Historic Core to Get New Park Next to Rowan, El Dorado

By Eric Richardson
Published: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, at 10:36AM

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The Historic Core is set to get a new 35,000 square foot park on Spring street. The announcement was made this morning at a meeting of the Council District 9 Quimby Task Force. The lot, previously slated for a hotel and condo development, will be sold to the city for $5.6 million, to be funded out of Quimby fees.

New parks have been consistently identified as a high priority by Downtown residents. This morning's announcement came as quite the happy surprise for the dozen or so stakeholders present at the City Hall meeting.

The land is a irregularly shaped parcel currently holding parking lots and construction staging.

Developer Downtown Properties owns the parcel, located between the Rowan Lofts and the El Dorado on Spring street. The land had been appraised for $6.3 million in September. The price comes oit to roughly $157 per square foot, a considerable bargain in a neighborhood where land had until recently been selling for up to $500 per square foot.

At the meeting this morning, the Department of Recreation and Parks told stakeholders that it had no concrete plans for the design of the park, and that plans would be developed out of meetings with the community. Early ideas include green space and using a portion of the site for a dog park.

Escrow is expected to close in March. Talks were started late last year. A timeline for when the land would open as park space has not been set.

Next door, Downtown Properties is set to go to auction on 79 units in the Rowan Lofts. The auction will take place February 8. On the other side of the park space, the developer is at work on the El Dorado Lofts, another high-end residential conversion.

Tweet This Story || Share on Facebook

Community Invited to Share Ideas for the New Spring Street Park
July 05, 2009
On Auction Day, Rowan Lofts Successfully Moves 63 Units
February 09, 2009
As Auction Nears, Rowan Attracts Traffic
January 22, 2009
Rowan Lofts Ready to Show Off New Tech for February Auction
January 11, 2009
Catching Up With... Quimby Fees
January 05, 2009

Comments

nirad writes:

Whoohoo!!!!!

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 11:35 AM

Urban Bruin writes:

"one small step for downtown, one giant leap for canine"

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 12:48 PM

Jim Winstead writes:

i wonder what sort of impact this will have on the prices for the upcoming rowan auction.

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 01:11 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

I know that I have a friend who was avoiding certain units because of the potential for a development here to hurt the views. This locks those in. I would think Downtown Properties had to have been thinking about that in this deal.

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 01:30 PM

Susana writes:

WOW!!! WOW!!! Woohooo!!!! lol It makes me want to go get a unit at the Rowan! Wow! :)

They should go to San Francisco and study the pocket parks they have there. I really hope that they contract the design of the park to an outside firm.. I'm not so sure the city's planner/architects would inspire trust in the neighborhood. --Just a thought.

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 02:09 PM

Brandon writes:

Was this supposed to be the parking lot for Rowan/El Dorado or is there another lot allocated for that?

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 02:42 PM

seb writes:

That's nice, but it's too sad we are getting rid of what would have been another beautiful skysrise that would have inpacted the L.A. skyline not to mention add more retail and restaurant space.

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 04:20 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

Brandon: The parking is in the Old Bank Garage, which is off of Main street.

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 04:44 PM

Dan writes:

There will be plenty of new, good retail (200,000SF if I'm not mistaken), at the under-construction apartment complex a block away on 4th and Main. Hopefully this park will be a great place to have outdoor concerts, Historic Core's own weekend farmer's market, and other neighborhood social events. Aesthetically, it will also be a perfect complement to the backdrop of the great historic buildings. Forget about South Park, the Historic Core is the place to be!

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 05:08 PM

Jim Winstead writes:

historic downtown is hardly starved for retail space, even before medallion adds a whole ton of additional space. plopping a 30-story building in the middle of that block always seemed fairly questionable.

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 05:32 PM

Karin Liljegren writes:

We have millions of s.f. for retail/commercial. Broadway is and should be the next retail/commercial focus. This park is amazing news for OBD, Rowan, Owners and Renters. As I've stated a few other times - let's prove that downtown is NOT in a recession! (and for you nay sayers that commonly fill this blog - I say to you - just TRY and say something negative about this one!)

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 06:07 PM

Juanito writes:

Yay!!!!

No dog turds in Pershing Square!!!!

Hoooray.

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 07:35 PM

Tim Quinn writes:

"No-concrete plan"

Sounds like a great idea!

# on Jan.14.2009 AT 08:59 PM

Jon writes:

How about a basketball court as part of the park?