colossal l.a. live opens with extravagant ceremony tonight
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For those not heading to tonight’s Downtown Holiday Lights walking tour, the brand-new LA Live is having a star-studded grand opening ceremony at 7:00pm that promises to be brighter than the surface of the sun.
Local dignitaries, politicians and even Britney Spears will be on hand to flip the switch on AEG’s digital Christmas tree and “Light of the Angels” show at the center of the Nokia Plaza.
The seven-minute-long show plays on the hour starting at 7:00pm every night in December. By the numbers, after the jump!
New restaurants, a museum, and hundreds of thousands of LED lights after the jump…
little tokyo’s marukai market expands, adds hours
Small-scale improvements at the Weller Court shopping center in Little Tokyo continue with the recent opening of Marukai Market’s sizable 1,500-square-foot expansion.
The neighborhood market-sized space is now filled with cookware, produce, noodles, meat and seafood, aisles of Japanese candies, drinks and crackers, hard-to-find condiments and spices — but the enlargement was sought for the purpose of combining liquor sales operations under one roof. Marukai Liquor was previously located across the plaza in its own storefront.
Most importantly, though, Marukai has relaunched with expanded hours every day of the week, adding one evening hour per weekday and one-and-a-half hours per weekend day.
blu l.a. cafe retools for a more affordable experience
Following an admittedly hectic opening week, owners Jacob Bowser and Nipith Ongwiseth of Blu LA Cafe have retooled their homestyle menu by lowering prices and adding more affordable options in response to community input.
An $8.50 cheeseburger was added to the menu recently, matching the price point of new neighborhood hits the Nickel Diner and Ma Petit. And braised pork, shredded barbecue-style atop homemade mac & cheese, is a savory, mouth-watering option.
Blu LA is still finding its niche in the Historic Core, but it’s on the right track with an all-day breakfast menu of scrambles, omelets, breakfast sandwiches and French toast, from $6.00-$8.00 a plate.
Multi-year residents of Downtown LA, the team started from scratch with what was a forgotten extension of the century-old Cole’s PE Buffet next door in the basement of the Pacific Electric Lofts building.
inside the grammy museum at l.a. live, an interactive experience
There’s much to like about the new GRAMMY Museum at LA Live, but most of all is how visitors will interact with the one-of-a-kind space come this Saturday when the doors are opened to the public for the first time.
Tuesday’s media gathering was the first public look inside the brand-new museum, with final touches and last-minute tweaks being made to signage, programming, and lighting systems.
A total of $34 million was spent to bring the venue to Los Angeles, and though it seems a natural fit with the large music industry presence here — not to mention the GRAMMYs are held here — other contender cities, including Memphis and New Orleans, had a stronger hand in the running.
The final push needed to keep the project in Los Angeles, however, was AEG’s ten-year financial backing commitment and the development of LA Live.
home, sweet home: ‘casa’ heading toward finish line
As CASA Restaurant wraps up its final leg of inspections and heads into the staff training phase, the new 5,000-square-foot Mexican outpost on Bunker Hill is drawing the looks of passersby attracted to quirky architectural flourishes by architect Ana Henton.
But in an increasingly crowded market, CASA wants to be set apart for its high-quality food at approachable prices. “This isn’t fusion. This isn’t Spanish. It’s authentic Mexican,” said Director of Operations Sean Krajewski on a recent whirlwind tour of the space.
Chef Kris Morningstar has spent months traveling everywhere from San Francisco to Tijuana, sampling every dish he could get his hands on in preparing his contemporary menu for both the foodie set and casual lovers of good eats (Think: Rabbit-carnitas tacos).
Photo via Eater LA’s CASA coverage.
now downtown walk it out: holiday lights tour this thursday
Thanks to those who have RSVP’d for angelenic’s first meet-and-walk this Thursday!
We’ve gotten over 60 guest confirmations so far on Facebook, and it’s not too late to RSVP and invite your friends to the event. The weather forecast is looking mighty fine so far: Cloudy and cool, rain not likely.
We’ll be meeting at Union Station’s main entrance hall at 7:30pm (near Traxx Restaurant) and then winding our way through the Financial District to ultimately catch LA Live’s grand opening light show around 9:00pm.
Because of the size of our group and the possible complications of so many people meeting inside the privately owned Union Station, the plan is to be at the plaza at Olvera Street by 7:40pm. The plaza is located across the street from Union Station’s main entrance.
Again, please be sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring a warm coat. But most importantly, let’s make this a fun get-together to meet new friends and catch up with old ones!
Downtown Holiday Lights Walking Tour
Thursday, December 4, 2008
7:30pm
Meet at Union Station’s Main Entrance
More on Facebook
Route Map
the brockman opens amid worsening market, goes rental
Breaking news out of the Financial District: The Brockman, an 80-unit adaptive reuse development at 7th and Grand, has switched from for-sale lofts to loft rentals.
According to Director of Sales (now Director of Leasing?) April Fissell, the decision to rent out the high-end units comes as many previously qualified buyers were turned down for loans.
This weekend an open house is scheduled to showcase the classic building, which is now ready for move-ins and will be “aggressively priced” at a cool $2.25 per square foot on average. Condo-level finishes mean units are outfitted with marble countertops, dishwashers and washers and dryers.
With an eye to a future — when mortgages aren’t so hard to come by — qualified tenants will have the first right of refusal if and when the building goes condo, receiving a 3% discount on the final sales price. One more perk: You get to choose the color of your flooring.
where we go from here: measure ‘r’ tax a reality
Measure R, the countywide sales-tax measure that would raise nearly $40 billion over 30 years, in all likelihood has been officially approved by LA County voters.
With 67.93% of the vote as of November 28 — a two-thirds supermajority is required for passage — the measure’s lead has been growing each day this week as provisional and absentee ballots are counted. Results must be finalized by December 2.
After a grueling process (as chronicled on this site in the past), funds will finally begin rolling in July 1, 2009. That means your sales tax levied on all goods purchased in the county rises to 8.75%.
Daily riders will be thankful for a one-year postponement of planned fare increases on Metro rail and bus services. Students and the disabled will see their fares remain unchanged for five years. Increased bus and Metrolink services and road repaving will have a quick impact for commuters.
Now comes the hard part: Doling out the money to capital projects based on numerous criteria, including readiness, impact, and political will.
