Envisioning L.A.'s future regional rail network, an Oceanwide update, and more

Another twist in the messy saga of Oceanwide Plaza.

In September, news emerged that Chinese developer Oceanwide Holdings was aiming to raise funds to restart work on mega project, which is located across Figueroa Street from the arena formerly known as Staples Center. Stalled since 2019, the three-tower development is expected to include 504 condominiums, a 184-room Park Hyatt hotel, and approximately 150,000 square feet of retail space.

This week, Oceanwide officially changed courses, announcing that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with an unnamed potential buyer for the site. Is this the light at the end of the tunnel? We'll see.

A number of large development firms have explored the possibility of taking on the Oceanwide project since its troubles first became public three years ago. The Real Deal reports that both CIM Group and Brookfield considered bids for the site, but ultimately balked when confronted with rising construction costs. Likewise, multiple sources have indicated that Peebles Corp. and MacFarlane Partners - the team behind the massive Angels Landing development on Bunker Hill - were at one point in talks to take over the star-crossed development.

Rents in Los Angeles down 0.8% over past month (Apartment List)

WeHo Council approves Fountain bike lanes "Bicycles will soon be able to roll down Fountain Avenue more safely. The West Hollywood City Council voted unanimously at its Nov. 21 meeting to go forward with a pilot plan for protected bike lanes for the street, which is widely known as a cut-through option to avoid heavy traffic along Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards." (Beverly Press)

Metro to Begin Installing Bus Priority Lanes on La Brea "According to the notice, the work will continue through the month of January during the same weekday hours, and also on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m." (Larchmont Buzz)

Why ‘activity centers’ are key to greener commutes "It’s true that metro areas where a relatively low fraction of the population drives to work alone tend to have high population densities. But the reverse is not: High population density alone is not enough to reduce solo-drive commutes." (Brookings Institute)

LA Railway Yellow Car exhibit, a trip back to the future of mass transit "In the waiting area of Los Angeles Union Station in downtown L.A., the new exhibit highlighting the Los Angeles Railway, dubbed LARy, points to a past when streetcars from the late 19th to the mid-20th century filled the core of Los Angeles, taking passengers from as far west as La Brea Avenue, south from Hawthorne and north to Eagle Rock." (Daily Breeze)

L.A.’s Hammer Museum expansion, two decades in the making, sets date for the final reveal "The Los Angeles museum scene is ballooning. Last year the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened. This year saw the openings of the Orange County Museum of Art building in Costa Mesa and the Autry Museum of the American West’s new Resources Center in Burbank. Next year’s Hammer debut happens around the same time as the scheduled opening of the 1.3-mile public art corridor, Destination Crenshaw. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new building and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art are under construction, the former aiming for a 2024 completion, the latter to open in 2025." (LA Times)

A new General Hospital: Turning an iconic L.A. landmark into homeless housing "Unchanged since the last patient left Los Angeles County General Hospital 14 years ago, the operating room encapsulates the rich opportunities and huge challenges for an institution that became too old and decrepit to go on as it was but is too much of a civic treasure to discard." (LA Times)

Commuter, Regional, and Intercity Rail in Southern California (Nick Andert - YouTube)

Community approval may no longer be needed for permanent parklets "Parklets allowed restaurants and others to conduct business during COVID-19 restrictions that disallowed indoor dining and other indoor activities. Over 100 temporary parklets sprung up across Long Beach, and after several extensions of the temporary parklet program, the council voted to end it in January 2023." (Long Beach Post)