Steve on May 15, 2009, at 11:58PM – #1

What's going on the first three floors?

Sheila on May 16, 2009, at 06:14AM – #2

Good luck filling those spaces.

Greensmark on May 16, 2009, at 09:40AM – #3

Uh, Steve the first three floors are the LOBBY!! If you get on the 28 BUS going down Olympic, you can see into the hotel lobby. The view is straight through to the plaza beyond. IT IS GOING TO BE TERRIFIC!! And Sheila, even though you may not be able to afford the Ritz there are plenty of folks in this world that can. Don't be so pessimistic!

ERIC: Next time you head over to the Ritz, I want to go with you!! I want to see the city from up there. WOW!! I did the tour of Concerto. The city looked fantastic from the 27th floor. I can only imagine what it looks like from the 57th Floor. Thanx for all the great photos!!

Grnsmrk

Tim on May 16, 2009, at 09:53AM – #4

Looking forward to the adjacent movie theaters opening. Real nice addition to downtown.

David Kennedy on May 16, 2009, at 05:11PM – #5

I think these photos bolster my opinion there should have been an observation deck installed at or near the top of this structure. I'm sure it would have been a draw. Too bad.

Juanito on May 17, 2009, at 09:55AM – #6

Right on, David. Anyone who ever visited the observation deck at the former Transamerica Building knows what he means. Once upon a time, it (even) included a Japanese Garden. That was when the restaurant above was one of the best in town.

greensmark on May 17, 2009, at 10:50AM – #7

Good Idea, David. They should have considered making something nifty up there. Say, maybe they will make that round thing on the top a restaurant that rotates while you eat!!

Grnsmrk

Derek on May 17, 2009, at 01:35PM – #8

Fantastic photos!

Russell Brown on May 17, 2009, at 04:19PM – #9

The round thing on top is a heliport that is required on high rises in case of emergency evacuation for fires.

The top floors are high end condominiums with access to services from the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Although public amenities at the top would have had a great view, I doubt if a purchaser would want to be paying well over a million dollars for a penthouse with tourist crawling all over your roof.

Tornadoes28 on May 18, 2009, at 08:38AM – #10

Uh, what spaces Sheila? the hotel rooms and and other venues? What, you think this recession will last forever? For another 50 years? My guess is this building will be around a pretty long time. Hmmm, maybe the recession might even be over before the building is even complete.

benjamin on May 18, 2009, at 11:57AM – #11

yeah! thanks eric! wonderful view .. minus the brown air on the bottom

George Magdaleno on May 18, 2009, at 03:49PM – #12

Is the Ritz Tower the actual name of the Tower or is it the J.W. Marriot Hotel?

John Swartz on May 19, 2009, at 09:21AM – #14

Hooray for The Ritz! Lookin good up there on the 53rd floor! I have all the confidence in the world that there will be buyers for the units. Make no mistake... this is the center of what is happening in LA. The most prime real estate in the city.

Go Downtown Go!!

-J

Juanito on May 19, 2009, at 04:35PM – #18

Now Jack, where the heck were you in the summer of 1970?

Out there and surrounded by the observation deck (as late as the 1980s) one could still see remainders of what once was: the wooden planks, the Junipers, the rounded black beach pebbles. One only had to look inward, if they weren't do distracted by the view outward. It was more of a promenade than a deck, per se, right outside the glass door where you would have had to change elevators to get up and have dinner.

The floor below was Transamerica's executive suite. That's where Palecki and I got tendered fifty thousand bucks to help pay for The L.A. Millennium Project, a design competition for South Park, in April '92. The riot put an end to THAT a week later. My parents had taken me to the Tower Restaurant when I came back from Nixon's war zone many years earlier. And in '86 I was in need of a good night time shot of the financial district for a multi media show on Downtown. By that time, one had to check in at a certain desk on the ground floor. You had to show your I.D. and be adjudged as to whether or not you were of a mind to jump over the edge. After sufficent reassurance you were then given the o.k. to proceed on up to the transfer lobby and there, a security man would unlock the glass door and you could stroll out and view the city below.

What I really needed was to be able to take a shot with a tripod and a wide angle lens without the top edge of the building's facade intruding from below. So I told the lady at the desk exactly what I needed, that I needed to climb down over the railing along the promenade edge and walk out to the edge to set up the tripod. She happily agreed and called ahead to tell the security man what I was up to. No problema! So the security man smiled and let me out the door and I walked to the north edge of the promenade and over I went. And by the time that I managed to take a few pics, all hell had broken loose and security personnel were pouring out through that glass door.

No, I didn't get arrested, but that night may have put an end to public access to the observation deck. Something had failed in translation.

Juanito on May 19, 2009, at 06:11PM – #20

Late that afternoon, Palecki and I had met with Tim Vreeland at his office at A.C. Martin & Associates to finalize the competition programe. As we were walking out the front door of the Fine Arts Building, Mike mentioned that there had been a verdict in Simi Valley. Everything went upside down, two years of work went down the drain and the one scene that I remember the most is the blazing palm trees beside Main Street, next to the 101.