sha in LA

it's enough to make your head spin...

I began giving walking tours of Downtown in 1998, nearly 10 years ago, and my how things have changed. Back then Title Guarantee & Trust on the corner of 5th and Hill was still home to La Opinion, Metro 417 was only known as the Subway Terminal Building and sat unoccupied, the old Broadway Department Store on 4th between Broadway and Hill sat empty and in major disrepair, the Pan American Lofts building was simply known as the Giant Penny building, the Victor Clothing Company still sold clothes and 4th and Main was a sleepy corner being eyed by Tom Gilmore.

Today all of those buildings and many more in between have been converted for alternate use. Most of them converted (or in the process of being converted) to residential which has infused a large amount of diversity into the street scene both day and night. Just go Downtown on any given Saturday or Sunday and it’s a veritable melting pot.

Along with the residential core, an influx of bars, restaurants and a host of other business services have come to the area. Keeping up with the change that occurs on what seems to be a daily basis is impossible….or nearly impossible. Thanks to the Downtown News, on a quarterly basis we, the readers, get to bypass all the dirty work and read about the current happenings in the way of Residential Sales, Rentals, Mixed Use Projects, Bars/Restaurants, Schools, Civic and Community Projects. For those who just like to look at pretty pictures instead, there's a great map produced by Cartifact which shows all the projects in said Downtown News Development issue.

The amount of projects being tracked has increased on a yearly basis with the current issue topping out at just over 170 projects. Damn! I remember when I could sit down and read the update in like under a half hour. Now I need a good 2 hours and flow charts galore just to keep track of which projects each developer is doing.

Back in 2000 I used to tell my tour-goers, "come back in 2005 and you will see a drastically different Downtown than you see today." Today I tell them the same thing however I use 2010 as a reference marker.

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a new kind of open house

I grew up in the same house for 15 years of my life. From 3 years old until I graduated from high school and got the hell outta dodge. I always wanted to live in a different house growing up. My parents would go to various Open Houses in neighboring developments that popped up near us and I'd dream of living in one of those fancy new places with a bedroom twice the size of mine. That dream never did come true but my love of Open Houses has never waned...cut to today:

Today I had an appointment at the El Dorado for a hard hat tour of the building that's being converted into 65 luxury condominiums. I'm a big fan of seeing the construction process from beginning to end and anytime I can get into a building, legal or otherwise, I jump on the opportunity. CJ accompanied me to this appointment as we both share an abnormal fascination with this stuff.

I immediately made friends with the woman showing us around and what was supposed to be a quickie tour ended up being a thoroughly detailed walk through of both the El Dorado and the Rowan Lofts. Our heads were spinning with so much information that we gathered all our reading material when it was over and headed straight down to The Chapman to get another perspective on life.

We saw The Chapman a few months ago at the Loft Living Tour and immediately fell in deep like with the place. Wanting to know if it was a fleeting infatuation or something much more required another look. Today was our lucky day because they too were having hard hat tours. Go figure. Those hard hat tours are all the rage nowadays in Downtown apparently. We headed upstairs to "the unit" and yes, that loving feeling was still alive and kicking.

OK, so at this point of the day we've seen 3 drastically different places and have really liked them all. My brain is at maximum capacity, but wait, there's more...

CJ just moved into a place at Santee Court so of course I had to go check out the new digs. Those windows. The rooftop. Mr. Potato Head. One word...envious.

And if all that wasn't enough to put us at the pinnacle of conversion euphoria it turns out I have a good friend who is "loft sitting" at the Eastern Columbia...a few phone calls later and we ended up getting a grand tour of the pool deck and a unit on the 3rd floor. 14 foot ceilings (3rd and top floor only) and beautifully decorated, it was a stunning building inside and out.

What was going to be just a quick look at a loft construction site ended up being a wildly fantastic adventure in a multitude of residential buildings. Kinda similar to driving around looking at Open Houses but with a slightly different urban spin on it. I felt like a kid again.

No pictures for the masses, they're all locked up in my brain.

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more on the delano

So while were on the hot topic of that nasty L word....lofts....I thought I'd share the teeny bit of info gleaned from my visit to the Delano Lofts a few weeks ago. I've yet to go back and take snaps so you'll have to rely on their majorly craptastic website that is god awful slow and glitchy for more views.

