Two Heartbeats Beat As One

EXPANSION NEWS FROM Atwater Village's biggest and best dance, exercise, yoga and ballet workshop, studio and family center and school: Heartbeat House 2 will be celebrating its official opening this Saturday night! Performances, drinks, and mingling will all be included in this festive affair celebrating the opening of not just Heartbeat House 2, but also various other photography, design, and art studios located in the same building... Open House: Saturday March 31, 6:00pm 3191 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village [map] Though the "mega" housing development was stalled in that neck of the Village, it looks like other neighborhood businesses are going ahead with their own Casitas Avenue projects.

Atwater Chatter - Midwinter Heat Wave Edition

casitas_ave001, originally uploaded by Luis Lopez.

This afternoon I felt the temperature suddenly rise. Like the LA River had belched hot air. Yum! Let's taste some other neighborhood noise. Big Surprise: 91 percent of people surveyed by Friends of Atwater Village agree with Friends of Atwater Village that they don't care for the proposed 90-unit Casitas Avenue housing project. Downside: Architectural firm Patterns is no longer designing the 90-unit Casitas Avenue housing project. Downside II: So Casitas Avenue will look like this a while longer. Art Opening: Dan Wooster paints "life in the present moment," opens at J. Ferrari Gallery Feb. 10. Opening Books: Kids books for a quarter? Atwater Village Branch Library sale, Feb. 10. Deliciosa: Try a dosa at India Sweets & Spices.

'Mega' Housing On Other Side of the Tracks

While neighborhood worry-warts snivel and survey about a proposed 90-unit "mega" housing development in Atwater Village, a 44-unit "workforce" housing project - on the other side of the tracks in Glendale - is nearly complete. The City of Glendale released a list (PDF) of 700 eligible renters - from more than 13,000 lottery applicants - for apartments in the Metropolitan City Lights project. And a walk around the property this weekend shows it might be only a few more months before move-in. Find these green, gray and yellow boxes on Gardena Ave., overlooking where Los Angeles and Glendale meet, where Glendale Blvd. becomes Brand Blvd., just east of the railroad tracks.

Unlike Housing, They Like Surveys Stacked

Friends of Atwater Village is conducting a survey about the 90-unit Casitas Avenue Housing Project. Is this the scientific study developers and leaders can rely on for unbiased reporting of neighborhood preferences? Not exactly: What concerns, if any, would you have about a 90 unit apartment complex being built in Atwater Village? Check all that apply High population density Increase in crime activity Increase in noise levels Increase in air pollution Increase in traffic congestion on Casitas and adjacent streets Street parking problems Violates the "village" ambiance of Atwater Village Loss of privacy created by "high rise" complex Further overburden city services (schools, trash pickup, police/fire departments) Would encourage further high density housing development in Atwater Village Other (specify in General Comments section of survey) None You can almost taste the begrudging obligation to insert "if any" and "none" into that question. While I admire their concern over the beloved trash picker-uppers, I wonder if they could swap the city services answer for one of these: Unique architecture would provide showpiece for Atwater Village and northeast side of Los Angeles Multi-unit housing would complement development of Los Angeles Community College campus at nearby Van de Kamp bakery Would help Castias Avenue look less like a "dump" (This one's for Sung Lim Kee) Take the survey here, but be warned: full name, full address and email address are required. They'll want to know exactly where to ship the lawn signs. PREVIOUSLY: First Look at New Sci-Fi Housing in Atwater Village, What Will These Developers Think Of Next

First Look at New Sci-Fi Housing in Atwater Village

First image emerges from proposed housing project on Casitas Avenue in Atwater Village. Thanks to Friends of Atwater Village: From 3234-3274 Casitas Avenue... A 4-story building with approximately 90 units/apartments ranging in size from 550 to 2,200 sq. ft. on 10 lots (5,300 sq. ft. each). The architectural design, a collaborate effort by Patterns and LRG Architects, gives a metallic 'sci-fi' feel... Mr. Marcello Spina gave a detail explanation about the philosophical aspect of his architectural design which he refereed to as 'intelligent urban design' and 'natural urban growth.' (Typos theirs. And the Patterns site is "suspended" now. See the architect's other "sci-fi" work here.) Here's an aerial look at 3234 Casitas, as it stands, just across the tracks from a future northeast campus of Los Angeles Community College at the old Van de Kamp bakery. Some people are in favor of the project, though not very diplomatically. From FAV: Ms. Sung Lim Lee (a recent electee to the AVNC Board as Business Representative) ... stated that Casitas Ave looks like a 'dump' and expressed her opinion that long time residents on Casitas should be grateful for the improvement this project would bring. But apparently there's some "public outrage." (No. Really?) Something about how the developers didn't rub everyone's shoulders enough before trying to sleep with them. The process took less then two weeks from beginning to end and totally bypassed any outreach to the various community stakeholders... As a result of the public outrage at the Board meeting regarding the lack of community outreach the AVNC Board has called for a Town Hall meeting on this matter for some time in January 2007. Hmm, what was that LA Times story about infighting among neighborhood councils? So, table this for "some time in January." Unless the council caves into its own penchant for rescheduling things. Hey, at least the H&R Block is open.

What Will These Developers Think of Next

A 90-unit housing development around the corner from a new campus for Los Angeles City College? How... convenient. From an Atwater Village Neighborhood Council committee meeting:

Architect, and professor of architecture, Marcello Spina presented a futuristic designed loft style housing development proposed for 3234 Casitas Ave.

The renderings showed a sloped design that looked more like a pyramid than a box. The design will not tower over any adjacent property.

The proposal includes eighty to ninety units ranging from five hundred to several thousand square feet and will conform to the existing forty five foot height limit.

Units will be designed for artists and professionals, but would accommodate families.

The neighborhood has at least two similarly-sized developments (one on Perlita Ave., another on Los Feliz Blvd.) but if the Casitas Ave. project is anything like Spina's other works, it will look like little else in Atwater Village. I've asked to see the designs. These are some of his others:



[Images from the hyper-hyphenated firm P-a-t-t-e-r-n-s]