for a 26-story tower that was significantly reduced after community outcry including from Hancock Park Elementary School, which is directly south of the project.
In 2020, the owners of the Third and Fairfax property erected a 10-foot-high masonry block wall between the school and the service areas of Whole Foods Market and CVS Pharmacy to address noise concerns.
Demolition of the buildings that were east of the Whole Foods Market occurred during
(Please turn to page 22)
Several large-scale high-rise buildings are in the planning stages for the Miracle Mile, which is nothing new in the popular area. In days gone by, when the overall height limit in the City of Los Angeles (except for City Hall) was 13 stories, a number of such height-limit buildings appeared in the Miracle Mile, including: Wilshire Tower (Desmond’s), Dominguez Building and, at Wilshire and La Brea, the E. Clem Wilson Building (previous location of the Samsung sign).
Not too many years later, those buildings were followed, in 1960, by Lee Tower (5455 Wilshire Blvd., the city’s first building higher than the previous 13-story height limit. Soon came the 27-story Cal Fed Building and the 31-story tower across from Hancock Park at 5900 Wilshire Blvd.
More high-rises
Now, with the combination of subway and museum construction already underway, the newest tower projects will reach even further into the sky. For some people, the proposals add to the stress of an already stressed-out community.
“We feel like a target is drawn on our backs. Certainly we’re not alone in that. But there are characteristics that make the Mile a laboratory for the worst planning policies you can possibly implement in the city,” Greg Goldin, president of the Miracle Mile Residents Association, told us. Given its proximity to mu-
seums, DTLA, Hollywood, restaurants and shopping, it’s no wonder the Mile is a popular place to be.
Whether you welcome the changing skyline or not, policymakers have agreed, since the city’s early days, to build up on Wilshire Boulevard. The sky’s the limit.
Developer of the proposed Mirabel at 5411 Wilshire, Wally Marks, is excited about the new developments.
“We’re pleased to see the subway is closer to becoming a reality,” Marks said.
Also, Sony Pictures Entertainment coming to the Wilshire Courtyard is seen as good news. “People will be living closer to where they work.”
Projects moving forward at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the La Brea Tar Pits will also add new energy to the neighborhood, Marks said.
708 Cloverdale
The newest development to be announced is Onni Group’s 708 Cloverdale Project, as it is called, at 5350-5374 Wilshire Blvd. The mixed-use apartment complex is projected to reach 43 stories.
According to city records, the proposed apartment tower includes 419 housing units, including 47 affordable units, above 2,700 square feet of retail space. A five-story podium at the base of the apartment tower and subterranean levels
will serve 443 cars.
The developer has asked for entitlements to include Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) benefits. The project is close to the Wilshire / La Brea subway station set to open in 2024.
The developer, who did not return calls and emails before publication, seeks TOC bonuses to allow for a larger building on account of the inclusion of
the affordable housing units.
The 530-foot-tall Art Deco-style glass building is designed by Downtown-based MVE + Partners.
At the northern edge of its property, Onni intends to preserve 42,000 square feet of existing commercial buildings along Wilshire Boulevard, including one that houses a U.S. Post Office and that inspired the new design.
An initial study for the project is being prepared by the city Planning Dept. Wilshire Courtyard
Onni also is working to seriously revamp the Wilshire Courtyard complex of offices at 5700 and 5750 Wilshire Boulevard.
Onni’s proposed 2.3-million-square-foot complex on that site features two interconnected glass-clad office towers, 35- and 41-stories high. The latter tower will reach 655 feet and face Masselin Avenue to the east. The shorter of the two buildings will face Curson Avenue to the west.
The towers will stand atop a seven-story parking podium. Two floors can be turned into office space in the future,
(Please turn to page 12)
It’s Academy Award season, and a week of films and more is planned at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., between Wed., March 8, and Sun., March 12.
Oscar Week will feature screenings and panel discussions of nominees in several categories to be presented at this year’s 95th annual Oscars on Sun., March 12. Purchase of general admission grants access to all same-day Oscar Week screenings and panels.
Oscars Night at the Museum on Sun., March 12, from 3 to 10 p.m., includes a walk on the red carpet and viewing the ceremony livestream on ABC in the David Geffen Theater. Visit academymuseum.org for more information.