There's a lot of interesting stuff about this project:

1. The location. The area surrounding 6th and Grand is becoming quite active. With the Daily Grill, Casey's, Grand Avenue Sports Bar, Library Bar, The Standard, Wolfgang Puck, Subway, Starbucks and Famima recently moving into the area as well as a Ralphs opening a few blocks away, the place is definitely not lacking in the food department. It seems like that area of 6th Street could be a nice connector between the soon to be developed edge of South Park and the Historic Core.

2. The building. The exterior of the building is simply stunning. The 2nd, 3rd, 9th, and 11th floors have rounded archway windows which lend so much character to not only the exterior but the interior as well. Built by Walker & Eisen, the same architects who did the Oviatt Building just around the corner, the building stands as beautiful example of a Romanesque Revival Beaux Arts gem from the mid 20's in Los Angeles.

3. The lease to own incentive. According to their sales rep, the contract will state that they do intend on converting to condos in a few years and up to 20% of the rent can be put toward the purchase price. Now as long as that is actually true and not a bunch of BS, and the place is managed decently, it seems like an attractive incentive. My very basic math skills show that an 875 square foot unit that rents for $1875 a month will, if the 20% statement is true, yield you $4500 per year towards a down payment. Multiply that by 3 years and well that doesn't seem like a bad offer. But what do I know...I'm not a real estate wizard, hell I still rent. If someone out there sees fault with this option please school me now. Honestly, I'd like to know the pros and cons of that situation.

Here's what makes me unsure about this project. First of all, non-gas ranges. Need I say more? And second, I get a little bit of a shady vibe from the developers. That's all I'm gonna say, and I hope I'm incorrect in that regard. Only time will tell. However they better not do that building wrong. I've loved it for 10 years and am very happy to see it gain life again.

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view of some lofts

What a weekend. I'm pooped.

It all started Saturday morning with a tour of the Historic Core with CSUN students. Directly after ending the tour I made a beeline to the Title Guarantee & Trust Building to sneak a peek at the newly converted structure. Plus it's been a little over a year since I've seen the Hugo Ballin murals that grace the lobby and had to make sure they were still there. I signed the waiver, stepped into the elevator, turned around and there was Ed from View From A Loft! We've never met but know each other peripherally from the Blog-LA-Sphere. Small world. And it was about to get a lot smaller as the weekend went on. I ended up running into an absurd amount of people I know from all aspects of my life: theatre, swing dancing, blogging and touring.

At Title Guarantee we talked for a long time with the owner Dan Swartz. I was impressed with him as an individual but not so much with the pricing of the rental units. OK, let's play a game here...how much do you think a 1410 square foot unit would rent for in this building? I asked a few people familiar with the Downtown landscape and most came back with a range that was well under the actual asking price of $3950. Yes, a couple could live there comfortably and pay near about $2000 EACH. For rent. Riiiight.

Sunday was the day I had planned to do the actual full day tour. The time change and events from the previous night gave me a late start on the day but we made full use of the time we had. I met Chris at his beautiful K-Town pad and we set off from there around 12:30ish.

Our first stop was 1100 Wilshire. Not officially on "the tour" but open regardless and we couldn't resist checking the place out. I had seen it a few years ago at the first Downtown Living weekend when it wasn't built out and Chris had never been. We started with a stop at the 17th floor pool deck and were greeted with stunning views of the city. Then it was up to the 36th floor which is all viewing units. We agreed that unit 3602 was one of our favorites. The interiors didn't do it for Chris who was very underwhelmed at the kitchen cabinetry. The thing about this building, you're definitely paying for the views and pool deck amenities.

1010 Wilshire was right next door and I had heard about it being "cocktail hour" so we had to go check it out, even though it was just a sales gallery. Which by the way, the sales galleries at all the buildings we viewed were this weird, hip party type of atmosphere. Not like the stuffy trailer sales galleries of the past, that's for sure. I downed the Cosmo, took a picture of the bathroom and the stove (gas!) and we were off to the next joint.

The Roosevelt was another sales gallery. There will be 222 units total. Let's throw some numbers out there for those who are curious: Unit 519, 1532 square feet split level unit 2 bd/2ba, $880k. Unit 812, 944 square feet, $625k. Penthouses are 1.2M and up and range in size from 1600 - 2700 square feet. The physical highlight here was the elevator lobby. Chris liked the convenience of the building being located directly over a Metro stop but we wondered how many potential buyers would actually utilize it for commuting to work.

