Chinese developer leads transformation of L.A.'s skyline

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: LA Times

For decades, the sprawling six-acre Metropolis parcel in downtown Los Angeles sat barren as successive real estate busts derailed the promise of a $1-billion "city within a city."

Now, in an eye-rubbing spectacle, three towering cranes are working on the first phase of a hotel and a condominium tower, while construction has begun on two more condo towers for the second phase.

With the economy accelerating, the pledge made in the 1980s is finally being fulfilled by a feisty developer from China who is leading the transformation of downtown's skyline.

As chief executive of Chinese development firm Greenland USA, I Fei Chang is overseeing $6 billion worth of real estate development in the U.S., making her one of the biggest developers in the country.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-developer-chang-20150503-story.html#page=1

[Larry Engels]

1. Well, that's "feisty" of her.

Someday our Chinese overlords will design all our cities, and America will be like one great big Shanghai.



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-06/peak-smog-shanghai-orders-cars-roads-pollution-literally-charts

Even LA was never like this.

[newthinking]

3. We have to accept the rise of China. But we could use our energy (policy) to help China progress in

these areas.
We also had smog like that in our earlier industrial periods: LA did look like that on days in the 60's and 70s.

China is moving in this area, though they have a lot of work to do.

[Larry Engels]

6. LA never was like that.

I remember LA in the 50s and 60s, and I was in Shanghai in the 90s. The Chinese burn coal as well as cheap leaded gas. So the pollution of the air is much worse. Of course, you don't have to take it from me. Why should you?

[denbot]

14. Bullshit.

I have lived in L.A. my entire life and I remember in the 60's how bad the smog would get during summer. Some days you could not see the 5,000+ foot mountains from 5 miles away.

It is orders of magnitudes better now, even ith millions more people and cars due to California's robust air quality commitment .

[kwassa]

25. LA used to be terrible and no longer is.

I visited for a week in the mid 60s as a kid, stayed in Santa Monica, and had no idea that there were any mountains around the city until we drove north upon leaving. I could not see them once that entire week.

I lived there from '79 - '95.

[JDPriestly]

8. True. But LA is multi-racial and Chinese people have been creative, good citizens here

for as long as we had the railroads I think. (Or almost that long or longer.)

But this reflects our terrible balance of payment problem.

I'm glad Bernie Sanders is running because he is the candidate who talks about our balance of payment problem.

We do not need TPP. We need a make in America, buy American program. Our balance of payments problem covers up the selling out of America.

It's like a yard-sale of all American assets right now. We have thrown our wealth away.

[Larry Engels]

10. I'm surprised you are a Sanders supporter.

Good. I'm glad he's running because it may improve people's political education.

And yes, the TPP is not the right solution to the balance of payments problem. It would "solve" that problem by forcing down American wages. It would be good to improve our export picture, but not at that cost.

[JDPriestly]

15. When we have a big balance of payment deficit with another country, the people from that

country who don't really understand the ups and downs of the Los Angeles real estate market and its many booms and busts buy and build projects that don't fit the psyche of the city. This happened with Japanese investors buying a prominent building in the 1980x-1990s. The investment was unwise.

I drive past these new buildings all the time. I have seen the designs. They don't fit well in Los Angeles. We shall see.

[JDPriestly]

16. Why are you surprised that I am a Sanders supporter?

I wonder whether you misunderstood my post.

[Larry Engels]

18. Because you strike me as a conservative Democrat.

From your other posts, not the one I recently replied to.

[JDPriestly]

21. I'm an old-fashioned Democrrat. I think of myself as a mainstream Democrat.

I worked hard on the Obama campaigns.

But I agree just about 100% with Bernie. I lived in Europe for some years, so I know what democratic socialism is. We always felt that the "socialist" parties were very similar to the Democratic Party in the US. I don't think that even European socialists who are the old-school socialists believe in the government taking over private companies just for the sake of nationalizing them. That idea did not work. Bernie does not believe in just nationalizing companies either from what I have heard and read.

I am a Democrat, not a socialist. I back Bernie Sanders.

i agree with him on health care. I agree with him on unions. I agree with him on the TPP. I agree with him on protecting the Constitution and furthering democracy. I agree that government is the institution through we express our common will and our need to work together to achieve our goals. I believe that college education should be affordable for all. I agree that wages (which translate into our standard of living) must be raised so that all of us who are working have a living wage. I worked for a homeless project for years and strongly believe that we should make sure that homeless people have the opportunity to get affordable, decent housing in sober living housing as appropriate. I believe in free kindergarten for all families who wish to place their children in it.

So yes, I am a huge (one of his favorite words) Bernie Sanders fan. Love the guy. He is so refreshing and honest.

[Larry Engels]

28. I'm putting you on ignore.

I'm tired of your posts. And I really don't care what your opinions are.

[LuckyLib]

2. Chinese investment in New York as well as cities on the Pacific Rim of the US is huge. It's very

quietly done, and many communities won't know what happened til the cranes are pulling away.

