sha in LA

it's gettin' hot in here

Lofts in Koreatown. Crazy I know but I think they're runnin' outta' space in Downtown.

Joke kids, it's a joke.

I've been wondering about the whole "Mercury is Rising" sign that's been on the big 60's(?) structure at the southwest corner of Wilshire and Western for a while. This Saturday and Sunday they are holding an open house of some sort and I plan on getting motivated enough to stop by and check things out for myself. It's been far too long since I've reported on any loft/conversion stuff and seeing as how a majority of my hits are regarding that very subject matter I feel obligated to keep it fresh and new. I still don't understand though why I get so many hits for the Savoy. Hmm, maybe next weekend I will investigate further seeing as how they are open for move-in.

Back to the subject at hand, The Mercury is the name and Forest City is the developer (most recently of Metro 417 fame; the old Subway Terminal Building). They did a lovely job on that building so the expectations are high. A real plus for this site in particular (Wilshire/Western) is that public transportation access is within spitting distance. Not that anyone moving into a $400k+ unit is the public transport type, but one can hope that with the availability so nearby maybe a few can be converted. Oh well, a girl can dream can't she?

*The website says you're supposed to register for the open house by calling a specific number; that number happens to be a fax line. Maybe things will get fixed tomorrow. Otherwise I'm crashing the party.

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hot properties

I've spent lots of time here talking about the loft situation happening in Downtown. Mostly my preferences in this area has been toward the conversion of historic properties from commercial to residential. Well today I'd like to highlight something a bit different. New construction. Due to circumstances beyond my control I can't necessarily divulge exactly why I have decided to focus on new development. Just take it for what it's worth.

The specifics for today are three buildings all being built by South Group, a Portland based development company. Elleven, Luma and Evo. I haven't seen any of the buildings in person, only what's available on the respective websites however this past week I met 2 new residents of Elleven who recently moved in and they are ecstatic about their new home.

According to the website Luma is close to being fully occupied, even though the building isn't complete. What a strange occurence don't you think?? And an interest list is currently forming at Evo. If you're the type of person who is willing to take a chance on the possibility of South Park becoming the next "in" place to live and you have the funds necessary to do so then I highly suggest you check out these properties....or what you can of these properties.

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a peek inside the lofts

On Saturday and Sunday March 25th and 26th, the Downtown Center Business Improvement District is having it's 2nd annual Downtown Living Weekend. The public gets to see 14 different potential living opportunities in the Downtown area. Most buildings have units for sale, 3 buildings have units for lease. The buildings are in various stages of completion meaning some will have full-on models and others will have sales trailers with computer renderings of what potential units will look like. The link above will take you to the DCBID website which has much more detailed information. This is a GREAT opportunity to see numerous buildings in one fell swoop, if you are considering a move downtown you should definitely sign-up.

This year I will be in San Francisco and unable to attend the event. Last year I did go and wrote about my adventures which you can read about here if you wish. Most of the places I am already familiar with although there are a few that I need to go investigate further.

The following is a breakdown of the tour highlights:

FOR SALE:
Artisan on Second
Axis at Union Station
Eastern Columbia
El Dorado Lofts
Evo
Library Court
Little Tokyo Lofts
Market Lofts
Rowan Lofts
Savoy
Sky

FOR LEASE:
Met Lofts
Metro 417
Packard Lofts

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i love open doors

It was Friday night, around 11:15 and I had planned on going to bed early and skipping the party at the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown. Yes, it would be nice to see friends and check out the building in all it's newfound glory but I had a long week and early Saturday morning so staying in was in my best interest. Until Phil and Eric called. They had been at a Holiday Party earlier in the evening, were ready to go and willing to pick me up. Enough said. Armed with a camera to take some pictures of the skyline from the rooftop we headed off on a glorious adventure.

We arrived and immediately made our way up to the rooftop via a circuitous route. We tend to do things the hard way sometimes. We strolled through and didn't see any familiar faces so we decided to check out the rest of the building, mainly the 8th floor lounge and 9th floor rotunda area. Eric and I had been in the building previously - before the conversion a few years ago and as they were wrapping up construction earlier this year. We were eager to see what had happened to the old Jonathan Club ballroom as we had heard that the room would be divided up into penthouse units. Just as we were marveling at the rotunda area Phil spotted an open door. Eric and I followed and what we found was pretty much what we were looking for. The penthouse unit, which closely resembled the original ballroom sans all the intricate details. Needless to say I snapped a whole bunch of pictures while we investigated every nook and cranny and awaited George and his clan to show up.

