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New details emerge for 21-story mixed-use tower in Koreatown

New details emerge for 21-story mixed-use tower in Koreatown

The project is linked to a local EB-5 regional center and restaurateur Chul Heay Shin

November 08, 2018 11:00AM

Renderings of the 21-story project at 3800 W. 6th Street

UPDATED, Nov. 8, 5:16 p.m.: A new 21-story mixed-use project is slated to rise in Koreatown.

A draft environmental impact report details a tower with 122 condominiums, and a neighboring eight-story structure with a 192-room hotel, and just under 14,500 square feet of retail space, according to Urbanize. Retail space would occupy the first two floors of the latter structure and the hotel would occupy the floors above it.

L.A.-based LARGE Architecture is designing the project, slated for 3800 W. 6th Street.

The entity developing the property shares an address with Gateway Secured, a Koreatown EB-5 regional center. Local restaurateur Chul Heay Shin purchased the site in 2015 for $10 million. The entity entered the scene in April 2016, buying a 50 percent stake in the property, and five months later bought Shin out for $2.6 million, according to property records.

Shin appears to still be involved, showing up in planning documents for a 16-story hotel and condo tower filed there early last year. Shin is also working on a 200-room hotel development on Olympic Boulevard.

Alice Walton, whose firm represents the Gateway project, said Shin does not have any involvement in the 21-story project.

The development would replace low-rise commercial space, including an auto service center. It would span the north end of a block along Sixth Street between S. Serrano Avenue and Hobart Boulevard.[Urbanize] – Dennis Lynch 

Source: https://therealdeal.com/la/2018/11/08/new-details-emerge-for-21-story-mixed-use-tower-in-koreatown/

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Meet an Artist Monday: Painter Samantha Fields

“Meet an Artist Monday” is an ongoing series of mini Q&A’s with some of L.A.’s most active and eclectic contemporary artists, introducing themselves to you in their own words. This week, it’s Samantha Fields, a painter whose practice focuses on the distortions inherent in our perceptions of realism, and whose sophisticated style proceeds with an affinity for the unruly.

L.A. WEEKLY: When did you first know you were an artist?

SAMANTHA FIELDS: In fourth grade, I opened a small gallery in my desk to sell hand-drawn stickers. I made enough money to buy doughnuts on the walk home for myself and my friends. If the teacher hadn't shut me down, maybe I would have become a dealer!

What is your short answer to people who ask what your work is about?

My work deals with disaster; ecological, personal and political. Lately, I have no shortage of material.

What would you be doing if you weren’t an artist?

I would be a national park ranger, it's my alternative-timeline dream job.

Did you go to art school? Why/why not?

I went to the Cleveland Institute of Art for my BFA and Cranbrook for my MFA. I went because I knew I had a lot to learn. But it was the community of peers that made it such an incredible place: In art school you are with your people. I met my husband, artist Andre Yi, at Cranbrook, and I have long-lasting relationships that started there that have enriched my life well beyond the art-making process.

Why do you live and work in L.A., and not elsewhere?

I came here to teach at CSU Northridge in 1998. Back then, the art scene here was so small that there was ample parking, DTLA was a ghost town after 5 p.m., the Grove didn't exist, and it was still very affordable. Artists were doing great projects like Michael Arata and Mark Dutcher's "One Night Stand" shows at the Farmer's Daughter Motel, and there was always something happening, making L.A. a great place to land after graduate school.

When was your first show?

My first group show post-grad school was at PØST when it was still on Seventh Place. Emma curated it, I was making these odd spider collage paintings about phobias. Later, I showed with Rhonda Saboff at DiRT, and I'd get the "artist discount" at L.A. Eyeworks thanks to Gai. Bonus!

EXPAND

Samantha Fields, Dynamic Messaging 2018, on view at Mash Gallery through Nov. 10

Courtesy of the artist

When is/was your current/most recent/next show?

I'm currently in a group show called "Nature Worship" at Mash Gallery, curated by Andi Campognone.

What artist living or dead would you most like to show with?

I'd like to go back in time and hang with the Dada crowd, if they'd have me.