Just across the Boulevard from the Academy Museum, the Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., hosts a Green Pre-Oscar Gala on Thurs., March 9. Arrivals on the green carpet start at 6 p.m. Energy Independence Now will showcase cars and offer a glimpse into a more sustainable future at the cocktail attire, eco-conscious Oscar party.
Take a walk through “Strings of Desire,” on exhibit at Craft Contemporary, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., with Suzanne Isken, museum executive director and curator of the show, on Sun., March 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The exhibit features 13 artists working in embroidery, painting, sculpture and architecture to connect their non-Western cultural heritage, queer identities and fantasies. Ends May 7, 2023.
Exhibits are open at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), 5905 Wilshire Blvd., during construction. Take a gallery tour of “Afro-Atlantic Histories” with a LACMA docent on Sat., March 25, at 2 p.m. in the Resnick Pavilion. The exhibit charts the slave trade and its legacies through artworks produced in Africa,
Europe and the Americas in the last four centuries.
Kids of all ages are wel-
come
witness
saber-tooth cat (puppet) in Ice Age Encounters at the La
Brea Tar Pits, 5801 Wilshire Blvd. Shows are Thursdays and Fridays, 10:30 and 11:30
a.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Entrance is $6 per person.
(Continued from page 10) should conditions warrant. Features include “flexible office space,” landscaped bridges, terraces and, at street-level, a restaurant, and grocery and retail tenants in the design envisioned by Chicago architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz.
The project preserves the southern sections of the existing terraced six-story office structure, abutting the residential area of this part of the Mile, and also preserves the park space on 8th Street. A portion of the existing building’s three subterranean parking levels will be removed, while 2,901 of its parking spots will be retained, for a total of 4,650 auto stalls.
The project is expected to break ground in 2025 and complete construction by 2028, pending approvals by the City of Los Angeles, including a zone change and a master conditional use permit.
Mirabel
Also on the horizon is Wally Marks’ 42-story Mirabel residential tower — designed by Keating Architecture — at 5411 Wilshire Blvd., once the home of the Staples store (now moved further west on Wilshire).
This tower features a glass
exterior and has a curvilinear form. There is a rooftop deck and common open space above a parking podium.
If approved, the building will soar to 530 feet. The 477,000-square-foot building is to have 348 apartments, including 38 affordable units. Its design includes 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and total parking for 477 cars.
Under the design, the façade of the historic 1936 Streamline Moderne Sontag Drug Store building at the corner of Wilshire and Cloverdale Avenue will be preserved.
The project’s parking includes an automated, three-level, underground garage modeled after a similar facility at Marks’ Helms Bakery property on Venice Boulevard.
Three vehicle elevators and seven loading bays will keep cars rolling up and down the three levels.
But Marks says many of his new tenants will walk the one block to and from the new subway station. “We think it’s a big deal,” he said of the D (formerly Purple) Line extension.
Marks expects the city to release the Draft Environmental Impact Report this spring, with community hearings to follow. If approved by the city in 2023, the Mirabel could open in 2026.
WILSHIRE COURTYARD new towers will be along Wilshire, leaving the existing six-story buildings (and park) on the south (Eighth Street) side of the block.
Sony Pictures Entertainment is moving some of its divisions and relocating 700 of its employees to four floors of the Wilshire Courtyard building at 5750 Wilshire Blvd.
The long-term lease totals 225,239 square feet, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which represented the landlord Onni Group.
The select divisions relocating from Sony’s longtime space at The Culver Studios include Sony Pictures Animation, visual effects firm Imageworks
and anime streaming service Crunchyroll.
The term of the lease is reported to begin in April 2024, according to The Real Deal.
The 8.7-acre Wilshire Courtyard is comprised of two six-story buildings located at 5700 and 5750 Wilshire Blvd. totaling approximately one million square feet. The buildings were originally developed in the late 1980s by Jerry Snyder, who also repurposed the former Prudential Insurance headquarters across Wilshire Blvd. (now the SAG-AFTRA
building). Before he died, Snyder also got the development of the high-rise Museum Tower apartment building on Curson Avenue (across from the Tar Pits Museum’s George C. Page Building) underway.
The Wilshire Courtyard underwent significant interior and exterior renovations in 2015 by then owner Tishman Speyer.
Wilshire Courtyard amenities include tiered balconies, a gym on site, newly renovated common areas and plazas, and a park with a jogging trail.
