Development Meeting Tonight
I probably won't be able to make this one, but there's a Pacific Corridor Downtown Waterfront Steering Committe meeting tonight where 4 projects will give presentations. After the presentations there will be a period of public comment.
The projects being presented are:
255 W. 5th Street - 318 condominiums - This is the old Pacific Trade Center building, I'm all for high density housing on the site of this already tall building. It's about time that the tallest building in town doesn't stand empty, with broken windows and a giant fading phone number for interested parties. From my understanding the existing building is an asbestos nightmare, and I'll be glad to see something better in it's place. Anybody know the current height of the building, the proposed replacement is 16 stories (170 feet)? At 725 proposed parking spaces this building would have 2.27 per residence, presuming that each residence has 2 spaces that's only 89 for guests on this building. I'd like to see more parking on this project.
366 W. 8th Street - 20 condominiums - This is the a church that was formerly a roller rink. As a closet rollerblader, I'd love to see it return to it's roller rink glory, or better yet, have a second coming as a punk club or indoor skate park. This is directly adjacent to part of the Bank Lofts development, FYI. I'd be curious to see how much parking they're going to put on or under this piece of property, it's not that big of a lot, or that big of a project, so I bet they are going to seek variances to reduce their parking commitment. They are currently proposing that the 20 unit building be built with 45 spaces. Two cars for each resident, and 5 leftover for guests? Not enough in my book.
281 W. 8th Street - proposed increase from 30 to 72 condominiums on this project - The perpetual lot/halfway finished construction site on the corner of 8th & Mesa. That's a lot of Condos for what is a pretty low density neighborhood. Also, this development is on a hill, and the visual impact of the development could be pretty severe, depending on the design. I'd like to know a lot more about the proposed increase in this development. I'd also like to see something happen on this eyesore of a site, it's been attracting vandalism and generally contributing to the decline of the surrounding neighborhood for some time. I'm wondering if the proposed density/gentrification on Mesa 8th will have any impact on the embarrasment that is 9th street. Update - There's an article in today's Breeze about another development by this developer, the Grand Avenue bungalow fiasco.
800 S. Pacific - commercial facade rennovation - no big deal, IMHO.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006, at 6:00 pm
601 South Palos Verdes Street (LA Harbor Hotel)
The projects being presented are:
255 W. 5th Street - 318 condominiums - This is the old Pacific Trade Center building, I'm all for high density housing on the site of this already tall building. It's about time that the tallest building in town doesn't stand empty, with broken windows and a giant fading phone number for interested parties. From my understanding the existing building is an asbestos nightmare, and I'll be glad to see something better in it's place. Anybody know the current height of the building, the proposed replacement is 16 stories (170 feet)? At 725 proposed parking spaces this building would have 2.27 per residence, presuming that each residence has 2 spaces that's only 89 for guests on this building. I'd like to see more parking on this project.
366 W. 8th Street - 20 condominiums - This is the a church that was formerly a roller rink. As a closet rollerblader, I'd love to see it return to it's roller rink glory, or better yet, have a second coming as a punk club or indoor skate park. This is directly adjacent to part of the Bank Lofts development, FYI. I'd be curious to see how much parking they're going to put on or under this piece of property, it's not that big of a lot, or that big of a project, so I bet they are going to seek variances to reduce their parking commitment. They are currently proposing that the 20 unit building be built with 45 spaces. Two cars for each resident, and 5 leftover for guests? Not enough in my book.
281 W. 8th Street - proposed increase from 30 to 72 condominiums on this project - The perpetual lot/halfway finished construction site on the corner of 8th & Mesa. That's a lot of Condos for what is a pretty low density neighborhood. Also, this development is on a hill, and the visual impact of the development could be pretty severe, depending on the design. I'd like to know a lot more about the proposed increase in this development. I'd also like to see something happen on this eyesore of a site, it's been attracting vandalism and generally contributing to the decline of the surrounding neighborhood for some time. I'm wondering if the proposed density/gentrification on Mesa 8th will have any impact on the embarrasment that is 9th street. Update - There's an article in today's Breeze about another development by this developer, the Grand Avenue bungalow fiasco.
