orsini iii site demolition levels bbq king
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BBQ King, a Texas-style eatery for tangy-sweet meat that reigned over the northeast corner of Figueroa and Sunset since 1994, was razed today to make way for the third phase of the Orsini housing complex.
Orsini III received the greenlight last Thursday from the Community Redevelopment Agency, making way for a five-story structure containing over 200 units, 13,000 square-feet of commercial space and a 500-car parking structure.
Meanwhile, the popular barbecue joint has moved to a new location at 53rd and Vermont in South Los Angeles. BBQ King’s displacement out of the Downtown market may be permanent.
Fortunately, we can all rest assured developer Geoff Palmer will be securing several new quality retailers for his development’s ground level to make up for the neighborhood loss. Oh, wait… that’s right…
-orsini iii approved by cra, retail conditions imposed
-retail loss affirms palmer’s lackluster commercial presence
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12 comments
Great, another 5 story structure. This is Downtown and it’s being ruined by these small structures, where are the skyscrapper condos that everyone wants to see. This is a city not a valley.
We don’t necessarily need skyscrapers. Buenos Aires is a great city. Dense. Pedestrian friendly. And mostly 6 story structures (or less). What makes a city great is not the height of the buidings. (Indeed, when flying into B.A., you wonder where the city IS, because you don’t see any skyline.) What makes a city great is a its pedestrian life. And the Geoff Palmer building generate none.
Excuse the typos. It is still early.
Wasn’t there an article in the LA Times recently about downtown projects being stalled or scrapped?
Ha!! Also, Piero II is undergoing site excavation now in City West.
there is a better BBQ place at North Spring & Caesar Chavez http://www.sssmokehouse.com/
Thank you to Geoff and the CRA for creating one of the most soulless, tacky, cheap-looking, and useless intersections in urban America at Sunset & Fig. The whole thing is the worst kind of pastiche, the “retail” at ground level is empty and depressing, and it looks so shoddily constructed that it will collapse in about ten years. Kudos!
while i really like the spring street smokehouse’s vinegar-based carolina-style barbecue, the original bbq king is a different type of barbecue, it’s texas-style barbecue cooked in halved steel drum as opposed to the big red smoker that spring street smokehouse uses.
it’s misleading to say that one is better than the other, it all depends on which side of the bbq triangle you prefer - kansas city, houston, or north carolina.
and btw, geoff palmer should burn in hell.
uh, what is the problem? are we attached to the caving-in concrete wall supports and the overgrown grass heaps that currently occupy the site? or the charming modular building with rusty faded signage that housed the “bbq” stand? palmer’s buildings might not be the most innovative, but they are buildings, not empty lots. people can live there, and (with luck) shop there. and there are definitely more hideous structures in this city than these. i don’t see a problem.
The problem is that destroying a popular eating venue in favor of building hideous, charmless, and expensive apartments which have become instant slums is not cool. BBQ King was a great place which I have enjoyed for over ten years I have been there.
It is a huge loss for the area. In the meantime these horrible buildings continue to multiply, and are worse than strip malls.
You don’t see a problem with that?
Tell me…
why do you think that it would take luck to get someone to rent retail space from Palmer?
Who in there right mind would do that?
Alex wrote: “Thank you to Geoff and the CRA for creating one of the most soulless, tacky, cheap-looking, and useless intersections in urban America at Sunset & Fig.”
But it’s not like that intersection looked so great to begin with.
I remember driving around there 10 years ago, trying to find the Evans Adult School, and being astounded by the decrepitude of the immediate surroundings.
I was with a colleague from work at the time, and he scoffed that he wished his job were located in another part of town, preferably around Westwood or somewhere in Orange County. I nodded in agreement.
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