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

Orsisi Phase III turns Chinatown into Little Tuscany

The oft derided Italianate empire of Geoffrey Palmer is expanding, apparently unfazed by the real estate slowdown, with the near completion of Orsini Phase III at the corner of Figueroa St and Cesar Chavez Ave, north of the 101 freeway. With the apartment's three installments occupying all but one of the intersection's corners, the area maintains an eerie, plastic atmosphere, devoid of pedestrian activity. Palmer has made his name constructing gigantic, ostentatious apartment buildings around downtown with tired Mediterranean flourishes and names like Medici, Visconti, and Piero.

Developer was required by the city to provide 13,000 sf of retail on the ground floor - a less than fortunate concession given that the corner is hidden behind miles of gaudy fountains and stucco balconies. Adding insult to injury, popular local grease dive BBQ King was razed at the hands of mighty Orsini. But Palmer has made another, somewhat trickier promise - retail lease rates must drop if occupancy doesn't hit 30% by the time the apartments are three quarters filled. This means that rather than the fancy Quizno's and Coldstone Creamery Palmer was no doubt tempting, we may get smaller, more local (read: Chinese) eateries instead; (perhaps even a vengeful resurrection of BBQ King).

The new building will allegedly feature more pedestrian-friendly and sustainable design options, assuming they're not looking to the sky bridges and anemic lawns of phase II as a model. Rates in the third building are TBA, but they can be estimated at just over the $2.53/sf being asked of the older 2-bedrooms. To Palmer's credit, the apartments are some of the most visible and accessible rentals in the daunting downtown market, and aren't (entirely) overpriced. Whether the new downtown has benefited from such palatial ghettos of pastiche is up for debate, but one man has certainly made a healthy killing and filled a great demand to boot.