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what?

I listen to NPR all day so that I can know exactly how doomed we are at every moment. The Sunday Puzzle by Will Shortz is my only respite.

Website and social media handles, please!

samanthafields.net

traywick.com/gallery/samanthafields

Instagram: @samanthafieldsstudio

Twitter: @samanthayi

"Nature Worship" is on view through Nov. 10 at Mash Gallery in downtown L.A.

EXPAND

Samantha Fields

Todd Sharp

Source: https://www.laweekly.com/arts/meet-an-artist-monday-painter-samantha-fields-10004046

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LeBron Racks Up 42 Points, Dominates 4th Quarter of Lakers' Win

LeBron James paced around mid-court, stalking his prey. Then, 36 feet away from the hoop, he struck.

The world’s most inhuman player uncorked an extraterrestrial shot, knocking down the Lakers’ go-ahead 3-pointer with his feet parallel to the halfcourt logo.

From Tyson Chandler’s view by the basket, James may as well have been sitting with the ESPN broadcast crew.

“He was down over there by Mark Jackson on that shot, wasn’t he?” Chandler laughed. “When he gets in a zone, he’s just one of those special talents that you love to play with and hate to play against.”

James’ game was beyond special in the Lakers’ 121-113 win over San Antonio, as he went off for 41 points — including 20 in the fourth quarter alone.

After a rough third period, the Lakers (15-9) trailed by eight with eight minutes left when James seized the game. He scored the next nine points from either team, punishing the Spurs (11-14) in transition.

“It’s the fourth quarter and my teammates look at me to make plays,” James said. “… I put that type of pressure on my back, because I love my teammates giving me that responsibility.”

James was nigh-unstoppable in the fourth, shooting 7-of-8 and hitting each of his three 3-point attempts — including that go-ahead shot from the concession stand.

“Have you watched LeBron play before?” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich asked. “He is LeBron James. That’s what makes him difficult to guard.”

LeBron also handed out three of his six assists in the fourth, as his young teammates answered the call to step up.

Kyle Kuzma served as first mate, tallying 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists on the night. Lonzo Ball added 14 points and nine assists, providing vital playmaking with Brandon Ingram leaving the game in the first quarter due to a sprained left ankle.

Kuzma, Ball and Josh Hart — who played only 11 minutes due to game-long foul trouble — combined to hit four clutch 3-pointers in the fourth.

“J-Hart’s out of rhythm all game because of foul trouble — he makes two huge 3’s in the fourth quarter,” James said. “Zo makes a huge 3 on the left wing. Kuz making the huge plays down the stretch as well.

“That’s what’s most important to me. I couldn’t care less about the narrative about me.”

Regardless of storylines, James’ takeover was a fact of the night. Under his stewardship, the Lakers concluded a sweep of their four-game homestand, and got revenge on a Spurs club that beat them twice early in the season.

And while San Antonio received its own heroics from DeMar DeRozan (32 points) and Rudy Gay (31), they quickly saw that LeBron has not changed much from his MVP days in Cleveland and Miami.

“When it’s crunch time, you know who the ball goes to,” DeMar DeRozan said. “A few things change, but late in the game he’s still the same LeBron.”

Notes The Lakers have a road rematch with the Spurs in two days. … San Antonio hit all 20 of its free throw attempts, while the Lakers went 23-of-33. … The Lakers held a Los Angeles Kings Night, with Dustin Brown, Alec Martinez and Tyler Toffoli sitting courtside. … Denzel Washington, John David Washington, Adam Sandler, Benicio Del Toro and Alex Bregman were also among the sold-out crowd.

Source: https://www.nba.com/lakers/news/181205-lebron-racks-up-42-points-dominates-4th-quarter-lakers-win

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The Bezos bump: Amazon deal pushes Realogy stock and market cap up by 19%

The Bezos bump: Amazon deal pushes Realogy stock and market cap up by 19%

But two analysts say the jump is short-lived due to underlying competition

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider (Credit: Getty Images)

Hey Alexa, can you say bull market?

