1.

Too bad that drawing is obsolete, what with Target saying no to a ground lease. Looks like a decent piece of urban design: surface parking hidden from the street, buildings engaging the sidewalk (at least along Pico, anyway), etc.

2.

This rendering was done before Home Depot was switched to a Lowe's and Target said "no". The developer hasn't signed the other anchor, but claims this is still an accurate respresentation of the project, right down to the median on Pico that they are going to put in. Another change since construction and leasing began - the rendering shows a "Starbucks" type outlet at the west end of the peninsula. Construction at that end has been completed and a Wells Fargo Bank leased that spot. Starbucks is a couple of storefronts down and it's interior is still being finished.

3.

I am glad that Lowe's is coming in as opposed to the horrendous Home Depot, boy has that place gone downhill.

4.

Love the name "Midtown Crossing". But I also am amused at the names of all the other retail projects that Perkowitz + Ruth have listed on their web site: Bridgeport Village, Cascade Station, Galarias Hipodrome, Montecito Crossing, Nyberg Woods, The District at Tustin Legacy, The Lakes at Thousand Oaks, Waterside Marina del Rey, Whittwood Town Center, Winery Estate Marketplace. Who would go to the "Tustin shopping center" when you can instead visit "The District at Tustin Legacy"!?!

5.

Yeah, doesn't look too bad actually. It will be nice to see this hole filled in. Does anyone have an idea of completion time for the whole project? I know some of the Pico side shops are already opened as we've previously discussed.

6.

Im a bit confused now, because Target doesnt own the property in West Hollywood that they are on, what is the difference between the projects? Or is this an excuse Target is using for not signing on?

7.

a unique rendering style!

also, whatever on the name. it's the place that counts. retail names will inevitably be horrendously LAME. For example, the giant 2-story Target/Best Buy on la brea + santa monica is simply "the shopping monster" to myself and to my friends.

8.

Regarding comment number 6. Wasn't aware that Target didn't own West Hollywood site. That said, it did become a problem for Target at this location. (A number of neighborhood groups even attended CRA meetings downtown over the issue.) I suppose each deal ultimately hinged on how bad Target wanted to be at each location. Just guessing but...The Pico area is covered by the CRA, is an under-served neighborhood, and has its share of urban blight. Maybe Target thought the value of them coming to the neighborhood should get them more than just a long term lease.

9.

If only there were a housing component. I'd bet that likely sooner than later this site will be a subway station. Could have fit at least 500 units above the retail.

10.

I'd bet that likely sooner than later this site will be a subway station.

It was actually supposed to be under the Wilshire-dodging MTA subway plan that was ultimately cancelled in '98. If memory serves, the subway would have continued west along Wilshire; turned south on Crenshaw; gone west at Pico and stopped at the Big Blue Bus depot; and ultimately continued on to Century City via either Pico or San Vicente/Burton Way/Santa Monica.

If a rail line is ever built to this area, it would probably be light rail running as a subway on Venice until a portal at Arlington; turning north along the old Red Car ROW in the median of San Vicente; and eventually going either to Beverly Hills or West Hollywood. Good luck getting the folks in Carthay Circle to agree to a light rail line on their part of San Vicente, though.

11.

Damien, on what proposed subway line are you talking about? I have seen your proposal but dont know which line you speak of

12.

Regarding the subway route mentioned in post #10: It was supposed to go west along Wilshire, South under Wilton to Pico, West along Pico to San Vicente and then up San Vicente to Wilshire. This got a lot of people upset because it bypassed the County Museum at Fairfax and Wilshire (the closest stop would have been the intersection of Fairfax, Olympic and San Vicente). To appease folks, the route was then changed again, now going up San Vicente only as far as Hauser, then turning up Hauser to Wilshire and then west on Wilshire to Fairfax and the museum. Back then, I remember the MTA hosting a meeting at Mt. Vernon (now Johnnie Cochran) school to explain this new routing. People walked out after voicing support for a Wilshire only line. After that, The MTA even came to local neighborhood association meetings with flyers detailing the route. Zev Yaroslavsky then put out his voter initiative that ultimately killed subway construction and this serpentine route. (Though people voted for the initiative not because of the stupid route but because of the huge cost overruns and the infamous Hollywood sinkhole during the construction of the Hollywood branch.)

13.

Thanks for the correction, Tim. I didn't realize that the Wilshire/Crenshaw stop was killed as well.

Interestingly enough, buildings at the intersection of Wilshire and Crenshaw have been placed in a "Metro Rail Zone" by the LA Dept. of City Planning, as of about 9 months ago. (You can go on ZIMAS and see for yourself.) Any underground construction or structural modification of any sort needs to be cleared with MTA. I'm guessing that MTA, despite its public reticence, is ready to start digging west on Wilshire again any minute now.

14.

I'm guessing that MTA, despite its public reticence, is ready to start digging west on Wilshire again any minute now.

Nope. The Purple Line is still in the dream phase. The project needs to be re-studied. Metro has not even committed money to studying the project yet, and cannot commit local sales taxes to anything rail tunnel-related due to Zev's Law.

As for the major transit project at Midtown Crossing, it has one: Crackton Turnaround. Granted its only purpose is to force people to transfer on bus services that have identical frequencies, but with Metro Connections, this will be made more important as even more riders will be forced to transfer at this "hub".

15.

Wad - regarding your comment that the MTA "cannot commit local sales taxes to anything rail tunnel-related due to Zev's Law" ...Zev himself said the way around it is to use Federal dollars for the drilling portion and use sales tax revenue dollars for station constuction, purchasing trains, etc. (That is why the gold line extension to East LA is able to have a tunnel portion and still be within the voter-passed law.)

