MY TAKE ON IT-Champs Elysees is the most beautiful Avenue of the world - la plus belle avenue du monde. Several French monuments including the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde line the Avenue through Paris.
The Avenue runs for 1 mile through northwestern Paris and is bordered by greenery of the Carre Marigny and by such buildings as Theatre Marigny and the Grand Palais.
It is within walking distance of the beautiful tree-lined Avenue of the Louvre, the river Seine, and one of the world’s most stunning restaurants – Tour d’Argent. The Tour d’Argent overlooks Notre Dame Cathedral and the Seine.
The Avenue is also one of the most famous streets in the world for shopping. Adidas, Benetton, Nike, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Lacoste, and Fouquet grace the wide tree-lined thoroughfare.
The push to transform Los Angeles Grand Avenue into a Champs Elysees has faced years of delays and obstacles. The ambitious plan to create a tony cultural venue around the landmark Disney Concert Hall has already been scaled back because of the recession, a decade of delays, and all the stumbling and fumbling.
In a little-noticed meeting recently, County Supervisor and other officials unanimously rejected the conceptual plan for the $650-million project, with Molina criticizing the design and saying developer Related Cos. had failed to create an enticing public space that went beyond expensive shops and restaurants.
Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the downtown-based Central City Assn., said she was "shocked and angry" over the committee's Sept. 23 vote to reject the proposal from Related, which has already committed $120 million to the Grand Avenue effort.
"Coming so close to the deadline for the contract's ability to move forward, the vote really cast doubt as to whether the project could proceed at all with Related," Schatz said. "After nine years, that was shocking to hear."
The Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority — a panel that includes representatives from the city and the county — voted 3 to 0 last week to reject the developer's proposal, a key milestone. Officials at the Authority and their spokespeople say the vote was merely a rejection of the proposed plan, not of the developer. But according to a report prepared for the committee ahead of its Sept. 23 meeting, any vote to reject the plan is the same as killing the project outright.
If the project falls apart, the County could face major legal liability, notably because of the $50 million that Related put into the expansion and reconstruction of Grand Park, which stretches from the Music Center to City Hall. The developer is already building a residential tower on Grand Avenue as part of the Authority's effort to remake the corridor.
This posturing and proposal submitting and rejecting has been on-going for a decade and things still remain the same.
On Monday a government panel unanimously voted to give the developer a nearly four-month extension to create a suitable proposal.
The 4-0 vote by the Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority was critical, coming hours before the Authority's agreement with the developer expired, which would have thrown the plan into chaos. But the chairwoman of the Authority, Los Angeles County Supervisor , who led the criticism of the design last week, warned that the body was tiring of delays.
"We hope this is the last and final extension this [Authority] will be involved in," she said. "We are (as) hopeful as anyone that this project will get moving and it will be a first-class development that we would like to see along Grand Avenue."
Since the vote, the Authority and its staff have moved quickly to get the matter reconsidered — and Related's agreement extended — before Monday's midnight deadline. Staffers spent the weekend writing up a report for a new meeting Monday. Three of the four members who sit on the panel are set to participate by phone, including Molina, who will call in from a hotel in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she is on vacation. They will vote not on new plans but on a proposal to extend the agreement for three months.
During last week's meeting, Molina and county Chief Executive William T Fujioka made clear their displeasure with Related's proposal. Both said they did not see how it could be a high-caliber project for Grand Avenue, home to the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Frank Gehry-designed Disney Hall and the Broad Museum, which is expected to open in 2014.
Molina, who heads the committee, criticized the proposal's "boxiness" and complained that one entry facing Grand Avenue lacked "any architectural interest whatsoever."
"There's nothing there that lends itself in any aspect to a design that promotes any kind of pedestrian activity, any street activity or anything," she told the panel. "It is still a continuation to me of the fort-like conditions down Grand Avenue."
Fujioka, who reports to the five county supervisors, voted with Molina and Steve Valenzuela to reject the plans, saying during the meeting that he was "very, very disappointed" with the presentation. City Councilman Jose Huizar was absent.
The president of the development company said that he remains committed to the project.
"We have in good faith fulfilled all of our obligations through every step of the process, had multiple meetings on the Conceptual Plan and were therefore surprised and disappointed that it wasn't approved," said Bill Witte, president of Related California. "It was in no way a completed design but a concept to be refined in collaboration with the Grand Avenue Authority."
Since last week's vote, County officials have struggled to explain what exactly happened and what comes next. On Friday, Molina spokeswoman Roxanne Marquez said the panel voted to "remove Related from the Grand Avenue project" but said the panel could change course after seeing new plans Monday.
On Sunday, Molina aide Gerry Hertzberg corrected that statement, saying plans won't be presented Monday. In addition, he said, the committee "did not vote to terminate" Related's contract. "If they don't approve a new agreement … by Sept. 30 then [the] Related contract terminates," he wrote in an email.
Martha Welborne, former chairwoman of a nonprofit committee that first began promoting the Grand Avenue effort in the early 2000s, said she was "very concerned" by the Authority's action last week.
"This has been a challenging process, but we remain singularly focused on the creation of a world-class destination development for downtown LA," said Bea Hsu, vice president of development for Related California.
To reiterate efforts to remake Grand Avenue into the "Champs-Elysees of Los Angeles" have been underway for more than a decade and have often been delayed, in part because of the recession.
The $650-million proposal discussed Monday is the centerpiece of the project — two towers offering luxury condos, apartments, a hotel and high-end shops and restaurants across from Walt Disney Concert Hall.
To date the developer has invested nine years and $120 million into the effort. This resulted last week in the Authority voting to reject the architectural concept saying the designs are boring and unappealing and failed to offer meaningful public space.
At this point somebody should call “time out.”
These committees should start concentrating on Grand Central Market and whether to start serving croissants there instead of carnitas.
The Grand Avenue focus should be to provide a Grand Avenue that is scenic, pleasant, and functional. The committee should stop trying to transform Grand Avenue into Champs Elysees.
Spending developer money, energy, effort, and redesigns using the current path can continue for another 1,000 years and the results will always be the same – Grand Avenue Ain’t No Champs Elysees.
(Kay Martin is an author and a CityWatch contributor. His new book, Along for the Ride, is now available. He can be reached at )
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 80
Pub: Oct 4, 2013