Amazon and Realogy’s new partnership sent the real estate giant’s stock price and market cap soaring on Tuesday — but some analysts warn that it may be short lived.

After the program, dubbed TurnKey, was announced early Tuesday morning Realogy’s stock prices soared 31 percent in premarket trading. The stock opened at a recent high of $6.44 per share and fluctuated throughout the day before closing at $6.18 — up 19 percent from $5.18 the previous day. Still, it’s a far cry from Realogy’s stock price a year ago, which was $22.61.

The conglomerate’s market cap — which this year fell below $1 billion for the first time — also jumped 19 percent, closing at $705 million on Tuesday.

See the chart below to follow Realogy’s journey so far this year.

Stephens analyst John Campbell described the TurnKey deal to Seeking Alpha as “a highly strategic chess move that strengthens RLGY’s market position amidst an industry that was threatening to leave it behind.”

But Barclays’ Matthew Bouley called the stock price action a “short squeeze” that’s “likely limited” due to the competitive brokerage landscape in a Tuesday report. The financial services company notably downgraded Realogy’s stock to a price target of $5 from $9 after Realogy filed an explosive lawsuit against Compass earlier this month.

Compass Point’s Chris Gamaitoni echoed Bouley calling TurnKey “undoubtedly positive for volume opportunities but economics seem unclear.”

Meanwhile, Jason Deleeuw, an analyst for Piper Jaffray, who maintains the highest price target for the stock at $11 of the four analysts, said TurnKey “could meaningfully boost lead generations” and “ease pressure” on agent recruitment and commissions splits.

Year-to-date, Realogy’s stock has dropped 65 percent compared to the S&P 500’s increase of 19 percent. Realogy’s CEO Ryan Schneider said in an interview late Tuesday he had not yet looked at the company’s stock price.

With additional reporting by Sylvia Varnham O’Regan

Source: https://therealdeal.com/national/2019/07/23/the-bezos-bump-amazon-deal-pushes-realogy-stock-and-market-cap-up-by-19/

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“When We Were Young”: On Jeanne McCulloch’s “All Happy Families”

DECEMBER 6, 2018

“A WOMAN WALKS into the sea.”

So begins Jeanne McCulloch’s shimmering gem of a memoir, All Happy Families, which elegantly recounts the unraveling of three unions: her first marriage, that of her parents, and that of her first in-laws. The memoir also tells the story of a summer house in East Hampton, New York, where all three marriages intersected, and which has itself been dismantled.

McCulloch has had a long and storied career in publishing, first as a managing editor at the Paris Review, then at Tin House, where she was a senior editor and the founding editorial director of Tin House Books, and currently as co-founding director of the Todos Santos Writers Workshop. I have known McCulloch personally since we were both in college, and she was my editor for an interview I conducted for the Paris Review. Although she has written many articles and essays over the years, this is her first book. It was worth waiting for. I don’t imagine McCulloch could have told this story as completely, or as well, until now.

I met McCulloch’s mother on a few occasions — she was charming, well-read, high-spirited at times, yet worried about her children — and even visited the McCulloch summer house back in the 1980s, when a large part of the story is set. To me, it seemed like a dream of summer. I can certainly report that McCulloch’s descriptions ring true to time and place, but I did not know what was playing out behind the scenes, then and there.

All Happy Families is so much more than snapshots in a family album. It is an unflinching look at the darkness that tears at lives that appear, at first, so filled with promise and joy. They are like kites being flown at the beach: pulling ever upward before suddenly crashing into the surf. McCulloch’s great-grandfather was a business partner of Thomas Edison, and, as a result, her father was wealthy enough that he did not need to work for a living; after graduating from Yale he traveled the world, served in the OSS during World War II (the precursor to the CIA), and eventually became president of The English Speaking Union, whose monthly newsletter he published and edited. He was what McCulloch calls a hyperpolyglot — a person who speaks an astonishing number of languages. He spoke nine fluently and was capable of holding a conversation in another 10. But, as McCulloch details, alcoholism ruled his life. He spent the mornings at home, then dressed and went out for the afternoon, before returning in time for his childrens’ return from school. He would have his scotch in hand when they entered the house, and the glass would remain filled until nighttime. McCulloch’s parents led an active and colorful social life — one in which her mother was forced to gloss over her husband’s alcohol-induced embarrassments. McCulloch and her two sisters also took as a given their father’s occasional, and then more frequent, lapses.