Next up was The Chapman. I've seen adverts in the Downtown News and I often travel on Broadway but for the life of me couldn't place the building. It's located on the corner of 8th and Broadway in the bustling Historic Core, directly across from the Tower Theatre. This by far was one of our favorites of the day. I actually hesitate to write so highly of it for fear of potentially losing out on the unit I'm interested in. Yes, I'd consider buying in this building even though I've got one hell of a great rental in Los Feliz....that's how much I liked it. What they are doing right here is what should happen more often Downtown. Reasonably priced units in older office buildings that strive to keep as much of the interior charm as possible with out blowing out the interior and starting from scratch. You actually felt the history in this building and could definitely see it from the views of the Tower directly outside your bedroom window. One hopes that they will be installing double paned windows, something I failed to inquire about, due to the very urban aspect of the surrounding neighborhood.

Before getting to the El Dorado we took a slight detour to do some urban exploring and made our way to the roof of an un-named building and scored some amazing views. Chris loves open doors almost as much as I and has the same adventurous spirit.

Back to the El Dorado. I've long had a fascination with this building and have often said that if and when I buy Downtown it will be in the El Dorado. And that statement still stands. In it's original state, the lobby is one of the most spectacular ones I've seen in Downtown. All units will be equipped with a private balcony. Enough said. Gas ranges and the proximity to 4th and Main all make it equally as intriguing. The pros and cons of the El Dorado and Chapman were the main topic of conversation henceforth on the day. Average price here was mid $400's for a 4th floor 870 square foot 1 bd unit.

Next up was The Rowan. Be forewarned, we asked what was going to happen with the large empty dirt lot that sits to the front of the building (currently construction equipment and port-a-pottys utilize the space) and were told "not sure, possibly a building." No thanks. There goes that view from your balcony.

The last stop on the day was the highly anticipated 2121 Lofts. On the way we swung by and picked up E&P who wanted to tag along and see the place too. The exterior of the complex was fabulous and pretty much the most exciting thing about it. None of us were especially taken with the models that were available for viewing, save for one that had a crazy beautiful arched glass doorway. The spaces seemed cramped and overpriced and some interior units received practically no light, just cavernous dark spaces. Fun.

At the end of the day we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Pitfire and discussed the days events. Overall I'm extremely happy to see gas ranges in nearly every project we viewed and would like to personally thank each and every developer who went with that decision. There's definitely people who prefer one type of project over another such as the Roosevelt over the Chapman, or say the 1010 over 2121. That's what makes us all unique individuals. So for me to say that the Chapman is great is simply my opinion, which I'm entitled too. Take my comments above as you will, check them out on your own and decide for yourself. I can't wait to see how these projects and the associated ground floor retail that's slated to open with each begin to transform the area into an urban residential core.

The full set of pictures can be found here.

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lookie loo, lofty loo who

This coming Saturday and Sunday is the 3rd Annual Downtown Living Weekend hosted by the Downtown Center Business Improvement District.

In one day you can see up to 15 residential projects currently leasing and/or selling in the Downtown area. Granted, if one were motivated enough that could be accomplished any weekend, not just this one. The key selling points here are the transportation options. For $15 you get the convenience of a shuttle bus as your main mode of transportation between the projects. Or, if you're familiar enough with driving in Downtown you could go for option B, the $6 all day parking pass good in any one of Joe's 15,000 parking lots located between Temple, Alameda, Olympic and Figueroa. A final option would be to do it like they do in other metropolitan cities and walk.

I'll be utilizing option B so that I can maximize my time, and because I'll be getting my fill of walking around Downtown on Saturday.

Speaking of seeing new projects....2 Saturdays ago I got a quick official glimpse of what I like to call the Carls Jr. Building Lofts aka Delano Lofts.

I honestly didn't take any notes but will be making another appointment in the coming weeks to check it out in more detail. I've long loved this building and am happy to see it turn residential, hopefully helping make that part of 6th Street become a vibrant, utilized area.

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i love open doors redux

As I stated in an earlier post, Eric Lynxwiler and I decided to do some daytime urban exploring on Saturday. Our first trip was an authorized visit to a recent conversion...see 2 posts down. The second visit was somewhat unauthorized however wildly successful.