For this month’s issue, we talked with new councilwoman Katy Young Yaroslavsky. She now represents the city’s Council District 5, which encompasses the Miracle Mile area in its entirety.
Her office is now fully staffed. The councilwoman told us in a recent interview that staffing was a big focus during her first weeks in office, saying, “I will only be as good as the strength of my team.”
And what is the team’s main focus currently? Homelessness. “We need to slow the rate at which people are falling in [to homelessness],” she said.
The councilwoman has put together a solid team of people who, daily, are making connections with the unhoused in District 5. Accompanied by Perla Urza and Loren Jackson, Yaroslavsky’s homelessness programs manager, Matthew Tenchavez, goes out into local neighborhoods to speak with people living on the streets. Tenchavez and his colleagues work to discover what will be required to get individuals off the streets. Tenchavez then collaborates with Zachary Warma, the office’s housing and homeless policy director, to make sure beds are available, ensuring the outreach can lead to people actually being connected with a place indoors.
Yaroslavsky and her outreach group began speaking, in December, with a gathering of people camping on the sidewalk behind the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Academy Museum — on Sixth Street. “Working with the mayor’s team,” Yaroslavsky told us on Feb. 6, “we’re hoping to be able to announce something soon and move all those folks into housing.” (By Feb. 18, all of those street dwellers had been moved to temporary housing. See story on Page 1 of Section 1.)
The councilwoman told us she has been incredibly impressed with the council / mayor relationship so far. Mayor Bass is “very much interested in making sure each of the 15 council members is part of the solution and that there is not an ‘us’ and a ‘them.’ It’s a partnership,” she said. She went on to say that the mayor “has it in her power, and is willing, to acknowledge what’s not working and to find a way to fix it… She understands it’s a regional solution.”
Yaroslavsky’s biggest priority going forward is to increase the number of interim shelters and permanent supportive housing sites and to help people access already existing
housing with vouchers. The councilwoman told us she will measure her success by how many people are moved from the streets to beds.
Prior to now, said Yaroslavsky, there hasn’t been a strategy for getting large numbers of longterm lease buildings. The city has been acquiring places ad hoc. “We need to flip the tables and have a lot more to choose from. It will drive down costs,” she said.
The councilwoman also believes the mandate for having affordable workforce housing is even more pronounced now that more rapid transit stations are coming online. She is looking into setting aside, for affordable housing, land Metro has been using as staging areas.
The environment
As to other items on her agenda, Yaroslavsky told us she is excited to be chairing
the city council’s Energy and Environment Committee. The councilwoman has a lot of experience in this area. She is an environmental attorney who, for the past six years, worked as senior policy director for the environment and the arts in
the office of former Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. Yaroslavsky hopes to shut down the oil wells in the district and help Los Angeles become more energy-efficient.
Rapid response
She told us her team has
put together a system that allows constituents to get a response to queries within 48 hours. The system tracks the hundreds of calls and emails her office receives daily. This enables the team to make sure concerns are addressed or resolved before any query is marked as closed.
Yaroslavsky told us her office is also working to get out ahead of what’s happening relating to government or other construction works on local streets. The goal is to be able to give advance notice and solutions to residents in order to stave off people’s annoyance when street closures, parking disturbances, power outages and the like occur.
Local office
Part of the CD 5 team will be moving to a new field office near the Metro station at La Brea Avenue and
(Please turn to page 14)
Following is a list of elected officials who serve the Miracle Mile and surrounding areas.