Shortly thereafter the rooftop part of the party was closed down and moved to the lounge area on the 2nd floor. We left Geo and comrades there as all they really cared about was drinking. P, E, and I were pooped from our adventure and needed some shut eye.

After our little exploration I checked out the Pacific Electric Lofts website and noticed that they claim the 9th floor Jonathan Club Ballroom is supposed to be turned into a fine dining establishment. I'm confused. From what I saw it looks like a Penthouse. While you're over on the website check out the floor plans for the 9th floor. The big area in the lower left hand corner is the unit(s) we were in. It's an amazing space although we noted that the kitchen was kinda blah and we got a bit of vertigo standing in front of the big windows. Also, what in the hell do you do with 30 foot high ceilings???

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who's on second?

Although technically not a loft or conversion...I guess I should update that category...Artisan on Second is one of the newest players in the "for sale condominium community" known as Downtown Los Angeles. Specifically, Little Tokyo to be exact. At the beginning of this year I spent a number of Saturday afternoons in Little Tokyo and wondered what was being built at the corner of 2nd and Hewitt. Knowing that generally new construction in Downtown is usually reserved for either residences or government buildings I figured it was the former. Today as I was perusing the Downtown News I spotted a perky orange and green advert with funky graphics touting the newest and coolest spot to call home and decided to investigate further. The website gives all the usual basics...renderings of potential units, floor plans and the such. Yup, looks like all the other sites out there. Seen one, seen 'em all. That's one of the reasons why I'm still holding out for a conversion....like the El Dorado. The bones of that building speak to me. In more ways than one...

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conversing about conversions

With all the conversions and new development going on Downtown there are certain buildings that continue to sit vacant. Many theories have been presented to me as to why, ranging from absentee owners from other countries receiving tax breaks to the issue of not having adequate parking spaces as required by law. Here are 3 properties which I believe, at least in my pedestrian way of thinking, to be ripe for conversion.

Hotel Clark sits on the corner of 4th and Hill Street directly across from the newly converted Metro 417 and a Pershing Square Metro entrance. This building has sat vacant for a number of years and I have randomly heard rumors of some sort of conversion in the works but that hasn't happened. It was sold a few years ago but still, no sign of life anywhere. Actually this would be a great urban exploration building, ifyouknowwhatimean.

The Garfield Building sits on the corner of 8th and Hill Street directly next to the Golden Gopher and across the street from the soon to be converted Union Lofts. In the early 1990's about 9.3 million dollars was pumped into the building to spruce it up however to my knowledge is mostly vacant these days.

On the same block but up towards 8th and Olive is the old Commercial Exchange building that has a neon sign that Eric Lynxwiler covets every time we walk and or drive by.

If you want to look at great pictures of buildings downtown you should check out You-Are-Here.com. The color photographs above are from that fabulous site. The black and white photo is from another wonderful resource, the Los Angeles Public Library.

As I said earlier, I don't know all the legal ramifications concerning converting older structures but the 3 buildings that I listed are in great areas that are beginning to see a major upswing. I hope that developers looking at possible conversions at least consider these buildings and if anyone has concrete information on the issue of converting said properties I'd love to hear feedback.

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i'll take the penthouse suite please

Last night Jim and I ran around the Subway Terminal Building like a bunch of crazed teenagers. It was the "official" opening of the building and they hosted a party complete with Downtown dignitaries and redevelopment people (essentially one and the same) with a few commoners thrown into the mix.

Our first stop was the 2nd floor bar area. We all got on the elevator and as soon as the doors closed we heard a lovely electronic female voice say "We are experiencing technical difficulties." Yes, all 8 of us were trapped in an elevator to nowhere. A sprightly young man and I pried open the doors and it was all stairs and freight elevators after that.

2 weird drinks and a garlicky mashed potato thing later we made our way up to the jacuzzi rooftop patio where we marveled at the disappearance of the top floors of the Library Tower due to all the fog. Afterwards we accosted a group of people giving a tour of some of the penthouse units and tagged along. We got to see the most stunning split level Southeast facing unit complete with humongous deck/patio area. I was in awe. I wanted to cry. Could have been after effects of PMS, however it was beautiful that's for sure. We toyed with the idea of either stowing away in a closet and secretly living there until caught or simply squatting in the penthouse and having them kick us out but we eventually opted against those choices and simply decided to live with our memories. If you look closely at the picture you can see us on the patio-deck.

We ended the adventure with a trip to the 5th floor where we were able to view 5 "apartment homes" in varying size and layout.

I had a blast. Many thanks to Forest City for hosting the shindig and congratulations on a conversion well done.

