Hollywood Freeway cap park inches forward

US Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) has agreed to request the $5.85m necessary to begin prelimary studies and planning for the park. Though this is a tiny droplet in comparison to the estimated $950m necessary to build the park, supporters say it is a crucial step. The park, thought by many to be a pipe dream since its conception in 2006, would comprise 44 acres of parkland on a "cap" constructed over the freeway between Hollywood and Santa Monica Blvds. The park is seen as a much-needed addition of open space to an area of the city that has only .005 acres of parkland per resident. Friends of the Hollywood Central Park, the non-profit founded to get the project off the ground, says the majority of the money will come from private foundations. It is one of 2 cap parks planned for the Hollywood Freeway.

Source: Los Angeles Business Journal

SFO pokes at drab LAX to woo travelers from Down Under

The City of San Francisco released the above video as part of a campaign to attract US-bound travelers from Australia and New Zealand to connect in San Francisco International Airport. While the "bad airport" featured in the cheesy video isn't directly referred to as LAX, our humble international terminal is the only other one with direct flights to Sydney and Aukland. OK, OK, we know LAX isn't the most pleasant airport to travel through, but it's getting an expensive upgrade! And besides, could the production quality of that video been any lower (c'mon, Gavin Newsom as a cab queue attendant)?

Source: LA Times

Korean Air chairman frustrated with state of downtown development

At the annual Town Hall Los Angeles meeting held last month, the chairman of Korean Air and owner of the Wilshire Grand hotel spoke of the urgency of jumpstarting his ambitious $1b redevelopment of that prime Wilshire Blvd spot. Since the economy soured, construction lending has largely frozen citywide. Downtown properties have been particularly insolvent, struck by an aftermath of an overspeculative pre-bust boom. Perhaps in a last ditch attempt to attract supporters, investors, and lenders, chairman Yang-Ho Cho promised 8,000 construction jobs and 4,000 permanent jobs to result from the project. Plans call for 560 hotel rooms and a 65-story office tower. Whether downtown's hotel and office market is built out remains to be seen.

Source: Korean Air

Long-vacant church gets religious owner of a different order

The historic Second Church of Christ, Scientist building on Adams Blvd near USC was just bought by the Art of Living Foundation, after sitting vacant for a number of years. The 100 year old building has become somewhat of a landmark in the North University Park neighborhood, and is notable for its wide-span oxidized copper dome and its soaring Corinthian columns. It was built in 1910 as the West Coast sister to Boston's First Church of Christ, Scientist, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. The Art of Living Foundation, a 30 year old local spiritual group dedicated to yoga and meditaion, paid an estimated $10m for the property. A new-age Eastern religion taking the reigns from an older new-age Western religion? How LA.

Source: LA Times

City, Universal launch 2 websites intended to boost tourism

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angles Convention and Visitors Bureau have teamed up with Universal Studios Hollywood to offer 2 new websites aimed at attracting tourists to Hollywood and Los Angeles. The first, discoverLosAngeles.com, offers quick and easy activity, accommodation, and dining advice in a good-looking format. The newer experienceHollywood.com focuses on attractions in the Hollywood area, duly anchored by less than subtle links to Universal's own site. Long known as a grungy, crime-ridden section of Los Angeles, Hollywood has experienced an immense renaissance in less than a decade, and organizers hope to capitalize on this headway. Or in their words:

"like a glamorous starlet, Hollywood has made a major comeback and is living like a newly discovered ingénue everybody is talking about."