Without giving away the book’s most powerful moments, McCulloch’s father’s drinking was responsible for the dissolution of her parent’s marriage, and would be responsible, in great part, for his dramatic early death. McCulloch’s mother was, in many ways, the bulwark of the family, convinced of her rectitude, the way of the world, and the appearances she wanted her family to maintain. McCulloch does not stint in her portrait of her mother’s strong will. Here is how she describes her:

My mother was tall, taller than I; her face had not softened with age but grown more angular, more defined. Her skin was delicate, aged over time like a sheet washed and dried too many times in the sun. Though now slightly stooped, she still strode with the assurance of someone who held herself strong against the world, used to getting her own way.

Gradually, McCulloch’s story broadens to include Dean, her first husband, and Raymond and Helen, her in-laws from Maine, who are as bound by their own customs and ways (including the proper recipe for a successful New England clambake) as the McCullochs are in theirs.

With this cast of characters in mind, one might ask, why should we sympathize with the problems of the wealthy? However, All Happy Families transcends its setting amid the bearers of white privilege to become a universal work about loss — the loss we all feel as we recall summers past, marriages broken, parents in decline. It captures the double vision of retrospect, the way we, as adults, see things clearly both as we believed them to be and as they really were.

What is especially striking about McCulloch’s narrative is its lack of anger; although she in no way minimizes her parents’ individual faults, she is remarkably generous in her portrayals of them. We get the charm of her eccentric father, who takes the family on trips abroad where he can deploy his languages and teach his children words and phrases in each. McCulloch’s father also wrote stories for her, about an Octopus named Franklin, who spends much of his time in a bar, drinking rounds of drinks with one clasped in each of his eight tentacles. One of the Franklin stories is included in the memoir in its entirety. The stories are strange, not really for children — or only in the way that Edward Gorey or Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) is for children — but they express her father’s love of language and a quirkiness that seems of another time. McCulloch also devotes several scenes to the enduring bond she enjoyed with her mother, which reflect their shared experience, despite their differences, as sisters, brides, wives, and mothers:

Together we stood side by at the window and watched the waves break in even curls of foam. The glinting sunlight made crazy diamonds across the water.

“Look,” she [McCulloch’s mother] said then. “At the end of the day, that’s what we do. We march on. We don’t dwell. If I’ve done my job right, that’s what I’ve taught you. There’s always tomorrow. Right?”

McCulloch’s decision to include her in-laws and their marriage as part of the narrative adds an extra dimension to the book. On the one hand it presents a counterpoint, an outside standard against which to assess her family. On the other hand, when Dean’s parents’ marriage also fails, it goes to bolster the book’s central Tolstoyan contention: all seemingly happy families have their own stories of personal loss.

In a recent book appearance at Beyond Baroque in Venice, California, McCulloch described memoir as using the techniques of fiction to tell a personal narrative. One fiction-like element in the book is the summer house itself, which serves as the connective tissue for all the narratives, across time, and becomes a character that suffers its own demise.

What elevates All Happy Families to the realm of literature is the quality of McCulloch’s style. Each sentence is beautifully crafted, at times calling to mind the writing of the late James Salter, whom McCulloch credits as inspiration in the acknowledgments. The prose has the same quality as the light in East Hampton — clear, bright, with moments of sharp focus and stretches shrouded in the gauzy, late afternoon haze of reflection:

When we were young, all summer mothers used to stand at the rail station on Friday evening waiting for the train from Penn Station, the weekly Cannonball, as it was called, to deliver the fathers from the city. I remember the mothers in their brightly colored flowery shifts, hair frosted silvery in the manner of the model Jean Shrimpton and freshly done in neat arrangements behind matching headbands […] Though my sisters and I had no father working in the city during the week, sometimes we would go along with friends — it was always a special occasion …

In All Happy Families, a woman walks into the sea, and a writer comes into her own.