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livin' in the subway (terminal building)

I've been getting lots of hits for various loft/conversion/new construction projects around town so I have decided that in the coming weekends I will visit as many of them as I can and report back on my findings. That being said, this past weekend I was Downtown doing a tour and bumped into Jim as I was finishing up. After he came to his senses and decided to have lunch with me, we decided to check out Metro 417 aka the Subway Terminal Building. I've had a long love affair with the building as it is one of the highlights on my tour and in the past few years I've variously been able to get into the old waiting room lobby and subway tunnels. My ultimate goal is to occupy the penthouse suite on the southeast side however that probably won't happen anytime soon as I'm in the buying mood and these are rentals....among other factors.

We looked at 3 units of varying size and price. And no, we are not planning on moving in together, this was strictly for information purposes.

The first unit we viewed was 2 bedroom, 2 bath and approximately 1031 SQ FT. It was located mid-wing on the 5th floor and the view was of the wing across the way. All of the interiors were extremely well done, I forget the interior architect but if I took the time to look through my paperwork I'm sure I could scrounge up a name. This unit averaged out at $2.29 SQ FT.

The next unit was a 1 bedroom, 1 bath and was approximately 773 SQ FT. This one was located higher up on the 8th floor and had a partial view of Pershing Square - the Title Guarantee & Trust is located on the corner of 5th and Hill so you get a view of the backside of that building as well. This end unit gets TONS of afternoon light and averages out at $2.94 SQ FT.

Finally we saw another 1 bedroom, 1 bath that was a little bit bigger at 788 SQ FT. It was on the 8th floor too however it was located on the opposite side of the building and afforded views of Angels Flight and Grand Central Market area. This unit averaged $2.84 SQ FT.

Afterwards we got to see the rooftop jacuzzi area and the 2nd floor which houses the billiards room, private screening room (where a few people were watching the USC/Notre Dame game), workout room, kitchen and conference room.

Overall this conversion was very nicely done. If you can afford it and pass their Economic Criteria (combined household income before taxes must be at least 3x the monthly gross scheduled rent that is the portion of the rent to be paid by applicant household) then by all means consider Metro 417 as a rental option.

Oh and "technically" these aren't considered lofts, rather they are "apartment homes."

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drooling over development

Last night I sat down with my highlighter, red pen and latest issue of The Downtown News as this week is the quarterly Project Update on all that is happening Downtown. I only got through about 1/8th of the information before I was distracted by something else...but I must say, I'm very excited at how the landscape will be changing over the next few years.

When I first started giving my Historic Core Tour with The Los Angeles Conservancy back in 1999 I would tell my tour goers to take a look at Downtown in 2005 as the city would be changing dramatically over the next few years. Now I need to change my spiel and use the year 2010 as a marker instead as by that time, if all goes as planned, Downtown should be rockin'. Not that it isn't already...just MORE rockin' than before.

On a side note, I noticed The Kor Group has a lot of irons in the fire regarding building conversions/new construction in Downtown and Hollywood. HOT, HOT, HOT they are right now. In the words of the immortal KC & The Sunshine Band, Keep It Comin' Love.

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developMEnts

So much good stuff in this weeks Downtown News that I could be kept busy for a week talking about it all and a year or two watching it come together.

First off. Related Companies, that NY conglomerate in charge of the Grand Avenue Plan, is intent on converting my favorite Little Tokyo parking lot and the location of the Tofu Festival into 750 market rate apartments and condos. Read more about it here. This could be very good for the area as there's lots of dining and shopping to be had within walking distance. Also. St. Vibiana's and the Little Tokyo Branch Library is directly across the street and the Higging Building (with intended restaurant on the ground floor) is 2 blocks away.

Second. The KOR Group, most recently known for helping relight the neon clock atop the Eastern Columbia Building, has their sights on 2 new properties...one of which is in Chinatown (yes!) the other is in the Arts District near the Molino Street Lofts (another KOR property). Yay, for exploring areas other than South Park. And Double yay for the Chinatown location. I'll be keeping my eye on these developments especially since good friends of mine have recently purchased a Molino Street Loft. Guess who's their new house sitter when they go on vacations???

And finally, something fishy is going on in the Central Business District as a local Seafood Company is converting a few of their buildings into a mixed-use residential project. One can only hope that there will be no pesky "fish odor" in those structures...or the surrounds. Yay, for Central Business District. Yay, for warehouse conversions. Those are the nifty-est.

All in all, an exciting time for Downtown just as people were saying "we've done converted all the buildings available, what are we gonna do now?" Um, keep looking...I'm sure you'll find something.

All photo credits go to Gary "take my picture" Leonard. The man.

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