Featured earlier this week, new Koreatown rental development Gardens at Wilshire at 3675 Wilshire Boulevard also has some retail space, and Globe St's Bob Howard reports a Comerica Bank, Subway and Salad Farm are coming in. No surprises there. Another 800 square foot retail store has yet to be filled. And the developers are talking up the area's location as being close to the Red Line; Kim Sperry, senior vice president for the Amstar Group, tells the trade paper the project will be in demand given "the rising cost of transportation," while Dan Chandler, president of Chandler Partners says project such as his “are on the rise and will continue to play a critical role in the current and on-going evolution of Los Angeles.”
· Amstar JV Debuts 159-Unit Gardens at Wilshire [Globe St]
· Gardens At Wilshire Now Open For You And Your Sauna-Loving Dog [Curbed LA]

On August 27th, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will hold a ground-breaking for a new 1/3 acre pocket park on the former site of the Ambassador hotel (where the LAUSD is currently building three schools). The park's working name is the Wilshire Public Park, but no official park name has been picked yet, according to an LAUSD spokeswoman. And no, sadly, it's not a very big park. Stretching along Wilshire, the pocket park will offer benches and wi-fi; notably, there will also be a Robert F. Kennedy memorial consisting of a plaque and artwork. A resident in the Gaylord Apartments, who attended last night's LAUSD meeting about the park, explains the art this way: "The art is said to mimic a "ripple," with the speech Bobby made in Africa about one pebble creating a ripple in a pond...posted alongside, a photo of him on Blond Granite." And that white column is the pylon from the hotel.

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

As noted earlier this week, Wilshire Boulevard's vast bounty of rental development includes 5600 Wilshire (still under construction) Viridian (open for leasing), the mohawked Wilshire and La Brea project (planned, and recently shrunk in size), and numerous other proposed projects. Speaking of mohawks, gaze upon the oft-mentioned and now completed Gardens at Wilshire at 3675 Wilshire Boulevard. The model unit, a 1,009-square foot two bedroom, rents for $2,600; overall, units range from $1,625-$3,475. During the tour, we stopped in and looked at the sauna. As it turned out, a couple and their dog were sitting in the sauna, prompting the rental manager to sternly admonish the pair: "No dogs in the sauna!" It looked like a pug. Dogs like saunas?
· Gardens at Wilshire [Official Site]
· Gardens at Wilshire Grows a Mohawk [Curbed LA]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

A sign is up at the Gaylord Apartments, a building located directly across from the former Ambassador Hotel site, indicating there is a meeting tonight at 6 pm with a representative from the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is building three schools on the site. Apparently, some residents in Gaylord are looking for the LAUSD to explain why 100-year-old palm trees were chopped down, and to expand on what the planned park on Wilshire will look like. Full email after the jump.

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

While the whole Wilshire strip from Koreatown to the edge of Beverly Hills is hopping with new development, a good number of those projects (Le Viridian, 5600 Wilshire) are rental buildings. Le Melange at Fairfax and Wilshire, which opened last weekend for sales, is a condominium building and in need of new condominium friends. Go say hello. Units range from 921 square feet to 1,549 square feet; prices range from $730,000-$960,000. And it's a very white building.
· Sidewalk Watch: Miracle Mile's Le Melange [Curbed LA]

Gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who reportedly lives in an apartment on West 6th Street, was recently featured on MTV's "Cribs." What you learn (among other things): He has a walk-in closet, daily maid service and blogs from his couch. [MTV]

Singer Pete Wentz, who is married to singer Ashlee Simpson, has listed his Hollywood Hills home for $1.79 million. Tour of the home is here. [Real Estalker]

Villa Versailles, that gilded Malibu mansion that was on the market for $23.75 million, has gone into contract. [Luxist]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Signs of life are emerging on the long-boarded up sidewalk on the eastside of Western Avenue, just north of Wilshire. The once packed sidewalk has been closed for at least a year as Solair, the 22-story luxury condo tower, rose above the Purple Line subway station. Pedestrians heading to the Hong Kong/Blade Runner-style corner of Wilshire/Western have had to cross over to the west side and drivers and bus commuters have had to deal with one less northbound lane on Western (chaos was seen firsthand yesterday as a driver and bicycle-rider also came to blows as they fought for space). The sidewalk remains closed, but work is moving fast to clear the area and ready the two-story retail component of the tower. It should all be over soon.
· Rumblings & Bumblings: Solair retail [Curbed LA]
· Solair [Official Site]

The best posts usually originate in our comments. To give appreciation to our amazing (and sometimes angry) commenters we feature their broad strokes of wisdom in a tidy comment roundup.

1) Reader Rant: Pedestrians Still Getting Ticketed in Koreatown "I can't tell you how many speeding cars have almost taken me out of this world when I was legally crossing in the intersection. I keep trying to love L.A., but this kind of criminalization of walking is one of the reasons to seriously hate it."

2) On the Racked: Bogus iPhone Lines/ Apple security making customers wait outside to give the appearance iPhone is hot: "You know, I tried that same trick with my bedroom door. Didn't work then either."

3) Industrial Area Rendered, Other Parks Critiqued "We don't need to wait for a Central Park to be built in LA. There are plenty of small measures that can be taken throughout the City to build in new open space, and increase access to the open space that already exists. Any new projects should be required to have public open space. I am required to have landscaping in my front yard for all the world to see, yet developers can build their apartment complexes with virtually all of their open space in the center, for the exclusive use of the residents. All the public sees are three palm trees stuck in the sidewalk. In areas where there is not existing open space, and in apartment-heavy neighborhoods where landscaping is nonexistent, there should be pocket parks."