¤

Tom Teicholz is a writer living in Los Angeles.

Source: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/when-we-were-young-on-jeanne-mccullochs-all-happy-families/

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Dreaming of buying a house in Los Angeles in 2019? Here’s what to expect

For most of the last decade, Los Angeles has been a seller’s market. Since 2012, when housing prices began to recover from the Great Recession, competition among buyers has been fierce and real estate values in the area have ascended rapidly.

But market analysts and real estate agents say those trends are changing. Home prices have leveled off in recent months, and the number of overall sales is far below the historical average.

“Things have slowed down,” says Keller Williams realtor Heather Presha, who specializes in the South LA market. “The buyer pool is smaller. Normally I’m pretty even-steven with buyers and sellers, but starting in October, I didn’t have any buyers and I had a bunch of sellers.”

Compass realtor Emily Bregman, who specializes in Westside properties, agrees that the market is shifting.

“When you talk about families buying homes,” she says, “they may not be willing to stretch the same way that they were a year ago.”

What’s changed?

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Aaron Terrazas, director of economic research for Zillow, tells Curbed that a wave of millennial buyers that energized the national real estate market in recent years appears to have crested.

“There are still millennial buyers out there, but that big pressure that built up as they moved from renting to buying has passed,” he says.

Part of that is because home values have risen so much that many would-be buyers are simply priced out of the market. That’s particularly true in Los Angeles, where wages lag far behind housing costs.

Housing affordability in LA hit a 10-year low in 2018, with the cost of a monthly mortgage amounting to nearly 75 percent of the median income in the area, according to a recent report from real estate tracker Attom Data Solutions.

Affordability woes could worsen nationwide in 2019, depending on what mortgage interest rates buyers get when taking out a home loan. Even a small change in rates can affect the type of home buyers are able to afford.

Interest rates climbed throughout 2018, then dropped dramatically in the final weeks of the year. At present, rates for a standard 30-year mortgage stand at roughly 4.5 percent.

That means that, given a 20-percent down payment, a monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced ($600,000) home in LA County would be $2,432 (not including property taxes or insurance).

But if interest rates rise to 5 percent in 2019, as many analysts expect, that monthly payment would rise to $2,577. At 5.5 percent, the payment would be $2,725.

Those extra dollars add up. A recent report from Zillow finds that just 17.2 percent of homes in the Los Angeles metro area are affordable to buyers who earn the median income. Already a discouraging statistic, that share drops to 12.8 percent if rates rise to 5.5 percent.

Fortunately for buyers, Terrazas predicts rates won’t climb quite that high in the coming year; he says an increase to between 5 and 5.25 percent is more likely.

Home values are also expected to inch up at a more modest pace in the year ahead, though Terrazas notes that more competition for homes with smaller price tags could make values rise faster at the lower end of the market.

“As affordability gets stretched, more affordable homes will become more desirable,” says Terrazas.

That means buyers with bigger budgets will have a definite advantage when shopping for a home. Those with less to spend may have to get creative.

“I had a couple that had been living with their parents for a year and a half, then bought a duplex,” says Presha. It worked out in the end, she says, “but they had to stand living with their parents beforehand. It was not easy.”

Bregman says at the higher end of the market, sellers will have to “readjust their numbers” when considering the value of homes that aren’t in “A-plus” condition. Fewer buyers means there’s more room for shoppers to be picky.

“It’s still a sellers market if you’ve got a good property,” she says. “It’s just not at the same frenzied pace that we saw a few years ago.”

Further complicating the outlook for the year ahead is the specter of a future recession, which some economists predict will hit in 2019.

Terrazas says it’s unclear how a recession would affect Southern California’s housing market, but argues that homeowners probably won’t see the value of their properties plummet, like in 2008.

“So much depends on what prompts the recession,” he says. Because risky home mortgages fueled the Great Recession, the real estate market took an outsize hit when the economy tanked. But banks today are far more conservative when making home loans, making a real estate market collapse unlikely.

Terrazas says both buyers and sellers holding out for a sudden shift in the market may be disappointed.

