grand avenue

Eli Broad To Bring Art Museum To Downtown Los Angeles

Filed under: Art, Real Estate Developments

Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad has chosen his spot. Broad and his wife Edythe have decided that the Broad Art Foundation will be settling in on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. A committee of state and local officials voted that he could lease county-owned land to build a 35,000-square-foot structure to house pieces from the collection of 2,000 pieces.

The terms of the deal are that the foundation will pay $7.7 million for a 99-year lease for the 2.5 acre piece of land. This land was once earmarked for a $3 billion complex of condos, retail stores and hotels. That project never got off the ground, and the Museum of Contemporary Art and Disney Hall were left at one end of a street that was expected to become one of the city's most vibrant areas.

Broad's museum could cost $100 million to construct and per the terms of the deal also must contribute $200 million toward its operation. The AP reports that Diller, Scofidio & Renfro has been named as the architect for the project. The design will be unveiled in October. Construction should be finished by the end of 2012.

Tags: broad art foundation, disney hall, downtown los angeles, eli broad, grand avenue, moca

Billionaire Eli Broad Offered $1 Lease For His New Art Museum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Big Givers

What do you get the billionaire who has everything? How about a $1 a year lease for 99 years. This amazing deal is proposed by Los Angeles officials who want to make sure that billionaire Eli Broad creates a museum in the $3 billion Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles. The Grand Avenue project was to be a huge complex of shops, restaurants and hotels but in this weakened economy it has had some trouble getting off the ground.

Not everyone thinks that Broad should get such a sweetheart deal according to an LA Daily News article. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich wonders why the city, which is struggling financially, would give up the potential tax revenue in favor of benefiting one of the country's richest men. The art museum won't generate property or sales taxes and although Broad is one of the city's most philanthropic citizens it still seems like a tremendous gift.

The Broad collection was originally supposed to go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2008 he decided that he wouldn't be installing his 2,000 work contemporary art collection at the LACMA and other locations in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica were discussed. The art is currently located in a four-story building in Santa Monica but it is in a building that does not offer easy public access. The Santa Monica City Council has also offered to lease a 2.5-acre site a couple of blocks from the beach for Broad's museum for $1 per year for 99 years.

Tags: art museum, eli broad, grand avenue, los angeles

Frank Gehry's Grand Plans For Los Angeles

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels

A few weeks ago when I was on Grand Avenue in Los Angeles with a friend attending an exhibit at the MOCA, we got to talking about Frank Gehry's plans for the blocks around Disney Hall. Gehry's designs for Grand Avenue are supposed to help this part of downtown Los Angeles complete its transition into the land of the luxe. The plan just got another boost. Related has announced that the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group will manage the hotel that will occupy the first 20 floors of Gehry's 48-story tower. The upper floors will be luxury residences. The 275-room hotel is expected to open in 2010. Perhaps by then people will be more willing to stay downtown.

Source

Tags: frank gehry, FrankGehry, grand avenue, hotel, los angeles, mandarin oriental