GRAND PLANS FOR GRAND AVENUE
The Related Companies will Revitalize Downtown Los Angeles
Not only do most Angelinos not live in Los Angeles, but unless they work in the financial industry they rarely even step foot in the city’s heart.
For most who call the greater Los Angeles home, when it comes time to sleep, eat, dine and play, they do so in Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and the West Side, practically anywhere but downtown. But this is about to change, promises a dedicated group of civic leaders.
It has long been the dream of city planners and now Southern California’s elite to once again bring vitality and life to downtown Los Angeles, creating a sophisticated center that will rival any international metropolis.
Known as The Grand Avenue Plan, The Related Companies, the plan’s developer, and the city have partnered to create a master plan that will include a 16-acre civic park and up to 3.5 million square feet of development on nine acres along Grand Avenue, the downtown area’s main thoroughfare.
“We look forward to developing a great destination location for the city of Los Angeles,” says Stephen Ross, Chairman and CEO of The Related Companies. “This development, in a dynamic location, will create an exciting, much needed 24/7 environment in downtown Los Angeles for both city residents and world visitors."
The mixed-use plan will not only include 400,000 square feet of retail space and a luxury hotel and condo development, but to ensure that Grand Avenue truly springs to life again, the plan also calls for up to 2,600 residential units in all, many of them luxury condos.
“This dynamic project, among the largest in the history of Los Angeles, will create an exciting downtown center for a region with 17 million people, and provide housing, great restaurants and shops, theaters and cultural venues, and a beautiful new central park where people will gather to celebrate major events,” said Eli Broad, Chairman of the Grand Avenue Committee, which consists of private citizens and civic leaders working to see that Grand Avenue becomes grand once again.
A well-known philanthropist, Broad, who founded two Fortune 500 companies including KB Homes, has long been interested in revitalizing the city’s downtown. He and others believe that in order to create an exciting city environment where people want to spend time, there must also be enticing places to live. Even now, with the completion of the new Disney Concert Hall, The Music Center and the new monolithic Cathedral of Our Lady of The Angels, Grand Avenue becomes desolate when the business day is done. Broad and others are hoping that with a dynamic combination of cultural venues, restaurants and luxury living quarters, the lawyers and stockbrokers will no longer run west after the sun sets.
The Related Companies master plan weaves together commercial and residential uses with an emphasis on creating great public spaces, connections between the streets and the park and shaping view corridors that highlight the city’s architectural icons, Disney Hall, Cathedral of Our Lady of The Angels, and City Hall. The multi-phased development will include both affordable and market rate housing with multi-level retail and entertainment spaces built around large plazas and public spaces.
The concept is the result of months of public meetings, which shaped the urban design and informed the types of commercial uses and public spaces to be built. The $1.8 billion project on two city, and two county-owned parcels, and an adjacent site to be acquired by Related, is estimated to generate more than 5,000 jobs by the time the project is complete, plus $28 million in annual revenues for the city, county and state.
The first phase will be a $500 million development of 1.1 million square feet and will be the most dramatic and highest density element of the overall master plan. In the first phase several major components of the overall master plan will be built on a four-acre parcel directly across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall in an effort to create a buzz and start bringing the area to life.
The first phase includes a food market, bookstore, several signature retailers, a series of small shops; entertainment uses include a cinema and possibly a music venue. The project’s most intensive attraction will be a collection of restaurants and clubs and associated art galleries that will be found at various locations within the complex. Most will take advantage of views to Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as provide extensive use of outdoor dining areas, terraces and roof decks. The site, which slopes quickly downhill from Grand Avenue, allows this exciting mix of entertainment, dining and shopping uses to be spread over several carefully integrated levels.
One of the plan’s jewels will be a distinctive 40 to 50 story iconic tower at the corner of Second and Grand avenues. This structure will combine a boutique hotel of up to 275 rooms with 200 condominiums located on the top floors. There are also plans to build a 25 to 30 story residential tower at Olive and First streets that will combine 150 market rate condominiums with 88 affordable apartments. These buildings will flank plazas and courtyards with inviting outdoor seating and dining areas that will ultimately connect Grand Avenue to Hill Street.
Along with the many structures and plazas being built in the first phase, more than $50 million will be spent on improvements to the existing civic mall to create a grand 16-acre civic park as well. On the park’s west end across from the Music Center, there will be space for cultural, arts and entertainment events. In the heart’s park will be a colorful garden area, and the east end by City Hall will be designed to host civic celebrations and multi-cultural festivals.
“This plan achieves the many goals we set for this development,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. “It will serve all Angelinos, with great public spaces and a mix of uses. Most importantly we will have a new civic park, a place for families and for community celebrations.”
A team of world- renowned architects has been assembled to bring the Grand Avenue vision to fruition. The well-known figures include, Frank Gehry and David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Howard Elkus of Elkus-Manfredi Architects.
Although the city and county will maintain ownership of the properties, The Related Companies will have a 99-year ground lease on the parcels. Related will prepay a base amount on each ground lease and give the city and county a percentage of condominium sales, hotel room revenue and gross rents after a certain return has been met. Construction on the first phase is set to begin in the latter part of 2006.
