CicLAvia on August 18, Reviewing Intuit Dome, and more

Arevon Energy has received approvals for the $350-million Avocet Energy Storage project, which will store energy during non-peak hours and discharge it back into the grid when there is high demand. The 200 megawatt/800 megawatt-hour battery storage system is expected to break ground in early 2025 and become operational in the second quarter of 2026.

A recently-completed development overlooking Silver Lake and Echo Park has a new landlord. Cityview and Wafra announced this week that they have acquired Silva, a 221-unit apartment located at 235 N. Hoover Street.

The property recently received its temporary certificate of occupancy - Cityview and Wafra will be responsible for finalizing construction and leasing up the property.

“Silva is a rare opportunity to acquire a newly constructed Class A property in one of Los Angeles’ most desired and centrally located submarkets,” said Cityview chief executive officer Sean Burton in a news release. “Cityview has delivered and leased up three other development projects near the area over the past year, giving us deep market knowledge and experienced onsite teams that ideally position us to lease up and manage the community alongside Wafra, a trusted partner of Cityview.”

A new executive order issued earlier this week by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass aims to bolster the region's entertainment industry. In addition to establishing working groups and liaisons to aid with city approvals for filming permits, the order also calls for streamlining the permitting process for not production studios. Numerous projects of that sort are currently wending their way through the approval process, such as the East End Studios Arts District campus in Downtown.

On Sunday August 18, CicLAvia returns with an event connecting East Hollywood to West Hollywood. The 6.6-mile event will create car-free streets on segments of Hollywood Boulevard, Highland Avenue, and Santa Monica Boulevard.

Once again, here's the rules: only people-powered vehicles allowed. That means no electric scooters, skateboards, hoverboards, unicycles, motorcycles and other non-people-powered vehicles are permitted. However, Class 1 e-bike pedal-assist is allowed, Class 2 e-bikes are allowed when throttle is powered off, and Class 3 e-bikes are allowed when pedal-assist is powered down. 

Here's what we're reading this week:

The rest of the world is building subways like crazy. The U.S. has pretty much given up "Los Angeles and Seattle are the only cities in the U.S. whose transit development plans come remotely close to those seen in other global cities. And while their future transit maps are impressive, all of those colorful lines don’t mean the same things as the ones on Istanbul’s transit map. LA and Seattle’s light rail lines are not nearly as fast, frequent, or high-capacity as the heavy rail metros being built in other countries." (Fast Company)

Review: L.A.’s new Intuit Dome just might be one of the best arena designs in America. But there’s one missing link "None of these questions takes away from the fact that Intuit Dome is a dazzling, expertly executed building with the potential to become a major community asset. It’s a wonder that the design team was able to push the arena this far — a reminder that stale templates can still be exuberantly broken in California. Somehow, Inglewood — seemingly forgotten after the Lakers fled for a shiny new home in downtown L.A. — now has two of the best sports venues in America. But the work is not over until the urban spaces surrounding the arena are brought up too. Inglewood’s coffers keep growing, and the financiers keep coming. Will they make genuine efforts to renew the crippled parts of the city‘s public sphere?" (LA Times)

3rd annual Nikkei Celebration honors the Japanese history of Boyle Heights "The celebration took place along First Street on Saturday evening, marking its third year" (Boyle Heights Beat)

LA's plan to give renters free eviction attorneys as a ‘right’ moves forward "'Right to counsel' programs have been spreading across the country. More than a dozen cities have passed them with the goal of ensuring tenants can effectively defend themselves in court and stay housed, whenever possible." (LAist)

Vacant San Pedro lot awaiting construction being eyed as temporary green space "Downtown San Pedro’s construction plans for a mid-rise development on the cleared former courthouse property have run into financing delays, prompting discussions about interim uses at a downtown development panel meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 7." (Daily Breeze)

Sale of massive Skid Row homeless housing portfolio approved by judge "The sale of one of Los Angeles’ largest collections of homeless housing was approved by a judge Wednesday, marking a final step in averting a catastrophic loss of permanent shelter in Skid Row." (LA Times)

It's likely being rejoined — but why was LA’s MacArthur Park split apart in the first place? "There were proposals drawn up to achieve this through other means, like a $250,000 plan to build a bridge over the lake, but in the end, the city chose a cheaper option — simply extending the road, at $93,000 (equivalent to $2.1 million today)." (LAist)

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