I've had my eye on a few conversions currently happening in Downtown and was determined to check one of these out, even if it meant scaling a wall...which I've been known to do before. The first step we take is to do a walk-by, whereby we walk the perimeter and attempt to open any and every doorway available. The second step usually varies by building and luckily on this particular occasion we didn't have to go there...we found an open door on our third try. Holy Shit is all I could think to myself. We scurried up the flight of stairs but halfway to the top we heard a voice from below, "excuse me." Damn, foiled. Or maybe not. I explained that I really wanted to see what was happening because I knew it was being converted and asked if I could just take a quick peek. Reluctantly after a few hems and haws about "insurance issues" the kind gentleman, who I will not mention by name, escorted us into a unit. Eric and I were beside ourselves at what we saw. Insane original windows, cool tile in the kitchen and bathroom, nice kitchen appliances (unfortunately it's electric stove) and cupboards, great flooring and an overall sturdy building (it's from the 30's). Our enthusiasm must have rubbed off on him because he showed us another unit as well. I'm sure if we had asked we could have received a full tour (kidding, sort of) but we played it cool and didn't push the subject.

Sadly I can't really divulge which building this is because I don't want to get anyone in trouble but I will definitely hunt down info on the developers and attempt to get a more formal viewing soon. Construction-wise it looks like they are near completion so more info may come sooner than later.

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Library Court Revisited

This past Saturday I took a trip back to the Library Court to have another look at the apartment homes/lofts/whatever they are called these days. This time I had Eric Lynxwiler with me because we decided that we'd do some urban exploring as well if the time permitted....plus he was curious to see the outcome as we both had been watching this conversion for the past few months.

Rebecca (?) was kind enough to take us around to some of what I considered to be the highlights from my previous visit. Specifically the 14, 15 and 03 units. In addition she showed us the last available townhome, something that I must have glossed over on my first visit because the fact that there were "townhomes" available was news to me. I took some snaps of a few interiors and those of you who want to get directly to that visual aspect can click here and satisfy your appetite.

Eric was pleased overall at what he saw and didn't even mind the odd primary color scheme in the elevator lobby and zen courtyard, something that I am visually opposed to. We both were floored at the Townhouses, 5 in total, each with private deck area and split level. Only one is available, the rest are taken.

There will be another Open House on September 23rd for those that want to have a look with their own eyes. If you're looking for a place Downtown this is definitely worth consideration. I'm more into an older feel of buildings so this wouldn't be the type of place I'd personally buy into however for the location and amenities it's got a lot going for it.

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Library Livin'

On Saturday the newly opened Library Court had an open house and yours truly went to check things out. I’m still kicking myself for failing to remember to bring along a camera to document the occasion so words will have to do.

Library Court slightly resembles a nicely appointed beach side hotel. The building is rectangular in shape and has an interior courtyard with a zen-like theme. It’s actually a nice oasis in the city that makes you feel as if you’re not really in Downtown. The color scheme for the exterior furniture and some of the exterior walls in the elevator area are shades of Red, Blue and Yellow that are primary in the most absolute form. Somehow “zen” and “crayola primaries” don’t work well in the same sentence. More subdued colors may have been a better choice.

Most units are exterior facing with the exception of the 06, 08, 10 & 12 numbered units. All of those face the interior courtyard which is never my preferred choice, however those units on the top 2 floors do get a good amount of natural light during the day.

The open house was self touring and they started us off on the odd numbered side of the building where the view is of an obtrusive, massive office structure that looked as if it were vacant. The units numbered 14, 15 & 16 were definitely the primo spots with fantastic views of the Standard and the Jonathon Club. 15 & 16 have walls of windows for an even more spectacular effect. 01, 02, 03 & 04 have decent views as well, mainly of another office building however this one is at least located across 6th street so it doesn’t feel as imposing as the opposite side of the building.

