Rodeo Realty News LOCAL EXPERTISE, GLOBAL PRESENCE Los Angeles
July 2017
INSIDE THIS ISSUE NEW ADAPTIVE REUSE PROJECT IN DTLA FORMOSA CAFÉ TO BE REBORN METRO DEVELOPING SMARTPHONE APP LOS ANGELES RANKED #18 TECH CITY
Community News Construction underway at Four Seasons condos
Nearly 20 months after a ceremonial groundbreaking, construction has begun in earnest on the Four Seasons condo project located at 300 S. Wetherly Drive, in Beverly Grove. The 12-story tower will include 59 luxury condominiums, some of which will be priced as high as $50 million. The project will also feature low-rise sections featuring townhouse-style units, and will offer all of the amenities that visitors have come to expect from Four Seasons hotels. Four Seasons was founded in 1960, and only began offering vacation and residential rentals in 2014. In recent weeks, Four Seasons also released a smartphone app, an effort to appeal to millennial users, as well as an attempt to fend off competition from Airbnb, which just months ago purchased the Montreal-based company Luxury Retreats.
New adaptive reuse project coming to DTLA The Parmalee Building at 720 S. Broadway, in the Historic Core in downtown Los Angeles, is due to receive a major renovation. The top floors of the building, which was built in 1907, will be converted into creative offices, with the existing ground floor retail space receiving improvements to their current condition. According to architect David Takacs, refinishing the building’s façade, which is often
tagged with graffiti, will be a high priority. The Parmalee Building has been targeted for rehab in the past, with original plans calling for the creation of 32 live/work lofts. By taking part in the city’s
Adaptive Reuse Program, the project’s developers benefit from streamlined approval and permitting process, a reward for repurposing existing buildings that have often fallen into disrepair.
Formosa Café to be reborn
Just a few months after closing its doors, the iconic Formosa Café is set to be resurrected. The 1933 Group, the team behind Thirsty Crow, The Idle Hour, and the renovated Highland Park Bowl, recently announced that they have signed a long-term lease for the classic Hollywood eatery and have begun plans to restore it to its original glory. The 1933 Group indicates that they hope to capture the Formosa Café of the 1930’s to 1960’s, while also expanding its allure with modern takes on lo mein dishes.
Community News LA Metro planning smartphone app for fares
Los Angeles ranked #18 among tech cities
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority has plans to revamp its fare payment system to make it possible for riders to pay with their smartphones. Metro has contracted Cubics, the company that operates the current TAP card system, to develop a cloudbased app that will allow users to add funds to their cards from their phones, avoiding the need to stand in line at Metro stations before boarding buses and trains. Longterm plans call for the Metro app to eventually allow riders to also pay for individual trips directly
Despite the recent development of the Silicon Beach area, with prominent companies such as Google and Snapchat dominating the scene, Los Angeles ranks only 18th among the country’s top 25 cities for technology. A recent study measured 25 U.S. cities for its available talent, capital and local college programs, finding that Silicon Valley and San Francisco ranked at the top of the list. Officials found that larger cities such as New York (ranked #15) and Los Angeles were much diverse in its industry and therefore less concentrated in specific sectors. Experts note that while LA’s famous media and entertainment sectors often
involve technology, fewer than 20% of Los Angeles residents work in the tech sphere, compared to 35% in top-ranked Silicon Valley. from their phones, eliminating the need for TAP cards all together.
Restaurant
Spotlight
Jon & Vinny’s
Birch
The District by Hannah An
412 North Fairfax Avenue Los Angeles
1634 Cahuenga Boulevard Hollywood
8722 West Third Street Beverly Grove
Jon & Vinny’s is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. This eatery is opened by famed owners Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo. The duo own restaurants Animal, Son of a Gun, Trois Mec, Petit Trois and many more. The interior of Jon & Vinny’s features wooden surfaces, handmade votive accents by artist Shio Kusaka and friendly neighborhood warmth. The menu exhibits Italian-American cuisine, like house-extruded spaghetti, meatballs, and pizzas. This hot spot is a great addition to their already splendid restaurant group. The pizzas are named after their kids, like “Sonny’s Favorite” or “Little Nat’s.” Italian cookies are served by the door and feature a Carpigiani soft-serve ice cream. The restaurant seats 45 and pizza dough takes 48 hours to rise!
This restaurant is located in the burgeoning neighborhood of the Cahuenga Corridor in Hollywood. With a few tables in the dining room, a small bar and a couple of communal tables, it’s not a big space, but it is a lot brighter than many others along the corridor. The clean lines, whitewashed woods, gleaming marble and unpolished metals stand out among the bumpthumping spots of Hollywood. When weather permits, a garage door opens to the sidewalk and there are balcony barstools just outside, plus patio tables along the alley behind the restaurant. Birch has been recognized for its farmer’s market-inspired cocktails, proof that what can be used in the kitchen can also be used in a glass!
Hannah An, one of the siblings from the famous family behind Crustacean Beverly Hills, branched out on her own and created this restaurant. Located at the intersection of food, fashion, and interior design lies this not so hidden gem. The dining rooms have beautiful accents like wood block walls, wood beams and some of the coolest light fixtures, hand-carved tiles, open windows, and sleek leather seats upstairs. The restaurant highly succeeds in merging the best of Vietnamese influenced upscale cuisine with local California artisanal ingredients and sensibilities. The District by Hannah An is open seven days a week.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS in LOS ANGELES
Natural History Museum
Norton Simon Museum
LACMA
900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007
411 W Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91105
5905 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
Butterfly Pavilion March 19 - September 4, 2017
Maven of Modernism: Galka Scheyer in California April 7 - September 25, 2017
Japanese Painting: A Walk in Nature May 13 - September 10, 2017
The Butterfly Pavilion is a seasonal exhibit that showcases hundreds of butterflies and the natural environs where they thrive. Among the butterflies at the museum are subtropical species such as the malachite and the grey cracker, as well as native butterflies such as monarchs, mourning cloaks, and buckeyes. Timed tickets are required for admission to the Butterfly Pavilion, and are available for advance purchase on the NHM website.
Galka Scheyer was an influential art dealer of the first half of the 20th century, responsible for introducing many to the art of Lyonel Feininger, Alexei Jawlensky, Paul Klee and Vasily Kandinsky. This exhibit represents a selection of Scheyer’s personal collection that also includes pieces by László Moholy-Nagy, Pablo Picasso and Diego Rivera.
In contrast with a western tradition that often depicts nature as a force to be feared or conquered, the pieces featured in this exhibit often depict the natural world as a place of tranquility. This exhibition includes 24 paintings created by Japanese artists of the 16th to 20th centuries, including work from the Maruyama, Rinpa, and Literati schools.
RodeoRE.com