Councilmember
Katy Yaroslavsky
5th District
6380 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 800, 90048
323-866-1828 councildistrict5.lacity.gov
Mayor Karen Bass 200 N. Spring St. 13th Floor, 90012
213-978-0600 mayor.lacity.gov
County Supervisor Holly Mitchell
2nd District
500 W. Temple St. Ste. 866, 90012 213-974-2222 mitchell.lacounty.gov
County Supervisor
Lindsey Horvath
3rd District 500 W. Temple St. Ste. 821, 90012 213-974-3333 lindseyhorvath.lacounty.gov
Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur
51st District 2800 28th St., Ste. 105 Santa Monica, 90405 310-450-0041
a51.asmdc.org
Assemblymember Isaac Bryan
55th District 5601 W. Slauson Ave., Ste. 200, Culver City, 90230 310-641-5410
a55.asmdc.org
State Sen. Ben Allen 24th District 2512 Artesia Blvd., Ste. 320 Redondo Beach, 90278 310-318-6994 sd24.senate.ca.gov
State Sen. María Elena Durazo
26th District 1808 W. Sunset Blvd., 90026 213-483-9300 sd26.senate.ca.gov
State Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas 28th District 700 Exposition Park Dr., 90037 213-745-6656 sd28.senate.ca.gov
Gov. Gavin Newsom 1021 O Street Ste. 9000 Sacramento, 95814 916-445-2841 gov.ca.gov
Rep. Adam Schiff 30th District 245 E. Olive Ave. Ste. 200, 91502 323-315-5555 818-450-2900 schiff.house.gov
Rep. Jimmy Gomez 34th District 350 S. Bixel St. Ste. 120, 90017 213-481-1425 gomez.house.gov
Rep. Ted Lieu 36th District 1645 Corinth Ave. Ste. 101, 90025 323-651-1040 lieu.house.gov
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove 37th District 4929 Wilshire Blvd.
Ste. 650, 90010 (202) 225-7084 kamlager-dove.house.gov
Sen. Dianne Feinstein 11111 Santa Monica Blvd. Ste. 915, 90025 310-914-7300 feinstein.senate.gov
Sen. Alex Padilla 255 E. Temple St. Ste. 1860, 90012 310-231-4494 202-224-0357 padilla.senate.gov
6407 Moore Dr. $2,100,000 503 N. Formosa Ave. $1,399,000 116 N. Sycamore Ave. $1,157,500
Condominium
*Sale prices for January.
(Continued from page 13)
Wilshire Boulevard. (It likely will be in the Dominguez Building that houses a Bank of America branch and, soon, the relocated Andre’s Italian Restaurant.)
Yaroslavsky ran on a platform of constituent services and believes having more people on the ground and having places accessible to constituents for community gatherings and meetings are
important parts of her being the councilmember she ran to be.
When asked about the CBS Television City project — TVC 2050 — at the corner of Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, Yaroslavsky told us she is meeting with concerned neighborhood groups and touring the site. “Everything is a balance,” she said. “Finding a balance between the good paying jobs it will provide and the scale… it will be a negotiation.”
Cathedral Chapel School
755 S. Cochran Ave.
Ph: 323-938-9976
Co-principals: Tina Kipp and Danielle Mitchell
Grades: K to 8
cathedralchapelschool.org
Hancock Park Elementary 408 S. Fairfax Ave. Ph: 323-935-5272
Principal: Robin WynneDavis Grades: TK to 5 hancockparkes-lausd-ca.
schoolloop.com
Third St. Elementary
201 S. June St. Ph: 323-939-8337
Principal: Helen Lee Grades: TK to 5 thirdstreetschool.com
Archdiocesan & State Academic Decathlon Champions 2017!
• Fully Accredited WASC & WCEA
• Schoolwide 4G Internet Access
• 36 MAC Computer Lab
• Spanish & Music Programs
• K-8 iPads
• Honors Math Program
Wilshire Crest Elementary
5241 W. Olympic Blvd.
Ph: 323-938-5291
Principal: Gayle Robinson
Grades: ETK to 5 wce-lausd-ca.schoolloop.com
Yavneh Hebrew Academy
5353 W. Third St.
Ph: 323-931-5808
Principal: Paul Ghiglieri
Grades: K to 8 yha.org
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Fusion Miracle Mile
5757 Wilshire Blvd.
Promenade One
Ph: 323-692-0603
Principal: Jaime Porras
Grades: 6 to 12 fusionacademy.com
John Burroughs
600 S. McCadden Pl.
Ph: 323-549-5000
Principal: Steve Martinez
Grades: 6 to 8 burroughsms.org
Grades: 6 to 12 galacademy.org
Fairfax High, Visual Arts
Magnet, Police Academy Magnet
7850 Melrose Ave.
Ph: 323-370-1200
Principal: Leonard Choi Grades: 9 to 12 fairfaxhs.org
Los Angeles High School
4650 W. Olympic Blvd.
Ph: 323-900-2700
Principal: Marguerette Gladden Grades: 9 to 12 lahigh.org
Machon Los Angeles 5870 W. Olympic Blvd.