[americannightmare]

4. Just in time...

for millions to flee Los Angeles due to lack of water...it may not be a year, but it will be no more than five. Better get working on that desalination, California!

[Larry Engels]

11. Desalination?

Got a good idea about where to put the salt? Not on my pizza.

[cosmicone]

13. You can put the salt on polar ice caps

which will lower their melting point and create a slower melting which will help with reducing the acceleration of global warming.

[bananas]

26. That's backward, salt melts ice.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/road-salt.htm

[Nihil]

29. But you have to give that poster one thing: he's consistent!

[JDPriestly]

19. Do you know of an alternative?

I don't think there is one.

The icebergs that are melting are adding fresh or unsalty water to the ocean.

Icebergs that break off into the ocean from glaciers do not contain salt, as they are formed by freshwater on land (snow, ice).

Icebergs that form in the ocean mostly do not contain salt either. This is because as the seawater freezes, it forms a crystal structure (ice) that prevents salt ions from being included.

http://www.answers.com/Q/Do_icebergs_contain_sal

I suppose the salt we would put in would not change the proportion of the salt in the ocean all that much. A lot of the water we use goes right back into the ocean. We are on the coast.

What is storm water pollution?

Storm water pollution is when water from rainstorms, garden hoses and sprinklers causes runoff that collects harmful debris and flows through local creeks, rivers and lakes - eventually draining, untreated, into the ocean.
. . . .
Los Angeles is located in four watersheds - Los Angeles River, Ballona Creek, Dominguez Channel and Santa Monica Bay. The water from these four watersheds flows into San Pedro and Santa Monica Bays and ultimately into the Pacific Ocean.
. . . .
Storm water flows do not receive any treatment because of the sheer volume of runoff – tens of millions of gallons on even the driest day – from an area encompassing more than 1,000 square miles.
. . . .

The sanitary sewer system takes waste water from toilets, showers and sinks and routes it to one of several waste water treatment plants here in Los Angeles. Once there, it receives multiple levels of treatment before being discharged into the ocean.

more

http://www.lastormwater.org/about-us/frequently-asked-questions/

We put a lot of water that is salty in the ocean, so if we put salt in it too, I suppose it won't be such a problem.

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. Meanwhile, in the Boston area, a Chinese RE mogul is quietly buying up -and destroying - Harvard

Square. Buys the building, raises the rent, or breaks the lease, and the storefronts sit empty...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/04/04/hong-kong-real-estate-mogul-buying-harvard-square-property/M0ej07PLaW9Y46LwtnU8vM/story.html

http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/05/02/meet-boston-invisible-billionaire/y7QS6m7SniIqsED91iS9oO/story.html#

[JDPriestly]

7. We buy Chinese junk made by cheap, Chinese labor, junk we don't really need, run up a huge

balance of payments deficit, and then the Chinese come here, buy our prime real estate and build apartments that we can cram ourselves into on one of the busiest freeway interstections in the world.

Now, who is the fool here?

The Chinese who still in spite of all the show of capitalism have a one-party, Communist government?

Or us?

I'm not suggesting we emulate the Chinese, and Ms. Chang certainly has a lot of commendable energy, organizational ability, if very little patience with our 40-hour week (and probably with our concept of human rights and labor rights), but what is with us Americans?

The Chinese are spending money we foolishly threw their way. What is wrong with this picture?

And as a post-note, I do have to ask whether Ms. Chang has any idea as to where she is going to get the water that the people living in her apartments will need to drink, bathe, wash dishes and clothes, etc.

LA should have a construction moratorium until the drought has ended. You should see the yards in LA. They look like they normally look in late August, early September before we start to get the so-called "rainy" season.

[olddots]

9. L.A. is a has been that never was

There is no "there" there but who cares anymore ?

[Larry Engels]

12. I doubt that LA or anyone in it gives a flying flip about your opinion of it.

It will be there, throbbing with energy and creative invention long after you are gone.

[americannightmare]

17. Gertrude Stein was referring to...

her hometown of Oakland, CA, with her quote "There is no there, there" but your attitude is far worse than the misplaced quote...

[Larry Engels]

20. My attitude? :)

You object to my attitude? Good. I hope it bothers you.

[JI7]

22. for tourists who are into non touristy things i recommend checking out downtown la

you will see the worst poverty with the homeless to all the new development and could go to high end restaurants and everything in between. don't just go to the sports games, concerts , restaurants. drive around and check out the wider area and the homeless, working class etc.

there has been a lot of development in the last few years and places that were crappy have started to improve but i don't know the people behind all of this and how many have been hurt negatively with things like rising rent.

[Javaman]

23. My favorite quote from the movie. "L.A. Story" with Steve Martin...

"some of these buildings are 20 years old!"

[Lodestar]

24. Shades of Blade Runner...

Love the scenes of a futuristic "china-fied" LA. in this Ridley Scott film.








http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner

[kentauros]

27. While it would be great to see a Syd Mead future for any city,

I'm thinking this is going to be more along the lines of "Delta City" from the first RoboCop movie



("Delta City: The Future Has A Silver Lining&quot