“When you try to time the market, that almost never works out,” he says. “Your home is a place to live. It’s not this thing to play risk with.”

Bregman agrees that buyers and sellers will need to deliberately consider real estate moves in the new year.

“Everyone will need to be a little more careful,” she says.

Source: https://la.curbed.com/2019/1/4/18167200/buying-a-house-los-angeles-2019-real-estate-predictions

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Red Sox, Cora agree to contract extension

The Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora have agreed to terms on a contract that includes an extension that will run through 2021 with a club option for 2022, the team announced Wednesday.

In Cora's first season at the helm, the Red Sox finished the regular season with a franchise-best 108-54 (.667) record and won the World Series, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

"We have consistently been impressed by Alex at every turn," Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said in a team statement. "His knowledge of the game, ability to connect with our players, and his incredible instincts and decisiveness led us to an historic championship season. We know we are in good hands, and could not be more pleased to know he will be with us for the foreseeable future."

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski agreed.

"Alex did a tremendous job for our club all year long and we wanted to reward him for his efforts after an amazing season," Dombrowski said. "We are extremely happy that he will be with us and leading our club on the field."

Financial terms of the contract were not announced for Cora, who finished second in American League Manger of the Year balloting behind Oakland's Bob Melvin.

Under the 43-year-old Cora, Boston surpassed the franchise's previous single-season wins mark of 105, which was set in 1912. The Red Sox finished eight games ahead of the Yankees in the American League East on the way to their ninth World Series title, including their fourth since 2004.

"For me, 2018 was not only historic, but it was special as well, both on and off the field," Cora said. "We have a great appreciation for our accomplishments this past year, but now our focus moves forward to the season ahead and defending our World Series title."

The Red Sox hired Cora on Oct. 22, 2017, replacing John Farrell.

Cora was an infielder on the Red Sox's 2007 championship team and joined Jake Stahl (1912) as the only two people in franchise history to win a World Series as both a player and manager.

According to USA Today, Cora was among the lowest-paid managers in 2018, earning $800,000.

--Field Level Media

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/red-sox-cora-agree-contract-extension-004403067--mlb.html?src=rss

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Driver Leads Pursuit in Corona Area

Police are pursuing a driver in the Corona area Tuesday night.

The driver initially failed to stop for a traffic stop in Covina, police said.

It led officers on a high-speed pursuit on the 15 and 91 freeways before exiting onto surface streets and winding through a residential neighborhood.

The driver surrendered around 8:30 p.m. after officers performed a PIT maneuver on the car and it spun out of the driver's control.

Source: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Driver-Leads-Pursuit-in-Corona-Area-499099301.html

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Otoño

PHOTOS: Jakob Layman

Fireworks are a highlight of the human experience. They’re basically a soap opera in the sky, but louder and don’t involve someone’s husband having an affair with the family doctor. And the best part is the grand finale - when they all go off at once. At this time, teenagers swap spit, type-A people head to the parking lot to beat traffic on the way out, and every cat within three miles prepares for the reckoning.

If the grand finale fails to meet expectations, everything before it, no matter how enjoyable, also becomes underwhelming. This is the case at Otoño, a modern Spanish restaurant in Highland Park where the grand finale (in this case, paella) misses the mark - although it’s otherwise a pretty solid restaurant.

To be clear, we aren’t saying paella is the grand finale of all Spanish food. We’re saying it’s the grand finale at Otoño. From the second you walk into the bright space, you’ll feel obligated to order this classic rice dish. Not only is there a whole section dedicated to it on the menu, but every table around you seems to be picking at one of these skillets too. The menu explains that it takes about a half-hour to cook, which further builds anticipation, so you’ll hurriedly order one in addition to a bunch of other tapas and conservas. And then you will wait.

Jakob Layman

During this time, you’ll hopefully try a rioja sour that’ll make you realize you don’t actually hate whiskey. You’ll notice the crowded dining room, the fast-paced energy, and a bar area that stays lively all night. You will also eat some tasty food, like the gambas a la plancha (grilled prawns) and an anchovy goat butter with bread. Nothing is going to stop you dead in your tracks, but everything is good, and the service is quick. It’s enjoyable here, and so far, you’re pleased you decided to drive up the 110 at 6:30pm after all.