Ph: 424-274-0955
Principal: Shifra Revah Grades: 9 to 12 machonla.org
Shalhevet School 910 S. Fairfax Ave.
Ph: 323-930-9333
• Outreach Concern Counseling
• Extended Day Care
• Junior High Academic Decathlon
• Science Lab / Art Center
Cathedral High School Quiz Bowl Champions 2023 Registration
• CYO Sports
• Hot Lunch Program
Now Open for Grades K-8. Call us or email office@cathedralchapel.org for more info or to schedule a tour
755 South Cochran Ave., L.A. 90036
For Information (323) 938-9976 or cathedralchapelschool.org
New Los Angeles Charter 1919 S. Burnside Ave.
Ph: 323-939-6400
Principal: Gabrielle Brayton
Grades: 6 to 8 newlamiddle.org
HIGH SCHOOLS
Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA)
1067 West Blvd.
Ph: 323-900-4532
Principal: Elizabeth Hicks
Principal: Rabbi David Block Grades: 9 to 12 shalhevet.org
Yeshiva Gedolah of Los Angeles/Michael Diller High School 5444 W. Olympic Blvd. Ph: 323-938-2071
Principal: Rabbi Shmuel Baruch Manne Grades: 9 to 12 ygla.org
According to Senior Lead Officer (SLO) Anna Schube of Wilshire Division LAPD, the overall crime statistics for the Miracle Mile area are down 29 percent for violent crime, and burglaries are down 30 percent compared to 2022.
But crimes involving automobiles are up. She advises not leaving anything of value visible in your car. She notes that thieves are opportunists who will smash a $500 window to get two dollars worth of change. Don’t be an easy target.
Grand thefts auto are up a whopping 108 percent, and burglaries from a car are up 40 percent from last year.
The most susceptible cars for theft are Kias and Hyundais made between 2010 and 2021.
There is a TikTok challenge informing people about how to easily steal these cars without a key, Schube said. If you own one of these cars, LAPD advises using a steering wheel lock to help prevent theft. She also encourages owners to have their driver’s license numbers engraved on their
catalytic converters. Schube patrols the Miracle Mile area from Beverly Boulevard to San Vicente Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue to La Brea Avenue. The residents there are mostly concerned with the unhoused and their encampments, she said. A great resource for dealing with this situation is to contact the city through the phone application MyLA311 or by calling 311, she added. This phone app is also useful for reporting graffiti, illegal dumping and having bulky items picked up.
Schube can be reached at 32825@lapd.online.
The following is a list of apartment buildings in the Miracle Mile neighborhood. All of the zip codes are 90036 unless otherwise noted. If there are any changes or corrections, please contact circulation@ larchmontchronicle.com.
Avalon Wilshire 5115 Wilshire Blvd. 323-894-9430 avaloncommunities.com
Babylon Apartments 360 S. Detroit St. 323-930-2213 hpgmanagement.com
Belcrest Apartments
637 S. Hauser Blvd. 323-525-1953 belcrestapartments.com
Boulevard on Wilshire 5353 Wilshire Blvd. 833-268-5984 liveboulevard.com
Brighton Villas 318 S. Detroit St. 323-930-2213
hpgmanagement.com
Broadcast Center Apartments 7660 Beverly Blvd. 424-353-2739 broadcastcenterapts.com
Burnside Residences 600 S. Burnside Ave. 323-497-4803 burnside-living.com
Burnside Apartments
616 S. Burnside Ave. 323-937-4359 hpgmanagement.com
Burnside Villas 649 S. Burnside Ave. 323-940-5213 liveatburnsidelofts.com
Carthay Circle Apartments 6209-6226 Olympic Blvd., 90048 323-936-3793 carthaycircleapartments.com
Cloverdale Apartments 600 S. Cloverdale Ave. 323-965-1565
Cloverdale Properties, LLC 660 S. Cloverdale Ave. cloverdale.optimuspropertiesllc.com
Cloverdale Towers 340 S. Cloverdale Ave. 323-936-0322 cloverdaletowers.bhprop.com
Cochran Apartments 657–665 S. Cochran Ave. 310-710-9361 derekcusack.com
Cochran Apartments
442 S. Cochran Ave. 323-642-6556 cochranavenue.com
Cochran Island Apartments
342 S. Cochran Ave. 323-932-0450
Cochran House 740 S. Cochran Ave. 310-826-2466 fredleedproperties.com
