Metrolink gets a new CEO, Apple hunts for studio space, and more

Plant-based beverage maker Califa Farms will lease more than 29,400 square feet of office space at The Maxwell Building in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District, Newmark Knight Frank announced earlier this month. 

The Maxwell, a historic building at 1019 E. 4th Street, reopened as office space in 2019 following a multi-year renovation by Hudson Pacific Properties.  Califa Farms will occupy the first two floors of the building, relocating from a nearby property at 1321 Palmetto Street.

"This is the ideal location for Califa Farms' expansion as they continue to grow their business, brand, and team," said Craig Kish of Newmark, who represented the tenant.  "State-of-the-art indoor/outdoor creative office properties like this are in short supply in the Downtown Los Angeles market."

Apparel company Alo Yoga is setting up shop at a landmark property in Beverly Hills, reports Commercial Observer.

The company is reportedly taking over a 73,000-square-foot space at 9830 Wilshire Boulevard through an enterprise deal with WeWork.  The building, which sits at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards, was designed by I.M Pei and is the former headquarters of Creative Artists Agency.

Southern California's commuter rail network has a new boss. 

On July 23, Metrolink's Board of Directors named Darren Kettle as the agency's new chief executive officer.  He currently serves as the executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Committee, which is one of the five organization that make up the joint powers authority governing the commuter rail system.

Stephanie Wiggins, Kettle's immediate predecessor, recently took the helm as the chief executive officer of Los Angeles Metro.

Things to read from the past week

Democrats look to crush states’ highway habit "Legislation the House passed this month is the biggest advance yet in Democrats' efforts to bake climate policies into transportation, addressing the largest single contributor to the United States’ greenhouse gas output. It would also represent an historic shift away from the roads-first approach to federal transportation spending that has reigned since Dwight Eisenhower created the Interstate Highway System....But the bill is riling up opposition from two potential allies of the Democrats' big-spending infrastructure initiatives: state transportation departments and the road-building lobby. That creates an awkward dynamic for supporters of the House bill, which faces a perilous path through the evenly divided Senate." (Politico)

Zoning issue slows Pasadena church’s effort to build affordable housing "California lawmakers attempted to address the problem last year through Senate Bill 899, which sought to allow religious institutions the chance to build 100% affordable housing projects through a process which wouldn’t require planning commission or city council approval, but it never was signed into law." (Pasadena Star-News)

Metro Studying How to Make Complex Regional Connector Operate Smoothly "Today, the Metro A and E lines already experience some issues in Downtown L.A. where both lines run at grade on trafficked streets, sharing one set of tracks between Washington Boulevard and 7th Street Station. Even with Metro making efforts to operate efficiently, the shared tracks have resulted in some delays and some unreliability. Today, when the E Line experiences a delay, it can spill over into delays on the A Line – and vice versa. After the connector ties the Foothill and Eastside Gold Line segments into the A and E Lines, there is even more potential for delays on one line to affect greater numbers of other parts of the system." (Streetsblog LA)

CEO Stephanie Wiggins Pledges to Change Metro Culture, Put Transit Customer Experience First "Based on a directive approved by the board, fare collection was not due to resume in June – but Metro leadership did not get the message to bus operators who were insisting that riders pay fares. In addition, changes to routes/schedules/stops/etc. were not made available to riders via printed or online materials; many canceled and newly added bus stops, including their signage, were not updated or removed to reflect service changes." (Streetsblog LA)

Kenny Uong: Metro is the way to Go (Jimbo Times)

Anaheim could ask housing developers to bid on Angel Stadium site "The state Department of Housing and Community Development has warned the city that its property sale could violate a California law intended to maximize the use of public land for affordable housing. If the housing agency and the city cannot resolve the issue, the city could end up making the stadium site available to affordable housing developers, City Atty. Rob Fabela told the Anaheim City Council early Wednesday morning." (LA Times)

Community Invited To Try Out Roxbury Drive Protected Bike Lane On Sunday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the city of Beverly Hills is inviting cyclists to ride over to Roxbury Drive to test out a protected bike lane proposed to run southbound on Roxbury Drive, next to Roxbury Park. (Beverly Hills Courier)

Real Estate Values Grow Again in LA County "In 2021 the roll grew by $62.9 billion to $1.76 trillion. That amounts to $17 billion in property tax dollars. The money, according to the assessor’s office, will be used for public education, first responders, public health and other services." (LA Business Journal)

Apple Looks to Lease Hollywood Hub for Filming Shows and Movies "Apple Inc. told real-estate developers it wants to lease a large production campus in Los Angeles for its growing entertainment operations, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that would further deepen big tech’s presence in Hollywood.  Apple told development executives it is looking at several possible locations, the people said. The new hub could exceed half a million square feet and would complement Apple’s current arrangement, where the company leases soundstages to film in the Los Angeles area and other parts of the world." (Wall Street Journal)

About that Bus Shelter Tweet: Street Services’ Demo Draws Attention to Sorry State of L.A. Bus Stops "As a choice between that or nothing, the Sunshade could help bring many of L.A.’s forlorn and neglected stops into the semi-modern age, with real-time bus information and outlets where phones and other devices could be recharged....But the fact that it is being considered as an option at all speaks to how broken our approach to serving bus riders is." (Streetsblog LA)

‘Upzoning’ in my backyard? California bill won’t turbocharge home building, study says "SB 9 passed the state Senate and is expected to be taken up in the Assembly Appropriations Committee by Aug. 27. If approved, it would go to a final vote in the Assembly and then to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. The Terner Center study found that, under the bill, a total of 714,000 new homes would make financial sense to build, and it would take years to build them — if they ever are, since not all homeowners would want to sell or develop their own property." (LA Times)