800 S. Pacific - commercial facade rennovation - no big deal, IMHO.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006, at 6:00 pm
601 South Palos Verdes Street (LA Harbor Hotel)
9 Comments:
I appreciate you breakdown on this calamari. For the record, I would like to state that progressive planners think that high parking ratios are overated. The theory is that, in the future, we will all have fewer cars, and more housing is sorely needed (at the lower to middle end of the economic stratum, in particular)- cars should not replace people. However, excessive infill density (height, bulk)can ruin perfectly good neighborhoods. See article in Daily Breeze today titled "Council OKs 12 condos for SP bungalow site." Watch out for what Moaleg will get away with this time at 281 W. 8th St.
I'm familiar with visions of the post-modern urbanscape as advanced by progressive planners. Unfortunately, San Pedro's personal & mass transit infrastructure is pre-modern and those visions are not well fitted to our community. Run a light rail straight down the 110 (not over from the blue line in Long Beach) & another right down the 405 (OC to the Valley) and I'll advocate that position. Until this area gets served by well designed rail transit, our traffic & parking model will have to be based on the mid-century infrastructure we have. For the moment, that means that parking needs to be generous.
If Moaleg is the same developer who squeaked the bungalow devlopment through, then I'm going to be extremely suspicious of any efforts he makes on the 8th Street site. He's already shown his indifference to the desires of the community, and if he wants to double the size of his development on 8th street, I'd like to see how he intends to pull it off.
Yes, this is the same Moalej who will soon be removing the old Grand Cottages and putting up a 4-story building with 5-story towers at 815 Grand, in spite of the objection of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council. As long as he gets (and probably already has) Hahn's staff unmitigated blessing again, I don't see what could stop him.
Any person with half a brain knows that even if we are going to be driving fewer cars in the future, you don't just build the dense development without making it transit-oriented now. Build the public transportation (i.e., rail, or at the very least, a lot more buses) and then build the housing. Ah, but there's no money in that for quick-buck developers, is there? You'd have to wait--imagine, in this day and age and place, making a greedy developer wait for something!--until the money and political will for such public transportation projects were in place. And by then, who knows...the real estate bubble may have long since burst, which would mean no quick profits.
Hence the ass-backwards, road-clogging, pollution-generating yuppie condo proposals we have before us here in Pedro.
...but yes, Cali, you've got that part right; these are the same vampires who are about to destroy the Grand Avenue cottages.
Thanks, once again, to Councilwoman Hahn for throwing her weight around in $upport of her true con$tituent$.
And while we're on the subject of (over)development, what does everyone think of the new condos at the northwest corner of Grand and Seventh? The 3-story building towers over the bungalow to the north. Then, it affronts the Seventh St sidewalk with white plastic picket fencing, and advertises (the developers name?)with 3-foot high letters spelling PEM near the top (purpose?!?).
Next, we can expect the row of charming one-story bungalows along 8th St between Grand and Gaffey to be ripped out for 5-story development.
I've been watching the Grand & Seventh eyesore go up for months now, Christ, that's one ugly building. I'd rather live in the new Sav On than in that stucco prison. Are those condos? I thought they were rental units, and the developer was trying to sell the whole building.
I know the one you mean. Cheap and ugly, needless to say, but particularly nasty when you think about the old house it replaces.
I believe PEM stands for Planting Expedient Monstrosities, but I could be wrong.
Actually, now that you (Cali) mention it, they do look more like rental units. Although I wouldn't be surprised if the developer at least took a stab at unloading them as condos, given the prices that some poor fools are still paying, even now at the crest of this bubble, for any piece of shit with four walls and a ceiling.
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