Thank you to everyone who submitted a question this week. We knew you still cared. If you have an answer or inkling suspicion in regards to one of these fine questions please leave a comment or email us at la@curbed.com. Answers Thursday.

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

1) Cahuenga Pass: Work on the site on the east side of the Cahuenga Pass appears to be under the direction of the Department of Water & Power as there is a big "DWP" sign with an arrow adjacent to the project entry point. We will investigate further.

2) Hollywood/Little Armenia: Regarding the Armenian mural and former cultural center at Lexington and Vermont, commenter Semprini says: "There's just one little condo project on Lexington and no formal applications for anything at the cultural center site. Also, the owner of the latter is Armenian so calm down." Also, via Building Permits, it appears they are replacing the roof of the building.

3) Beverly Hills: Regarding that huge hole at Beverly and Dayton, via the comments: "Beverly Drive/Dayton is the future home of the William Morris Agency. Building is completely eco-friendly. Finally all the agents join together under one green roof with a parking lot full of gas guzzlers. move in date sometime in 2009." Renderings are here.

As first reported in February, and followed-up by an LAPD rebuttal, the police are staking out the corner of Vermont and Wilshire ticketing pedestrians who enter the street when the hand starts flashing. The ticketing continues and the debate rages, but in the end you're going to get a ticket if you cross on the flashing red. Please tell your friends.

"So over the past few weeks, LAPD officers continue to ticket unsuspecting pedestrians crossing the street from the subway station to the buses on Vermont Ave. (see photos, taken on 6/30 and 7/1)

One day last week, a man crossed the street-- entering the crosswalk after the hand had begun flashing, but safely crossed before the light changed-- and hopped onto a bus. The cop followed him onto the bus and made him get off; the bus driver then pleaded with the cop to let him go! The officer didn't relent, and proceeded to ticket the poor guy.

MID-WILSHIRE: The ongoing construction of 5900 Wilshire, that office tower getting a redesign by architecture firm Johnson Fain (and hence, lots of Curbed coverage) has prompted the building's owners to offer a free breakfast this Friday. Assuming it's for local people who work in the building, so don't just wander in and pound the fresh-squeezed OJ. Meanwhile, that's a good-looking lobby! UPDATE: Building owner Ratkovich DOES NOT WANT YOU CRASHING. [Curbed Inbox]

MID-WILSHIRE: This Friday at the El Rey, there's a public meeting dubbed "Wilshire Corridor: Are We Ready for the Subway?" More via press release': "Special MTA Wilshire Subway Briefing and Status Report Legislative and Financing Update featuring Richard Katz, MTA Board Member, and MTA Senior Staff." At that event, you get a lunch buffet, but it costs $20. [Curbed InBox]

Thank you to everyone who submitted a question this week. We knew you still cared. If you have an answer or inkling suspicion in regards to one of these fine questions please leave a comment or email us at la@curbed.com. Answers Thursday.

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

1) Cahuenga Pass: "Hey! there are a few bulldozers and trucks now moving around on the eastern slope of the Cahuenga Pass where it plateaus a bit. Any idea what's being built?"

2) Hollywood/Little Armenia: "...does anyone know what's going on with the former Armenian cultural center on the corner of Vermont and Lexington? They kicked out the retail tenants, the scaffolding went up, the Armenian history mural came down. This, along with the planned condos on Lexington, is making me begin to suspect that the Los Feliz-fication of Little Armenia may be underway."

3) Beverly Hills: "There is a huge hole on the northwest corner of Beverly Drive and Dayton Way in Beverly Hills. What’s being built?"

4) Koreatown: "What's going on near Western and 2nd in Koreatown? A concrete parking lot on the west side of Western--often used for film crews--was demolished recently and now is being torn up from the floor up. Something fun comin'?" [pictured above]

5) Hollywood/Melrose: "Do you know what is being put in on the NW corner of La Cienega and Melrose? It has been boarded up for a couple months now."

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Following a look at the renderings, here's the view---the first few photos are taken from Wilshire--of the construction site for those three LAUSD schools that'll rise on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel. The elementary school is scheduled to open in fall 2009, while the middle and high schools will open in 2010. If locals worry about teens running amok and traffic, it looks like LAUSD officials are making efforts to talk to area residents: A sign in the lobby of the Gaylord Apartments on Wilshire indicated there's a meeting tonight.
· Former Ambassador Hotel Site In Rendered Glory [Curbed LA]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Construction continues on the site of the now demolished-Ambassador Hotel and the future home of three LAUSD schools. Yes, it was a bitter, horrible battle over developing this land. And whether the city even needs more schools remains uncertain. Regardless, these renderings show off the overall site--the whole block is bounded by Wilshire and 8th, and Mariposa and Catalina streets. While it's hard to see in the above rendering, a Robert F. Kennedy memorial will be situated near those trees facing Wilshire. It's described on the web site for architecture firm Gonzalez/Goodale this way: "This piece is located in a sunken park off of Wilshire at the very center of the site, consisting of a stainless steel entry piece and reflecting pond and a long granite wall with engraved quotations and text." Part II of Ambassador coverage to follow. [All images via Gonzalez/Goodale]

HOLLYWOOD: A shot of a clean-up crew painting over tagging on a multi-unit building on Rosewood off Van Ness on Sunday. "When did the complaint come in? " we asked. The day before, and via email. That's quick! [CurbedStaff]

KOREATOWN: Uhm, never even watched the show. But from the PR desk at Summit on Sixth that under construction development at 6th and Vermont,: "The Summit has just completed construction of their model units and have partnered with Yunjin Kim, actress from the TV show "Lost" to promote this one-of-a-kind development. Kim caught wind of the project & after touring the grounds, quickly decided to make the Summit her LA home." Well, that works out for everyone, doesn't it. Photos of Kim after jump. [Curbed InBox]