Not only do most Angelinos not live in Los Angeles, but unless they work in the financial industry they rarely even step foot in the city’s heart.
For most who call the greater Los Angeles home, when it comes time to sleep, eat, dine and play, they do so in Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and the West Side, practically anywhere but downtown. But this is about to change, promises a dedicated group of civic leaders.
It has long been the dream of city planners and now Southern California’s elite to once again bring vitality and life to downtown Los Angeles, creating a sophisticated center that will rival any international metropolis.
Known as The Grand Avenue Plan, The Related Companies, the plan’s developer, and the city have partnered to create a master plan that will include a 16-acre civic park and up to 3.5 million square feet of development on nine acres along Grand Avenue, the downtown area’s main thoroughfare.
“We look forward to developing a great destination location for the city of Los Angeles,” says Stephen Ross, Chairman and CEO of The Related Companies. “This development, in a dynamic location, will create an exciting, much needed 24/7 environment in downtown Los Angeles for both city residents and world visitors."
The mixed-use plan will not only include 400,000 square feet of retail space and a luxury hotel and condo development, but to ensure that Grand Avenue truly springs to life again, the plan also calls for up to 2,600 residential units in all, many of them luxury condos.
“This dynamic project, among the largest in the history of Los Angeles, will create an exciting downtown center for a region with 17 million people, and provide housing, great restaurants and shops, theaters and cultural venues, and a beautiful new central park where people will gather to celebrate major events,” said Eli Broad, Chairman of the Grand Avenue Committee, which consists of private citizens and civic leaders working to see that Grand Avenue becomes grand once again.
A well-known philanthropist, Broad, who founded two Fortune 500 companies including KB Homes, has long been interested in revitalizing the city’s downtown. He and others believe that in order to create an exciting city environment where people want to spend time, there must also be enticing places to live. Even now, with the completion of the new Disney Concert Hall, The Music Center and the new monolithic Cathedral of Our Lady of The Angels, Grand Avenue becomes desolate when the business day is done. Broad and others are hoping that with a dynamic combination of cultural venues, restaurants and luxury living quarters, the lawyers and stockbrokers will no longer run west after the sun sets.
The Related Companies master plan weaves together commercial and residential uses with an emphasis on creating great public spaces, connections between the streets and the park and shaping view corridors that highlight the city’s architectural icons, Disney Hall, Cathedral of Our Lady of The Angels, and City Hall. The multi-phased development will include both affordable and market rate housing with multi-level retail and entertainment spaces built around large plazas and public spaces.
The concept is the result of months of public meetings, which shaped the urban design and informed the types of commercial uses and public spaces to be built. The $1.8 billion project on two city, and two county-owned parcels, and an adjacent site to be acquired by Related, is estimated to generate more than 5,000 jobs by the time the project is complete, plus $28 million in annual revenues for the city, county and state.
The first phase will be a $500 million development of 1.1 million square feet and will be the most dramatic and highest density element of the overall master plan. In the first phase several major components of the overall master plan will be built on a four-acre parcel directly across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall in an effort to create a buzz and start bringing the area to life.
The first phase includes a food market, bookstore, several signature retailers, a series of small shops; entertainment uses include a cinema and possibly a music venue. The project’s most intensive attraction will be a collection of restaurants and clubs and associated art galleries that will be found at various locations within the complex. Most will take advantage of views to Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as provide extensive use of outdoor dining areas, terraces and roof decks. The site, which slopes quickly downhill from Grand Avenue, allows this exciting mix of entertainment, dining and shopping uses to be spread over several carefully integrated levels.
One of the plan’s jewels will be a distinctive 40 to 50 story iconic tower at the corner of Second and Grand avenues. This structure will combine a boutique hotel of up to 275 rooms with 200 condominiums located on the top floors. There are also plans to build a 25 to 30 story residential tower at Olive and First streets that will combine 150 market rate condominiums with 88 affordable apartments. These buildings will flank plazas and courtyards with inviting outdoor seating and dining areas that will ultimately connect Grand Avenue to Hill Street.
Along with the many structures and plazas being built in the first phase, more than $50 million will be spent on improvements to the existing civic mall to create a grand 16-acre civic park as well. On the park’s west end across from the Music Center, there will be space for cultural, arts and entertainment events. In the heart’s park will be a colorful garden area, and the east end by City Hall will be designed to host civic celebrations and multi-cultural festivals.
“This plan achieves the many goals we set for this development,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. “It will serve all Angelinos, with great public spaces and a mix of uses. Most importantly we will have a new civic park, a place for families and for community celebrations.”
A team of world- renowned architects has been assembled to bring the Grand Avenue vision to fruition. The well-known figures include, Frank Gehry and David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Howard Elkus of Elkus-Manfredi Architects.
Although the city and county will maintain ownership of the properties, The Related Companies will have a 99-year ground lease on the parcels. Related will prepay a base amount on each ground lease and give the city and county a percentage of condominium sales, hotel room revenue and gross rents after a certain return has been met. Construction on the first phase is set to begin in the latter part of 2006.
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