Then the paella arrives in its giant pan, and all momentum comes to a halt. Paella should be intense and spicy, but ultimately comforting. Otoño’s simply falls flat. Not to mention that the giant black pan only holds one layer of thinly-spread crispy rice, which calls the $32 price point into question. The paella won’t ruin your experience here, but it does take the wind out of your sails.

We’ll definitely come back here on date night for some tapas or swing by for a few cocktails as we bar hop down Figueroa. Even though we’re skipping the grand finale, we’ll never turn down a little backyard fireworks show.

Croqueta De Jamon

These deep-fried ham fritters are exactly how we want to start off every meal at Otoño.

Rioja Sour

Otoño has good cocktails across the board, but this one is a must-order. Bourbon, lemon, oregano, bay leaf, and a tempranillo floater all combine to make this the most fragrant bourbon drink we’ve ever had.

Boquerones y Mantequilla

Easily the most unique dish from the tapas section, this is thinly sliced tuna with a housemade anchovy butter on the side. We wish the bread that it came with had a bit more crunch, but this is still a dish we’d order again. And again.

Churro Potatoes

Based on title alone, this plate seems like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, it’s underwhelming. These potatoes basically taste like french fries, which isn’t a terrible thing in our books, but there are more exciting options on the menu.

Jakob Layman

Gambas A La Plancha

The prawns at Otoño are fantastic, and they’re at their best in this dish. Cooked with tomatoes, garlic, and brandy, these guys are rich and flat-out addicting. We only wish it came with more than three pieces.

Jakob Layman

Paella

Otoño has three different paellas, and all three of them are let-downs. Paella should be so slammed with flavor that it smacks you across the face, but these seem almost watered down. Also, despite arriving in a giant pan, there’s not that much paella to go around. You’ll have a hard time splitting one order with two people.

Jakob Layman

Source: https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/reviews/otono

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The EPA Says Farmers Can Keep Using Weedkiller Blamed For Vast Crop Damage

For months, farmers from Mississippi to Minnesota have been waiting for the Environmental Protection Agency to make up its mind about a controversial weedkiller called dicamba. Some farmers love the chemical; other farmers, along with some environmentalists, consider it a menace, because it's prone to drifting in the wind, damaging nearby crops and wild vegetation.

This week, on Halloween evening, the EPA finally announced its decision. Calling dicamba "a valuable pest control tool," it gave farmers a green light to keep spraying the chemical on new varieties of soybeans and cotton that have been genetically modified to tolerate dicamba.

A coalition of environmental groups that had filed a lawsuit against the EPA's original approval of dicamba blasted the decision to keep it on the market. Paul Achitoff from Earthjustice said in a statement that "EPA's disregard of both the law and the welfare of ... species at risk of extinction is unconscionable."

The decision is likely to boost sales of dicamba-tolerant seeds next year. Some farmers, in fact, say that they'll be forced to plant them. Otherwise, their crops could be damaged by dicamba fumes drifting in from neighboring fields.

Dicamba has been a huge success for Monsanto, the company that sells both dicamba-tolerant seeds and a version of the herbicide that's specially formulated for use on them. This past year, dicamba-tolerant seeds were planted on some 40 million acres, representing close to half of all soybeans and cotton in the United States. Bayer, the German company that now owns Monsanto, expects that total to grow to 60 million acres in 2019.

Farmers turned to dicamba because glyphosate, their previous favorite weedkiller, isn't working so well anymore. Important weeds like Palmer amaranth have become immune to it.

Yet controversy erupted as soon as farmers started using dicamba in this new way. Despite new formulations of dicamba that were supposed to eliminate this problem, the chemical didn't stay where it belonged. In 2017, there were thousands of reports of damage to non-dicamba tolerant soybeans, vegetables, and orchards. In 2018, the number of complaints decreased, but according to estimates compiled by university researchers, about a million acres of crops still showed ill effects from dicamba drift.

