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

Culver City enters running for Broad art museum site

In an interview last week, billionaire developer and philanthropist Eli Broad revealed that a 10 acre site in Culver City is also under consideration for the location of a new museum that would be endowed in his name. When Broad announced plans for the museum back in November of 2008, a site at the southeast corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire Blvds in Beverly Hills was the principle consideration. A year ago however, Broad announced that he was also looking at a 2.5 acre city-owned lot next to Santa Monica's Civic Auditorium. The Culver City site is located along Jefferson Blvd on the West LA College campus.

Broad's revelation was shocking to all, but perhaps more so to Mark Rocha, West LA College's president, who says that he hasn't heard from Broad's foundation. After reading about the competition between Santa Monica and Beverly Hills last year, Rocha wrote the foundation, asking them to consider his site as well. Unfortunately that vacant lot is currently being used as a staging area for the college's capital construction project, and will likely be in use for another 2 years.

But Broad says that at age 76, he wants the project to move fast, with as little red tape as possible. While Santa Monica already owns its site in question, the City of Beverly Hills would have to acquire the parcel that Broad has been eyeing. And whichever city gets the honor of landing Broad's museum would be asked to donate the land, contribute $1m+ in construction fees, provide parking, and pay for landscaping. It is a pricey investment that each municipality believes will be well worth the prestige and popularity of the Broad collection. While Broad has said he is not trying to pit each city against the other to generate the best deal, he is probably selecting jurisdictions based on their ability to expedite the bureaucratic process. The City of Los Angeles, notably but not surprisingly, is not on Broad's short list.

The 50,000 sf facility is to house Broad's 2000 piece art collection, his foundation, storage space, and a research component. The museum would be launched by a $200m endowment, said to sustain a $12m/year operating budget. That bequest would be the largest infusion into Southern California arts, second only to the $2.76b Getty Trust. It is estimated to cost ~$60m.

Source: LA Times

Korean Air Unleashes Plans for Downtown Megatower

The LA Times reported today that Korean Air, the South Korean transport conglomerate, plans to demo the existing Wilshire Grand hotel and replace it with a pair of sleek office/hotel skyscrapers. The company, which bought the 57-year old property in 1989, claims it has accumulated a special reserve of cash in anticipation of the economic downturn and argues that with sinking construction costs, there is no better time to build. The development will be the latest and greatest of a long string of Korean investment in Los Angeles. If granted approval from the city, groundbreaking could commence in 2011 with completion set for 2014.

The existing Wilshire Grand, while underused and aging, is located on a prime piece of downtown real estate - the corner of Figueroa St and Wilshire Blvd. The location, which is convenient to Korean Air's current LA headquarters, is significant because it is outside of the large and dense Koreatown neighborhood. The $1 billion 1.8 million sf center, built by influential LA developer Thomas Properties, will be an important testament to the growing clout of Koreans and Korean Americans in this city.

Plans call for a 40-story luxury hotel/condo tower connected to a 60-story office building by groundlevel retail and a public plaza. The property is located across the street from the 7th St Metro station. David Martin of endeared downtown architecture firm AC Martin will be the design architect. Rendering shows a sun-friendly north-south orientation and energy-generating photovoltaic panels. It will be the first new office tower built in Downtown since 1992. It may also mean hungry downtowners will no longer have to venture past Vermont Ave for their bulgogi fix.

Bev Hills Gets a Taste of Hollywood

As if the hulking CAA (Creative Artists Agency) headquarters in Century City wasn't enough, William Morris Agency, another high-profile talent agency, is building a blockbuster landmark building in the heart of Beverly Hills' pricey Golden Triangle. While more modest in scale, this newer construction is one-upping its predecessor in design - the long, sleek glass block was designed by Gensler. Renderings show six stories with a partial green roof and a bright, open ground-floor lobby. Tishman is the construction manager for the 200,000SF building owned by Beverly Wilshire LP, and set to be completed in 2010.

The sheer breadth of the construction site made us cringe at the prospect of another 'Montage' - the giant mediterranean residential complex across the street. Both projects seem out of scale for the tight low-lying commercial spaces that abound, but the adjacent Wilshire corridor is admittedly very high-built. The Montage does have one redeeming quality - the public green space linking Beverly Dr. to Canon Dr., though it was probably mandated by the city of Beverly Hills.

The agency isn't moving far - the original office is located down the street on Wilshire Blvd., behind ritzy Via Rodeo and pretentiously addressed at 'One William Morris Place.' Beverly Hills is traditionally the home of talent agencies, most likely because of the cache and centrality of the zip code. But William Morris' development stands out because of a) its show-stopping contemporary design and b) its lavish use of prime urban real estate. Someone once said that when a company builds an expensive landmark headquarters, it's facing the last of its days. For the sake of all the high-profile acting stock in this town, let's hope that isn't the case here.