Thanks for the strong response this week on our request for questions. We also got a lot of great answers. You people are pretty swell. If you have any tips, questions or comments for next week's R & B, please email us before next Tuesday, la@curbed.com. Now let's get to the answers.
1) Beverly Hills: So what's going down with the property at Sunset and Alpine? We of course went to the site and looked at it as we were cruising around yesterday. See the picture above. There was a big pile o' dirt and at least one wood framed home under construction. From the comments, "Dog Named Tonka" says: "About 1.5 years ago it was sold to a developer for about 10 million I believe. In the sale it was clear that the city had allowed the lot to be subdived. The current owner/developer is building mcmansions, I am guessing about 8, on smaller lots."
2) Atwater Village: Where in the AV is the headquarters of Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas? Nobody responded here, but at the Atwater Village Newbie blog, the HQ site was identified as the corner of Glenfeliz and Glendale.
3) Glendale/AV: What's going in at the corner of San Fernando and Los Feliz Blvd. The Newbie is all over this one, too. "It's a Sav-on. I drove past last night. Big wooden sign up now, next to a construction trailer. Walls are already up, looks like it'll be treating ear infections and irritable bowel syndromes any day now."
4) Westside: A Trader Joe's in or on Westwood? Maybe so. Or maybe not. A reader emails the following: "The TJ's in Westwood was going to be part of a great project including movie theatres, stores, offices and parking, but sadly, it's dead for now. the brutal details are here...." And Pete in the comments says: "The one at Pico and 32nd in Santa Monica is technically closer to UCLA than the National/Westwood one. Go west on Wilshire and throw a left on Bundy.
Of course, if there's a Whole Foods in Westwood Village, there's no reason a TJ's can't go in there as well."
5) Mid-Wilshire/Fairfax: You may recall this question was actually two: "Has anyone heard any rumblings on what will become of these two large commercial complexes near La Brea and 3rd St?"
a. First, the "monolithic Continental Graphics building complex" on La Brea between 1st and 2nd St. A tipster states: "The combined 1.9 acre site is to be demolished and replaced with 118 condos, 29,000 sf of retail, and 402 parking spaces called "District La Brea" (rendered above). About 50 feet high. Accomplished through a zone change to the City's new RAS zone. Architecture has been designed by LA firm RSA, and the project is being entitled by a group called the Bomel Company. The site is being quietly marketed to major developers at a very high price (in the mid $30 MMs), and will likely be sold to and built by a homebuilder in the near future."
Another reader adds this: "I think a little more interesting to your readers is this: I was in the Vioski furniture store (across the street from the development) about two month ago. The owner was apparently briefed on the project and they told me that the top floor was subject to a significant setback which meant that the top floor is planned have huge patios and incorporate a very indoor/outdoor aesthetic. Cool."
b. And Part 2, regarding the Chevrolet car dealership on the east side of La Brea and 4th St. A tipster says: "This car dealership was originally marked to major developers a few months ago. A group of private investors bought it at a very high price with tax exchange money, and is now remarketing it either for lease or purchase. I guess they think that there is always a greater fool out there willing to pay even more, but at the price they want I doubt it! Will most likely just end up leasing the existing building and land as is, with no major redevelopment."
6) Mid-Wilshire: The Conga Room may have conged its last conga. That makes no sense. From the comments, Carter says: "Brad Gluckstein can make more money leasing out his Conga than being its operator, and thus with the opportunity to go downtown, why not get out of the day to day, and play landlord, as he does on so many other properties he and his family already own all over the west. He is a real estate developer you know!"