area newsletter JULY 2018 • LOS ANGELES
20 18 TM
Community News West Hollywood approves Factory re-development
The West Hollywood City Council recently approved plans to build a mid-rise hotel development at 652 N. La Peer Drive, just south of Santa Monica Blvd. The project, named Robertson Lane, would be built around an existing structure that once housed The Factory, an iconic nightclub that operated from 1967 to 1993. Robertson Lane would include a 241-room hotel, an event center, a nightclub, as well as retail and restaurant space. The design also calls for a pedestrian walkway through the property, running parallel to Robertson Blvd. The developer behind the project, Faring Capital, is also responsible for an office development that will be built around WeHo’s French Market, and is also redeveloping the Norm’s Diner on La Cienega Blvd., which was granted landmark status when Faring initially acquired a permit to demolish the historic restaurant. The timeline has been announced for the Robertson Lane project.
Amoeba Music will stay in Hollywood Nearly two years after the owners of the property at Sunset and Vine initiated plans to demolish the existing building, current tenant Amoeba Music has announced plans to move their business to another location in Hollywood. The pop culture haven is exploring locations that will be about 15% smaller than their current home and they are also seeking to
acquire a permit to operate a marijuana dispensary at their new site. Originally founded in the Bay Area, Amoeba opened in Hollywood in 2001 and sold their property to GPI Companies in 2015, signing a lease for the store until 2019. Once Amoeba vacates the location, GPI plans to build a 28-story residential tower on the site.
New live/work lofts conversion in Arts District
Developers have filed plans with the City of Los Angeles to convert an existing warehouse in the Arts District into a live/work complex. The structure, located at 1340 E. 6th St., was originally constructed in 1924 and currently houses a garage door company and various creative enterprises on 6 floors. The reconfigured building would contain 193 live/work residences on 8 habitable stories. The project is situated near the Los Angeles River where the 6th Street Viaduct is being built, and down the street from the location of the $2 billion 6AM development.
Community News Gehry project on Sunset Blvd moving forward
Progress in fight against homelessness
A lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Conservancy to impede the progress of a Frank Gehry project has been dismissed. This will allow the demolition of a Chase Bank at 8150 Sunset Blvd. and the subsequent construction of Gehry’s $300 million mixed-use project. The bank and its distinctive zig-zag roof, designed by Kurt Meyer in 1960, represented a “transformative shift in bank design after Word War II” according to the lawsuit. Gehry acknowledged that demolishing another architect’s work is difficult, but that some buildings “outlive their time,” pointing out that some of his past work has been demolished. He indicates that he will pay tribute to Meyer in the design of his new project.
Officials recently announced that the number of homeless people in the county of Los Angeles has decreased to 53,195 people, a drop of 3% since 2017. This marks the first improvement in four years and follows a 23% increase from 2016 to 2017. The decline also mirrors increased government efforts to provide housing and services to LA’s homeless population. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently announced plans to build 15 emergency shelters around the city, though a planned shelter in Koreatown has met with local resistance. Recent changes to state law allows the city to build the shelters quickly, bypassing much of the typical red tape that is typically required. This led to protests from K-town residents who expressed concern about the lack of public input in the process. It is estimated that 400 unsheltered homeless people live in Koreatown.
Restaurant
Spotlight
Delancey
The District
Bavel
5936 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood
8722 W. Third Street Beverly Grove
500 Mateo Street Downtown Los Angeles
New Yorkers will feel right at home at this Italian restaurant and bar. The Hollywood pizzeria features a selection of thin-crust pizzas named after New York streets— Fulton, Mercer, Crosby, and La Guardia, which is made with mozzarella, truffle, sage, and pancetta. If you enjoy pork, try their Gramercy, which comes with red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, bacon, guanciale, and soppressata. House made pasta dishes and bruschetta are also on the well-priced menu. To drink, you can try one of their 20 craft beers on tap, as well as wine and a full bar. Delancey is open Monday – Friday from 11:30 a.m. – late, and Saturday – Sunday from 6 p.m. – late.
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 de-sign 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 suc¬ceeds in merg¬ing the best of Vietnamese influenced upscale cuisine with local California artisanal ingredi¬ents and sensibilities. The District by Hannah An is open seven days a week.
This new Middle Eastern restaurant from Bestia chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis opened in April. The two chefs with Middle Eastern roots are now tackling food they were raised on. Like its older sister restaurant Bestia, Bavel is also located in the Arts District. Yes, there’s hummus here, but expect a lot more than that. Here you can find everything from flatbread to grilled prawns to the massive lamb neck shawarma, which comes served with a garlic sauce directly inspired by local legend Zankou. The restaurant offers dinner and plans to expand to lunch service in the near future. Bavel
SIGHTS & SOUNDS in LOS ANGELES
Annenberg Space for Photography 2000 Avenue of the Stars #10 Los Angeles, CA 90067 CURRENT EXHIBITION: Not An Ostrich: and Other Images From America’s Library April 21 - September 9, 2018 Noted curator Anne Wilkes Tucker has displays nearly 500 images selected from the archives of the U.S. Library of Congress including photos that are rarely seen by the public as well as iconic portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Cesar Chavez, and Elizabeth Taylor. The exhibit shows a vivid cross-section of the history the United States in photographic form.
LACMA
MOCA Grand Avenue
5905 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036
152 North Central Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
A Universal History of Infamy: Those of This America January 27 - October 6, 2018
Jackson Pollock’s Number 1, 1949: A Conservation Treatment March 4 - September 7, 2018
As part of LACMA’s community art education program, this exhibition is presented at their satellite gallery at Charles White Elementary School, featuring the work of contemporary Latino artists, writers, and activists, alongside pieces from LACMA’s permanent collection. Public hours are on Saturdays, 1-4 pm.
In collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute, MOCA is undertaking an extensive restoration of a Jackson Pollock painting in a gallery that will be open to the public. Three other Pollocks from the MOCA collection will also be displayed.
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