Yours truly went by the site of the Grand Hotel yesterday around 4 pm. Seemed like everyone but one guy had gone home by then (and he seemed to be leaving).Guess everyone was pooped:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRQPWjK1ERw?feature=player_detailpage]
Two proposed Santa Monica hotels From time to time, we try to give you a sense of the scale of the UCLA Grand Hotel project. A developer is proposing two hotels in downtown Santa Monica. Combined, they are roughly the size of the Grand Hotel. So imagining them squeezed together will give you a sense of the size of the project. You can also get a sense by looking at the current construction site in terms of area covered. But don’t worry about the cost:
In earlier posts on the UCLA Grand Hotel, we have noted that construction started off at a very leisurely pace but seemed to be picking up. When yours truly went by earlier today (see photos), trucks were rolling in and out. Other construction machines were wrecking the remains of parking structure #6. Could it be that the more rapid pace has anything to do with the fact that a trial date for the lawsuit challenging the project will be set next week? Is someone trying to get facts on the ground? Note that the lawsuit, even if there are facts…
Over the past year or so, there have been various scary developments about which we have blogged. Most recently there is the recently-filed anti-pension initiative that sweeps in UC. There is the volatility of state budget because of its heavy dependence on the income tax and the incomes of those in the upper brackets that are reflective of the ups and downs of financial markets. There is the illusion that online ed will resolve the long-term budget squeeze on the university. The hotel shown below is pretty scary but so, too, is the UCLA Grand Hotel, in part because of…
We have noted in previous posts that progress on the UCLA Grand Hotel seemed leisurely whenever yours truly dropped by with his trusty cell phone camera. However, there is now a big hole at the work site for the Grand Hotel where once Parking Structure #6 stood as you can see from the photos taken last Thursday. Many parking spaces were removed by the demolition. A small number will be built under the Grand Hotel for use only by the Grand Hotel’s guests, not by general campus parkers. (The Hotel will have fewer spaces relative to the number of rooms…
You might have notice the article in the LA Times about concrete buildings in LA County that were prone to collapse in a major earthquake. The article included an interactive graphic for selected areas including Westwood. Among the buildings the LA Times listed was 924 Westwood Blvd., an office building owned by UCLA (the Regents). The image above is a screenshot, not the actual interactive graphic which you can find at http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-earthquake-concrete-20131013-dto,0,1555748.htmlstory. However, here is the text of what is on the graphic including a response by UCLA saying it believes the building is safe:========== 924 Westwood Blvd. Owner: Regents…
Back in the day, folks used to talk about “bankers’ hours,” meaning 9 am to 3 pm. When yours truly went by the “work” site of the UCLA Grand Hotel a little after 3 pm yesterday, not a soul was visible. Ground View View from on high No rush, of course:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=846uDvMuReg?feature=player_detailpage]
Above is a picture of a proposed Marriott Hotel in Santa Monica currently being reviewed by that city’s Planning Commission for the corner of Colorado and 5th Street. It would have 136 rooms. The UCLA Grand Hotel, in contrast, will have 250 rooms. My calculator tells me that 136/250 = 54%. So the UCLA Grand Hotel will be almost double what you see above. Just something you might want to know.
Yesterday, we provided a link to UCLA’s “shame media release” on the recent court decision regarding the Grand Hotel project. You might not be totally surprised to know that there is an alternative view of what occurred. You might not be totally surprised to know that the alternative view projects a more favorable view regarding the plaintiff’s position. But in case you ARE surprised, we provide a link below for reading the alternative:
Our previous post noted that donors do not inherently insist on capital projects. In fact, UCLA just got $20 million, it was announced yesterday, for environmental teaching and research: http://centurycity.patch.com/groups/schools/p/hyatt-hotel-heirs-donate-20m-to-ucla Some dutiful blog readers will recall that over a year ago we posted an interview with Mark Yudof in which he insisted that UC puts donor money into buildings only when the donors absolutely insist on it – which is not at all the history of the UCLA Grand Hotel. You can find the audio of the interview at: http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/07/ucla-hotel-did-not-happen-that-way.html The fact is that donors have interests beyond bricks…