Now onto the interiors: layout, design, etc. Most units were in the 600-700+ sq ft. range with a few at 900 and at least one at 1100+. Likewise there were a few in the 500+ range however the bedrooms in those units were tiny! There was one 2 bedroom unit that I felt would have worked nicer as a one bedroom (14). My favorites were 15 & 16 (obviously) and 03; all of which are near the 700 sq. ft. size with marked difference in pricing if you are on the primo view side and choose a unit higher in the building. Note to those who are interested: all 15 & 16 numbered units are sold already with the exception of 215 which after Saturdays’ sales event may not be the case. The units have some sort of hardwood flooring except for the bedrooms which are carpeted. The bathrooms are oddly large and a few of us speculated that perhaps it was a requirement they be so spacious for wheelchair access. The cabinetry in the kitchen area wasn’t anything the write home about however I did like the overall clean feel of the kitchens. The only downer…the dreaded electric stove of which I apparently have some serious deep seeded issues with. Just call me a child of the 70’s.

Overall I think I’m on the fence about this building. Having close friends who recently have taken up residence in the Molino Street Lofts and being one who prefers an older, rawer structure I find these units a little too apartment-ish. Then again, for what they are bringing to the neighborhood – a nicely appointed building which seems to be priced fairly in this market & lots of new ground floor dining (Wolfgang Puck, Juice It Up, Subway, Loose Leaf and a Japanese Restaurant – I left my notes at home) – they seem to have succeeded.

The Daily Grill opened up a year ago in the neighborhood and became an instant hit with the Downtown work force and we all know what The Standard has done towards creating a nightlife “scene” on this particular portion of 6th Street. With The Gas Company Lofts a block away and another adaptive reuse project underway on the same block as the Library Court, this little section of Downtown has the potential to be a nice connecting point between South Park and the Historic Core.

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Sunset Palms

After the Dragon Boat Race yesterday I decided to download my snaps and write an awesome recap of the days events thusfar. I then went home and cleaned up and headed over to the Sunset Palms (aka Eric & Phil's Loft Warming Party at Molino Street). I decided to forgo the Standard Hotel Birthday Pool Party because the day had gotten away from me and I was eager to get to Molino Street on the early side of things. I arrived around 5pm and was greeted by the hosts with open arms. A quick look around and I realized that I knew no one however that didn't stop me from standing near one of the food tables and making small talk with others doing the same. After grazing on cheese, strawberries, veggies and chicken I decided to head up to the rooftop/pool deck with my camera to take some pictures. A few others followed and from then on most of the evening was spent there. Regular readers will note my fondness for rooftops.

As it was, you needed a key or a kind soul to gain access to the pool area and at one point some people wandered up and yelled for help. I jumped up to go assist and much to my surprise it was Mondo Rick-o, his partner Steve and a friend, Lisa. We've been playing comment tag on each others blog and were so excited to finally meet each other. We all 4 then became best friends forever and spent a good long time bonding over various topics. Then all of a sudden it was decided that they needed real food and wanted to go to 626 Reserve. For some reason I thought I needed MORE food and invited myself along for the ride. The 4 of us then proceeded to gorge ourselves on crabcakes, ahi ceviche, various sandwiches, asian chicken salad and birthday cake from a random birthday girl in the house. Oh yeah, they had wine. I choose water as my drink of choice for the few hours previous had been vodka with some sort of juice beverage.

Afterwards they dropped me back off at the Loft where I hung out for a bit digesting my meal and talking to friends. Needless to say when the night was over all I wanted to do was drop into bed so I never made it to the Broadway Bar Birthday Party either. 2 outta 4 ain't bad I guess.

Pictures can be viewed here. Enjoy.

sha in LA & Mondo Rick-o

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savoy searchers, i feel your pain

A few weeks ago I tried looking up info on the Savoy (previously Alexan Savoy) but found all the links to the development crashed my computer. Odd, but I thought it temporary. Maybe they were having an internal glitch. Today I decided to take another stab at it however I was getting the same results. An attempt at doing a yahoo search yielded my website as the top link. "Well that's gonna do no one good," I thought. I continuously get google searches for the development on a daily basis and I'm assuming there are lots of frustrated people out there because of this. So I kept internet searching and guess what I found?? Yup. What looks to be a live link to the development with a rather odd web address, Los Angeles Downtown Condos. Oh yeah, sure, that makes sense. Usually if one doesn't know the actual address of something you just put in something close to the name and hit enter and the magic of the computer world gets you to the corect website. Not in this instance. Maybe the web kids over there should fix this little "issue."

That being said here's my good deed for the day: Looking for more info on the Alexan Savoy or Savoy in Downtown Los Angeles? Click on the links I have provided!

...only if they can find ya'!!

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