D on September 25, 2009, at 10:52AM – #1

Excellent news! the downtown market is evolving and maturing and the pieces are falling into place. It would be great if CNN and ABC eventually moved to the South Park vicinity with their own studios.

btw, isnt 28 stories a bit short for a 900,000 square foot building?

Vanzant on September 25, 2009, at 11:20AM – #3

Lets get started! A building there would be perfect to fill the gap in my view between the ritz and 717!

D on September 25, 2009, at 01:17PM – #4

Thanks Eric.

klaus on September 25, 2009, at 04:55PM – #6

what i really wanna know is if will there be retail included???

Whitman Lam on September 26, 2009, at 12:12AM – #7

I think it's a great location for a studio. LA Live with it's central location, density, and space, can become the West, Coast version of 30 Rockefeller Center in New York.

deborah zaricor on September 26, 2009, at 10:02AM – #8

I am with klaus! Let there be some good retail! Please! Then we will have everything! Or just about!

Aaron on September 26, 2009, at 10:28AM – #9

Reading the commentary on this site is such a refreshing contrast to the anti-development sentiment other neighborhoods in this city hold. Our message in Downtown is we're open for business, so build higher, faster and bolder!

Purple Haze on September 26, 2009, at 12:43PM – #10

How abouts a merry go round up on the roof?

Sort of symbolic you know - you get on, fate lets you ride for awhile and then it's back to the shadows.

Carter on September 26, 2009, at 04:34PM – #11

I third Klaus and Deborahs call for retail, retail retail! Retail will bring more traffic to the many many resaurants that are there. Target seems to have been looking around, and seems to be a partner of LA Live. How about Target, Trader Joes, CB2, and some little boutiques. Maybe keep the apple store for Grand Avenue if it ever happens.

Bobbie on September 26, 2009, at 05:43PM – #12

While all get excited about creating yet more office space in downtown (what's the current vacancy rate?), take a moment to think about a city-wide plan for development... including a vision for the Miracle Mile area. The city doesn't gain much (in taxes or other benefits) by transferring a tenant from one part of town to another leaving hundreds of thousands of empty square feet while taking away all their people who help to make that neighborhood vibrant. Many years ago City Planning chief Calvin Hamilton envisioned Los Angeles to be a city unlike most others--- We were to have 20 city centers and not a single downtown area. The reasons are obvious given our size, transit challenges, etc.

While downtown is now served by the blue line, gold line (without connections as of yet), METROLINK and bus service, those connections don't yet bring together all the pieces. To allow added new development in this area (a key location that can bottleneck freeway traffic trying to head north, south, east and west) seems to be poor planning. There should be respect for the entitlements given rather than seeking to make changes. You want changes? Then wait until the transit connector, EXPO line and/or subway extension are completed and folks don't need their cars to get to work and elsewhere passing by this site. Don't make a greater downtown bottleneck.

While LA has a history of ignoring zoning and community plans (the value of land is often said to relate not to the zoning, but from what a developer can get the politicos to give in changes to zoning and entitlements on their behalf), it doesn't mean that this needs to continue here. However, this particular developer couldn't be more cozy with the city's powers-that-be and that is scary. Planning by politics rather than policy is never a good idea. Despite reams of city ordinances, LA pols still like to hand out presents to their buddies leaving a mess of infrastructure and transit woes behind. Enough?

David Kennedy on September 26, 2009, at 05:57PM – #13

Here's another vote for a retail component. I understand AEG's vision to build an entertainment district. But, with tens of thousands of people milling about prior to a game/concert with time to kill and money to burn, it seems like an opportunity for some retailer.

Rich Alossi on September 26, 2009, at 06:20PM – #14

Bobbie, while you make great points about the transfer-of-tenants from Mid-City issue and how it relates to taxes, note that real, built-to-suit broadcasting facilities are in high demand for growing entertainment companies.

As I understand it, many studio tenants in Mid-City are in cramped spaces that aren't necessarily fitting the needs of modern studio operations. Built-to-suit space could be customized from the ground-up to meet those needs.

Also, I don't agree with your characterization of transit service and "overbuilding." If there's one place in Los Angeles that needs to be built up, it's Downtown -- regardless of 40-year-old general plans. The business and residential community has consistently shown up at meetings, both for specific projects and community plans, to argue for increased development, of course, if it's done in a smart way.

And if there's one place that has the transportation infrastructure necessary to accommodate this type of development, it's Downtown.

Our subway connects directly to the thousands of studio workers that live in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley; something that Mid-City and Playa Vista can't hope to compete with. Additionally, the Expo Line is under construction that will provide additional service to the Westside, and the Gold Line is almost open to provide service to the Eastside. Once the Regional Connector gets funding (from Measure R and federal sources), Downtown will be well positioned for even more commercial space and broadcast/studio space.

General office vacancy could be a problem in the short-term, but having these transportation options as well as built-to-suit broadcasting facilities is only a positive.

Bert Green on September 26, 2009, at 08:15PM – #15

I agree with Rich. The transit is in place, and growing. Putting the studios here will mean they will be built the right way. There will be little or no NIMBY opposition, which would bog down any proposed project anywhere else in Los Angeles. Downtown has the highest proportion of workers arriving by transit in SoCal, and that will only grow.

It's also not true that the Gold Line does not connect, all you have to do is transfer at Union Station to the Red or Purple Lines. This facility site is a short walk from the 7th/Figueroa station. The Gold Line continues on to East LA, it is not designed to pass through downtown. Even if the Connector is built, it would not open for 7-10 years. Bobbie, you sound like someone who does not use transit in Los Angeles, because you clearly do not understand how well served downtown is by the transit system, how close the stops are to this site, and how the expansions currently under construction make this site perfect for this type of use.

The idea that this project is the product of some kind of official corruption is bizarre. If these uses and workers transfer to downtown, the Mid-City site becomes a development opportunity, and the owner will find some method of making it productive, either by attracting other businesses or by building something else. It's not like they would leave empty buildings sit for decades.