16.

Cracktown Turnaround?

That's fitting for the area!

17.

Jon...Cracktown Turnaround? Gee thanks. That is why I am glad this development is coming to my neighborhood. The residents here get judged by the crappy looking storefronts along Pico -- liquor stores and auto body shops that we have been fighting down at city hall for the past 12 years.

18.

this can't be final. where, oh where, are the lofts??????

19.

Hello, traffic hell!

20.

The Crackton Turnaround is the unoffical name for what is officially known as the Pico-Rimpau Transit Center. The Midtown Shopping Center is next to it.

Once upon a time, the P Yellow Car line, which follows the route of Metro buses 30/31/330, ran as far as Rimpau, where Pico to the west of this turnaround was serviced by Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines.

The streetcar ceased service in 1963, but the turnaround remained, as the successors to the streetcar and the city of Santa Monica could never agree to merge their bus services to have a single bus line run along Pico from downtown Los Angeles to the beach.

Yet having tens of thousands of people forcing to transfer has done nothing for the surrounding businesses. The neighborhood has steadily declined, and bus passengers never bother to leave the island to shop at the nearby shopping center because they figure the longest they have to wait is 10 minutes.

And the bus passengers have complained to Metro (and probably Santa Monica, too) for years at how they feel the neighborhood itself is dangerous. Drug deals were the most common complaints.

The name Crackton comes from an episode of "The Simpsons" where Lisa wanted to see a museum exhibit and wanted to do so by riding the bus. Everything that could go wrong on her trip did, and she left the bus in the middle of nowhere. Poor Lisa grumbled to herself that she should have disembarked in a busier neighborhood, saying "I shoulda got off in Crackton."

21.

Uhhhh...Traffic, traffic, traffic? Come on, people!

22.

Please, Jack. Venice is practically a freeway at that point. I've driven west on Venice and Pico dozens of times during evening rush hour and have never seen anything remotely similar to the traffic problems one finds on the Westside, Hollywood, or Koreatown.

23.

The Crenshaw line will eventually make its way north of Expo. Continuing up Crenshaw/Wilshire would force any northern expansion to go through the only real dead area north of the 10 freeway in LA: Hancock Park. There's a need for a true north-south line (all of our focus right now is on east-west) and in this part of the city there are no freeways so, among many reasons the line would be very popular. Whether the Crenshaw line connects to the Wilshire Purple line and eventually the North Hollywood Red line its via La Brea, Fairfax, La Cienega or some combination, most think the transition be via Venice-San Vicente. Pull up a map and you'll see what I mean.

24.

ghetto!!!!

25.

Damien, there's just one problem with the Crenshaw Line ... the fact that it runs on Crenshaw. A rail line on Vermont Avenue needs to be the second priority for Los Angeles. It already has the segment from Hollywood to Wilshire, now it needs it as far south as the 105.

Crenshaw is only getting a major investment study because of Yvonne Burke. Ridership is only captured from the east, and probably the limit is Western Avenue. West of Crenshaw, you either have the Baldwin Hills or east-west arterials where the main economic activity is auto repair shops, providing very little ridership. The narco-zoned neighborhoods between Venice and the 10 freeway also diminish pedestrian activity.

26.

Wad,

As you very well know, what should be built and when is very rarely what does get built and when. If transportation planners were running things at the MTA and not politicians things would be very different. Such as it is.

Nonetheless, the Crenshaw line by no means is a "bridge to nowhere." It'll probably pick up at least 50K daily between Expo and LAX just a couple of years into operation.

27.

Nonetheless, the Crenshaw line by no means is a "bridge to nowhere." It'll probably pick up at least 50K daily between Expo and LAX just a couple of years into operation.

The Leimert Triangle is Crenshaw's busiest transit node, but it's about 20,000 boardings. That's for all the lines that pass there. Lines 210/710 are low-to-mid 20,000 boardings. That's from Hollywood to the South Bay Galleria. That's a route length of 25 miles.

The passenger density is about 1,000 boardings a mile, and to make such a number a justification for rail service exists only in Yvonne Burke's twisted mind.

I oppose a Crenshaw line because it develops a poorly performing line at the expense of rail-worthy corridors on Vermont or Western avenues.

28.

does anyone know whether there has been any serious consideration given to dedicated protected bike ways, it seems like it's time has come, there must be a way to do it...in copenhagen, there are raised bike paths adjacent to the streets and lower than the sidewalks, they would have to make it fully car proof, that is deep concrete bollards

29.

I'm glad to see this project come to my area! It will be nice to have a Lowe's block's from home and not having to drive all the way to Hawthorne. I will support all the shops at Midtown Crossing, I've already started banking at the Wells Fargo and I'm looking forward to Cingular, Cold Stone, and Starbucks..... Here's to supporting quality retailer's in OUR (90019) zip code!

30.

Does anyone know if the Lowe's is still going to be built on this site? The press release had said that construction would begin in the first quarter of 2007 and yet the construction site has been eerily quiet. Also, a few months back there was a sign on the property that said something like "future site of Lowe's" but it is gone now.

I really hope this project moves forward, and quickly. We need this development in our neighborhood.

31.

Another surburban shopping plaza in a city area. Why do we have parking lots in the middle and on the ENTIRE 2nd floor of a shopping complex? Do people not understand how traffic works (i.e. parking garage = traffic). Why don't we have a nice mixed-use bldg in this area, some condos and retail below. You can probably fit a few w/ all that space this strip mall will occupy.