[These are all the answers to all of your questions from Tuesday, except for the ones we don't know. Please send your questions, just not so many, to us for next week at la@curbed.com.]
1) Downtown: In regards to the Union Station monstrosity, a reader answers: "I don't know who authorized building the condos, but Union Station is not city (or state or county) property. It's privately owned, currently by Prologis through their acquisition of Catellus Development. When Union Station was first built, I believe that the property was owned by a consortium of railroads. The apartments/condos are being developed by an outfit named Lincoln Property."
2) Hollywood: The loft project that looks half-completed? Sounds like it's supposed to look that way according to a reader, "That's the site of the Highland Lofts (pictured above), which is actually broken down into two sections with an Exxon station separating them. The 3 or 4 units facing Melrose can double as storefronts, while the units facing Highland are more for residential use. And they will continue to look "seemingly half-completed" for a very long time since the builders seem to think the cinder-block look is hip when it comes to lofts (and, according to their website, the cinder blocks make for excellent sound insulation .. uhh-right.). Starting price? 1 Million. Or you can "save" money and lease, if you can afford the nearly $4,000 rent. One million dollars for that loft? I could get an oceanfront condo in South Beach, Miami for that price."
3) Fairfax: Despite an excellent story and relevant question, no one has any ideas on a replacement for the Ross next to The Grove.
4) Downtown: In answer to the question on Mercury Liquors, there's this blurb from the Downtown News on 1/2/06. "Mercury Liquors, which is expected to open by next month, comes courtesy of Andrew Meieran and Marc Smith, who have turned the 6,000-square-foot basement of the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank Building at 215 W. Sixth St. into a retro drinking hole, complete with marble floors, walnut wood paneling and polished stainless steel walls. Also part of the bar will be the bank's vault, which has 12-inch-thick circular doors." That's all we've seen in regards to an opening date for the place.
5) Fairfax: The rumor about Rick Caruso riding a bulldozer roughshod over Television City to expand The Grove are just rumors until proven true. A reader says, "The Grove expanding into TV City: also hard to believe since KCBS TV is scheduled to move from Columbia Square in Hollywood to Television City shortly."
6) Fairfax: No answers to the question about the Leader Salon Building. Maybe some enterprising developer will do something with the space that doesn't involve the phrase "luxury lofts".
7) Hollywood: The Little Beirut site in Hollywood gets some feedback, "The dump is owned by Yorkburry Investments/Yorkwood LLC- they've had it for about 5 years. The property is zoned C4 so they may be able to take advantage of Hollywood's $300+ per square foot lot values and flip it to a residential developer and get some nice upside."
8) Miracle Mile: In regards to giant pit across from Ralph's, "Reliable Properties (Nourafshan family) sold the site to apartment REIT BRE Properties within the last year. Alex Sachs at CB Westmac brokered the sale. I think BRE is planning a 4-5 story Type 5 (wood frame) building or perhaps a slightly taller mid-rise building, obviously for high-end apartments. They are probably still obtaining entitlements or permits."
9) San Gabriel Valley: Holy holy! We got an answer to the SGV question. "Edwards Cinema was torn down so the “Piazza Las Tunas” can go up. The Venetian style entertainment center will have four stories, two commercial and two condominium and a four level parking structure. The project is being developed by San Gabriel based Manhattan Development and it should be completed in 2008.
10) Hollywood: In regards to the Hollywood Galaxy center, a reader writes in, "CIM is opening both a much-needed Long's Drugs and a huge L.A. Fitness with swimming pools and other fancy stuff. I work in the area and walked over the other day. L.A. Fitness is already recruiting members and have various machines set up. Of course, after enduring the expected harassment to join the gym, I was told they would be fully opening in June or July. Something tells me that's a little hopeful, since turning a movie theater into a full-size gym seems like quite an arduous task."
11) ???: No answer to our picto-quiz. We'll keep it up so if anyone knows the answer please email us.