How One Wilshire powers the internet, Congestion pricing update, and more

 On Sunday June 18, CicLAvia returns with a South Los Angeles event along Vermont Avenue between Exposition Boulevard in the north and Century Boulevard to the south. The event, which will run from 9 am to 4 pm, will overlap with L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell's 3rd Annual Juneteenth Celebration and Resource Fair, which features live performances, food trucks, and other community activities. Attendance at the Juneteenth event is free, but requires registration: Check it out here: https://mitchell.lacounty.gov/juneteenth2023

For more information on the June 18 CicLAvia event, head here: https://www.ciclavia.org/south_la_june23

Here's what we're reading this week:

How This Building Powers the Internet "Sometimes buildings just don't look as important as they are. This the case of One Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles. At first glance, its a generic office building in downtown. But, that blank facade is hiding one of the most important pieces of digital infrastructure within the United States. In this video we visit 1 Wilshire Blvd, explain how it works, and chat with Jimenez Lai who wrote a story about the building which explores its outsized role in our digital lives. " (Steward Hicks - YouTube)

Yes, We Have More Water … But Some Regulations Have Been Extended "Though this winter dramatically improved our water supply situation, groundwater basins and the Colorado River are still stretched thin. And as the weather heats up, water use will go up too, stretching supplies for the next year." (LAist)

Thousands of local hotel workers move closer to a strike: ‘Living in L.A. is no longer an option’ "As Los Angeles gears up for a busy summer travel season — plus future tourist events including the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics — and hotel company profits rise, it’s crucial to ensure workers are fairly compensated and can afford housing, said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11." (LA Times)

The freeway was born in L.A. But it might not always be free to drive on "Earlier this month, the Federal Highway Administration gave tentative approval to New York’s first-in-the-nation congestion road pricing plan, intended to fill financial gaps. Transit officials there say the technology to run a program could be up by next year, but opponents have threatened to thwart efforts....In San Diego, a plan to charge users per mile traveled was killed amid political opposition. And in the Bay Area, transit planners iced a downtown congestion plan after the pandemic emptied out the city center, although another study to charge for using major Bay Area freeways is underway....But perhaps nowhere in the United States would it be as consequential as in car-centric Los Angeles, the land of the SigAlert and the birthplace of the freeway, where commute times, traffic collisions and gas prices play large in the daily consciousness. The region sprawled, but no matter how much roadway it built, the snarl of traffic caught up with it at every turn." (LA Times)

LVMH Concedes Defeat on Cheval Blanc Hotel Project in Beverly Hills "LVMH spent three years presenting architectural plans, studies and analyses to make sure the first Cheval Blanc hotel in the U.S. was right for Beverly Hills. Last November, the 109-room hotel spread across Rodeo Drive, Little Santa Monica Boulevard and Beverly Drive, was approved by the Beverly Hills City Council on a 4-1 vote. The council touted that the new development would generate for the city some $778 million in unrestricted funding over the next 30 years, $26 million in non-earmarked funds and $2 million to support local art and culture." (WWD)

State Farm halts new property insurance policies in California "The company cited rising construction costs and its 'rapidly growing catastrophe exposure.'" (OC Register)

San Francisco, New York Will Have Emptiest Office Space in 2033 San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles top the list of major global cities that will have the most empty office space by 2033, according to a report from Savills Plc. (Bloomberg)

Celebs dodged millions in L.A.’s ‘mansion tax.’ Meet the industry guarding their wealth "Even before voters passed the measure, bringing a 4% transfer tax on all property sales above $5 million and 5.5% on sales above $10 million in the city of L.A., attorneys and real estate agents began devising ways to shirk it. In the waning days of March, luxury homeowners made increasingly desperate attempts to sell their long-held properties before the deadline....For outsiders to L.A.’s extravagant real estate scene, the numbers didn’t quite add up. Many sellers chopped the price of their home so low, or tossed in so many luxury goodies, that it would’ve been cheaper to simply sell at the original price and pay the tax. And some whose houses sold before the law took effect have spent many millions more on charity than the amount they saved in avoiding the tax....But for insiders — those familiar with the fortunes amassed in this otherworldly housing market and the lengths people go to protect those fortunes — there was a clear answer: 'the wealth defense industry.'" (LA Times)