area newsletter MAY 2019 • WESTSIDE
20 19
Community News New projects planned for Palms
Overland Ave. in Palms, between Palms Blvd. and Venice Blvd., is becoming a hub of development activity, with 3 new projects planned to follow the recent completion of The Roy at the intersection of Overland and Francis Place. First, next door to The Roy, is an eight-story development that will extend to the adjacent streets, Keystone Ave. and Regent St., and will include 139 apartments and approximately 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Amenities will include a roof deck, a swimming pool, and a fitness center. The second project in the area will be built across the street, at 3565-3585 S. Overland Ave. That building will stand seven stories tall and will include 119 residential units as well as 2,000 square feet of retail space. The most distinctive of the new projects, called The Jagger, will be located up the street at 3630-3638 Overland Ave. and will feature a six-story structure with a sawtooth roofline with skylights to illuminate the top floor’s interior. The building will include 74 residential units and feature various courtyards and patios. All three projects are being built pursuant to the Transit Oriented Communities program, which allows developers to build denser residential projects with fewer parking spaces, provided that the buildings are located close to major transit lines and that units are set aside for low-income residents.
Group proposes fee to drive to the Westside
The Southern California Association of Governments recently released a report suggesting that a $4 fee for driving on the streets of the Westside of Los Angeles would reduce congestion by 19%, as 20,000 people would be discouraged from traveling in the area during peak hours. The congestion fee would be reduced to 40 cents for residents and $2 for commuters. The area covered by the proposed fee would be bounded on the east by the 405 freeway and on the west by 20th St., including parts of Santa Monica, Brentwood, and West LA. City Councilmember Mike Bonin, whose district includes the LA portions of the zone, criticized the plan due to the lack of other transit options in the area. He also points out that, under the plan, a housekeeper commuting to the Westside would be charged a much higher rate than his/her wealthy employer.
Community News HBO moving to Culver City
Premium TV network HBO has signed a 15-year lease to occupy nearly half of the Ivy Station development that’s currently under construction in Culver City. The network will occupy all of Ivy Station’s office space, approximately 240,000 of the mixed-use project’s total 500,000 square feet. Ivy Station is located adjacent to the Culver City station of the Expo Line and is encircled by Venice, National and Washington Boulevards. In addition to office space, the development will feature 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 200 apartments, and a 148-room hotel. Construction is expected to be completed in 2020. HBO will be leaving their current home in Santa Monica in 2021.
County responds to MDR blowout
Following an incident in January during which a previously capped oil well experienced a blowout, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has requested that the state agency governing the site make greater efforts to monitor the site and keep residents informed of any safety concerns. The blowout, during which natural gas, water and mud were sprayed 100 feet into the air, occurred at a hotel construction site on Via Marina when contractors were attempting to re-seal an oil well that had been abandoned in 1959. First responders determined that no dangerous gases were released during the 10-minute episode, but a week later the state Division of Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) issued an emergency order requiring that the operator of the site monitor the well more strictly and determine the cause of the blowout. The Marina Del Rey area was an active oil field in the early part of the 20th century, with dozens of oil wells abandoned and sealed in the 1950’s. DOGGR indicates that the gas that escaped through the MDR blowout is not related to the nearby Playa Del Rey gas storage facility, which is significantly deeper underground than the abandoned well.
Restaurant
Spotlight
Pizzana
Felix Trattoria
Belcampo Meat Co.
11712 San Vicente Boulevard Brentwood
1023 Abbot Kinney Boulevard Venice
1026 Wilshire Boulevard Santa Monica
Would you believe us if we told you that one of the best pizza spots in the city was in Brentwood? Candace and Charles Nelson, the founders of Sprinkles Cupcakes, want to satisfy your next carb craving and are focusing on something more savory: Neapolitan pizza. So what’s unique about Pizzana? The center of the pizza is less floppy and the dough here is made by hand in the Neapolitan tradition and then fermented and proofed for 48 hours. Chef Daniele Uditi insists his pizza taste like home—Naples. The pizza menu includes a classic “Margherita,” “Funghi” (Italian creama, fontina, shiitake and oyster mushroom, caramelized onion), as well as “Pepperoni,” and a “Messicana” (chorizo, cilantro lime sauce, pickled sweet chile, jalapeno, and queso fresco).
Wondering where you should be eating in Venice? For outstanding pasta on the Westside, look no further than Felix. This upscale Italian place on Abbot Kinney in Venice is booked almost every night of the week for one reason: their incredible pasta. The handmade pastas here are brought to you by a chef who’s done time at Spago, Rustic Canyon, and Bucato. Their menu includes pastas, pizzas, entrees and desserts—all rooted in Italian tradition with a California edge. Between 10 – 20 pastas are offered daily and are listed according to their region in Italy. Their oxtail ragu pairs nicely with a Haitian Divorce (mescal and aged rum, cherry and Pedro Ximenez).
This Santa Monica spot is partbutcher-shop and part-restaurant. Belcampo Meat Co. sources all of its grass-fed organic beef from its own sustainable farm. The restaurant is known for serving innovative dishes like mutton chops, goat tartare, and the infamous cheeseburger, which comes on a toasted brioche bun with a slice of Cheddar, caramelized onions, and house sauce. Guests can also order custom cuts from the professional meat cutters and choose from an extensive selection of specialty groceries to complete their meal preparations.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS in LOS ANGELES
LACMA
Petersen Automotive Museum
5905 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036
6060 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036
J. Paul Getty Museum 1200 Getty Center Drive Los Angeles, CA 90049
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
CURRENT EXHIBITION:
Charles White: A Retrospective February 17 – June 9, 2019
Auto-Didactic: The Juxtapoz School September 29, 2018 - June 2019
Eighteenth-Century Pastel Portraits August 28, 2018 – October 13, 2019
Charles White was an artist whose work depicted African American people in a dignified and heroic light, mirroring his activism on behalf of civil rights during the mid-20th century. A noted teacher at what was then the Otis Institute of Art, White influenced later generations of African American artists such as Alonzo Davis, David Hammons, and Kerry James Marshall. This exhibit was organized in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art and includes 100 drawings, prints and paintings.
Juxtapoz Magazine, known for featuring “lowbrow” and pop surrealist artists that would otherwise be considered as outside of the mainstream art world, has teamed with the Petersen Auto Museum to create a group show of artists whose work is often inspired by hot rod culture. The exhibit features many car-centric paintings and sculptures, as well as a number of vehicles that converted into moving works of work. The exhibit includes work by Robert Crumb, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and Robert Williams.
Celebrating a medium that is often overlooked in other time periods, this exhibit delves into the favored form of portraiture in late 18th century Europe. Pastels allowed the artist to create classically beautiful works without the arduous process that oil painting often requires. This flexibility coincided with the growing class of people who patronized portrait artists, creating a unique body of work that represented both an evolving craft and an evolving society.
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