Curson Apartments 315-323 N. Curson Ave. 323-289-2374 cursonapts.com
The Desmond 5520 Wilshire Blvd. 310-602-4204 livedesmond.com
Essex at Miracle Mile 400 S. Detroit St. 323-342-5520 essexapartmenthomes.com
The Fairfax 105 S. Fairfax Ave. 424-317-6749 thefairfaxla.com
Hauser Apartments 625 Hauser Blvd. 323-937-0930 hpgmanagement.com
Linda Manor Apartments 456 S. Cochran Ave. 323-934-3760
The Mansfield at Miracle Mile 5100 Wilshire Blvd. 323-634-0290 themansfieldapartments.com
Masselin Park West 5700 6th St. 323-617-4856 masselinparkwestapts.com
mResidences Miracle Mile 5659 W. 8th St. 88-979-7561 mresidencesmm.com
Museum Terrace 600 S. Curson Ave. 323-745-1251 museumterraceapts.com
One Museum Square 640 S. Curson Ave. 833-772-5220 omsapts.com
Palazzo East 348 S. Hauser Blvd. 424-532-8801 palazzo-east.com
Palazzo West 6220 W. 3rd St. 424-532-9123 palazzo-west.com
Palm Court Apartments 740 S. Burnside Ave. 323-930-2564 harrison-properties.net
Park La Brea 6200 W. 3rd St. 323-927-7505 parklabrea.com
The Preston Miracle Mile 630 S. Masselin Ave.
844-817-3199 theprestonapts.com
Redwood Urban 345 Cloverdale Ave. 435 S. Detroit St. 630 Hauser Blvd. 323-938-5653 redwoodurban.com
Tiffany Court 616 Masselin Ave. 323-342-5516 essexapartmenthomes.com
Villas at Park La Brea 5555 W. 6th St. 424-532-8948 thevillasapts.com
Vinz on Fairfax 950 S. Fairfax Ave. 323-673-2216 vinzonfairfax.com
Vision on Wilshire 6245 Wilshire Blvd., 90048 323-684-3110 udr.com
Wilshire Embassy 5805 W. 8th St. 323-615-1348
Wilshire La Brea 5200 Wilshire Blvd. 323-342-5515 essexapartmenthomes.com
162/164 N. Detroit St. rent@detroitla.com
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March 17 has been designated as St. Patrick’s Day since 1631, but it wasn’t until the 20th century that drinking beer became associated with the holiday. Beer, of course, along with Irish whiskey and corned beef and cabbage, is central to the celebration these days, and there are myriad places to indulge in our area. For those who would like to start the day a wee bit Irish before leaving the house, a traditional Irish breakfast is the perfect fortification before joining the crowds. Most of us have eggs, tomatoes and beans in stock, but a visit to the MacNamara Irish Import Shop will provide the key elements of black-and-white pudding, blood sausage and Irish bangers. The store is a good source of “Kiss me, I’m Irish” T-shirts, as well.
MacNamara Irish Import Shop, 742 Vine St., 323-4984445.
Although The Cat & Fiddle styles itself as an English pub, it embraces the green for St. Patrick’s Day. From noon to midnight they will serve the requisite corned beef and cabbage, along with corned beef sliders, and will feature Harp and Guinness beer. Their crowd-pleasing entertain-
ment will feature burlesque by Miss Marquez.
The Cat & Fiddle, 742 N. Highland Ave., 323-468-3800. Fairfax Avenue is crowned “Green for a Day” when crowds descend on the Original Farmers Market, Molly Malone’s and Tom Bergin’s for lively Paddy’s Day festivities up and down the street.
At the Original Farmers Market, strolling bagpipers, the Merry Minstrels, will provide the ambiance. Bar 326 and E.B.’s Beer & Wine will offer spirits and green beer. Both Magee’s Kitchen and Dupar’s Restaurant and Bakery will fuel the day with corned beef platters and sandwiches.
The Original Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd St., 323933-9211. Open from 9 a.m.
to 9 p.m.
Just a hop down Fairfax Avenue is a watering hole that will be throwing its 54th St. Patrick’s Day party; Molly Malone’s Irish Pub. Owner Damian Hanlon says that their St. Patrick’s Day hours will be 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Starting at 10
a.m., provisions will include Irish stew in addition to corned beef options. The Margaret Cleary Dance Company takes the stage at 11:30 a.m. with 7- to 19-year-old Irish step dancers. Bagpipers will play intermittently until 7 p.m., when five different bands lead the transition to a nighttime vibe.
