HOK moves to DTLA, Dodger Stadium gondola gets pushback, and more

After 20 years on the Westside, HOK is on the move.

Billed as the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm, HOK has decamped from its Culver City offices to a 20,000-square-foot space at the ROW DTLA campus in Downtown.

ROW DTLA, a former produce market, spaces roughly 32 acres at the intersection of 7th and Alameda Streets. The property features more than 1.3 million square feet of office and commercial space.

Here's what we're reading this week:

News Flash? LA’s Pollution Is So Bad It’s Ranked Worst For Major US Cities "The company, IQAir, came to that conclusion in its latest World Air Quality Report even though the L.A. area saw a 6% decrease in pollution in 2021, compared to the prior year." (LAist)

Angel Stadium land sale one step closer to being finalized after judge’s ruling "In December, the California Department of Housing and Community Development ruled that the sale violated state affordable housing law. The state and city have discussed a negotiated resolution, most likely with the city paying a $96-million fine that would then be used to expand affordable housing elsewhere in Anaheim. The city also could sue the state." (LA Times)

Metro Looking Into Two Bikeway Connections to Union Station "Metro is also nearing the final planning stages for its smaller L.A. River path project that will close the about-eight-mile river bikeway gap through downtown L.A. and the city of Vernon, completing a thirty-plus-mile continuous bikeway from Griffith Park to Long Beach. The central L.A. River path project will cost around $365 million (that 2016 estimate is from Metro’s Measure M sales tax plan)" (Streetsblog LA)

More people are dying in Los Angeles auto collisions "The current year’s tally marks a 77% increase over the 35 people who died in the equivalent period in 2020. That was before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic." (Crosstown)

California's Coastline Is Eroding. This New Tech May Help Us Understand How Fast "The new technology will allow Young and his colleagues to more consistently measure erosion even in areas that have previously been difficult to map, such as coastal bluffs. They will also be able to immediately study the impact of storms on the coast." (LAist)

Aerial gondola at Dodger Stadium sparks fears of accelerated gentrification "The California Endowment, a charitable foundation, filed a writ of mandate in Los Angeles County Superior Court contending the county’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority fast-tracked the project without public vetting in a 'sweetheart deal' with McCourt’s Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies. The nonprofit, which works to preserve the health of communities, is asking a judge to halt Metro’s efforts to ferry the project through the planning process. " (LA Times)