Molly Malone’s Irish Pub, 575 S. Fairfax Ave., 323-9351577.
Further south on Fairfax, just south of Wilshire, Tom Bergin’s has been operating only four days a week, but that won’t stop its offering another St. Patrick’s Day to remember. As co-owner Francis Castegnetti states, “My brother [co-owner David Castegnetti] and I are excited to celebrate! There’s not a square inch of space here you won’t have fun
in.” The action starts at 6 a.m. with a breakfast of corned beef, roast potatoes, eggs and toast. A corned beef and cabbage plate and sandwich will appear later. Three bars outside and two inside will serve Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, Lost Irish Whiskey, Irish Coffee, beer and special Irish Mule cocktails to the day’s expected 12,000-person crowd. DJs will spin a mix of rock and traditional Irish music. Castegnetti teases that there might be some last-minute surprises.
Tom Bergin’s, 840 S. Fairfax Ave., 323-936-7151.
Whichever way you choose to mark St. Patrick’s Day, may this Irish proverb rule your fortunes: May your troubles be less, your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door.
A community-wide, allblocks party is set to take place this spring on Ninth Street between Hauser Boulevard and Cochran Avenue.
“It’s a block party for all blocks,” said Greg Goldin, president of the Miracle Mile Residential Association (MMRA).
A date has yet to be set for the four-block-long event.
“We want to renew and bring a couple of things on the horizon,” Goldin added.
Also upcoming is the annual MMRA meeting. Check the website for a date and time.
Additionally in the planning stages is Operation Sparkle, where volunteers show up to clean a portion of the streets in Miracle Mile. This year, the street frontages of businesses
along Wilshire Boulevard will be made to sparkle. The event takes place on a weekend morning, and everyone is invited.
“Businesses on the street have had a very hard time the last decade,” Goldin said. “We’re trying to come out of the fog of the pandemic, which has made it very hard for everybody.”
For more information, visit miraclemilela.com.
As befitting a restaurant in the Petersen Automotive Museum, the new café there pays tribute to the “Manx,” the original dune buggy designed by Bruce F. Meyers. The new Meyers Manx Cafe is stepping on the gas to bring expanded
offerings to satisfy both car collectors and families who visit the museum.
Currently open for breakfast and lunch, restaurant operations director Greg Scarborough reveals that it is expanding its healthy eating options and is developing
a dinner program for implementation in April or May 2023.
Having received its liquor license in January, a bar program is expected to launch by the beginning of March featuring such mixers as grapefruit and lavender house-made syr-
ups, cocktails flavored with their bespoke roasted coffees (for example, an espresso-infused mezcal Negroni), and a robust “zero-proof” cocktail
menu.
Meyers Manx Cafe in the Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., 323-999-3242.
(Continued from page 8)
the school’s summer break in 2022. Among the buildings that came down was the one that was the longtime home to Andre’s Italian Restaurant. A new location for Andre’s at the historic Dominguez Building at 5400 Wilshire Blvd. is in the works.
The design for the
490,682-square-foot new development by architects MVE + Partners includes studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units above three levels of aboveground parking and two levels of subterranean parking for a total of 996 car spots. The Whole Foods Market, CVS and the Citi branch will remain open during construction. The project is expected to be complete in late 2025.
ANDRE’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT, formerly a longtime fixture in the Town & Country shopping center, will be opening at its new location — 5400 Wilshire Boulevard — this year.
Immerse yourself in the rich history of Black cinema in the special exhibition Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971, on view through July 16, 2023. Discover what goes into making a masterpiece in The Art of Moviemaking: The Godfather, on view through March 2024.
Visit our theaters for a truly immersive movie experience, featuring state-of-theart sound and projection. Matinee and evening screenings start at $5.
For a complete schedule of films and exhibitions visit academymuseum.org.
Top Image: Race films, Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by Joshua White, JW Pictures/ © Academy Museum Foundation.
Bottom Image: The Art of Moviemaking: The Godfather, Stories of Cinema 2, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Photo by Joshua White, JW Pictures/ © Academy Museum Foundation.