The EPA did impose some additional restrictions on dicamba spraying. Starting next year, only certified pesticide applicators will be allowed to spray the chemical, and spraying will have to end by 45 days after planting in the case of soybeans, and 60 days after planting cotton.

Independent weed scientists, however, were unimpressed by those changes. Bob Hartzler, a specialist on weeds at Iowa State University, wrote on his web site, "I don't think that these new restrictions will have a significant impact on the problems we've seen the past two years."

Some states, including Arkansas, Missouri and Minnesota, had already imposed tighter restrictions on dicamba spraying — tighter, in fact, than the EPA's new rules. Arkansas took the toughest line, banning the use of dicamba after April 15. A group of farmers in Arkansas has filed a formal petition with the state's regulators, asking the state to relax that restriction. "There are several balls still in the air," says Larry Steckel, the University of Tennessee's top weed scientist. "It'll be interesting to see what some of the states do."

Meanwhile, a federal court still has not ruled on the lawsuit that seeks to overturn the EPA's original approval of dicamba.

Two of the country's best-known independent sellers of soybean seed, Beck's Hybrids and Stine Seed, urged the EPA last summer to set much tighter restrictions on dicamba use. They argued that dicamba drift was preventing farmers from being able to choose freely between different types of seeds. Many farmers, they said, were afraid to buy anything but dicamba-tolerant seed because of worries that other crops could be damaged by dicamba fumes.

David Thompson, the national marketing and sales director for Stine Seed, told The Salt that about half of the farmers who buy Stine's dicamba-tolerant seed are doing it partly because of worries that their crops could be exposed to dicamba drift.

Source: https://www.scpr.org/news/2018/11/01/86907/the-epa-says-farmers-can-keep-using-weedkiller-bla/

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Parsons Acquires Imaging, Mapping and Data Analytics Firm OGSystems

Pasadena-based engineering and security consulting firm Parsons Corp. announced Jan. 8 that it has acquired OGSystems, an imaging, mapping and data analytics company based in Chantilly, Va., for an undisclosed sum.

OGSystems, founded in 2004, specializes in a branch of geography-based imaging technology known as geospatial intelligence, as well as big data analytics and security threat mitigation. Its main customers are federal agencies, including the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the Special Operations Command.

This deal the latest of three Parsons acquisitions over the past 14 months targeting the space, security and geography-based imaging sectors. Last May, Parsons purchased space and security contractor Polaris Alpha.

“Parsons’ strategy is focused on disruptive, differentiated technologies demanded in high-growth, mission-oriented programs in the defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure sectors,” Chuck Harrington, Parsons’ chief executive, said in the acquisition announcement. “The actionable intelligence that geospatial imagery and data analytics brings to Parsons’ portfolio through OGSystems is a game changer. Whether informing our national security customers’ mission planning or designing tomorrow’s resilient smart city, Parsons now brings deeper intelligence expertise to the challenge.”

Education, energy, engineering/construction and infrastructure reporter Howard Fine can be reached at hfine@labusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.

Source: http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2019/jan/08/parsons-acquires-imaging-mapping-and-data-analytic/

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Danish brand Just to take control of its currently outsourced web store

Weixin Zha

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Thursday, November 08 2018

Danish womenswear label Just is taking up the reins of its online store, as the brand looks to bring its currently outsourced webstore back in-house.

The company’s e-commerce department has already begun the process of insourcing their webstore this month, and the process should be completed next summer, co-chief executive officer and creative director Penille Andersen said at the presentation of the Spring/Summer 2019 collection in Amsterdam on Thursday.

The label - previously known as Just Female - has been rebranding itself recently, with its name change and the insourcing of its web store looking to further help the process. In campaigns and on its label the brand started to refer to itself as Just, while on its website domain and on social media it will keep the name Just Female as a trademark. Just has about 550 points of sales worldwide, of which 80 are located in the United States and 50 in the United Kingdom.

While the Spring/Summer 2019 Just collection came in a rich variety of bright hues - from pale yellow t-shirts to light purple wool jumpers and a flame red dress - its Autumn/Winter 2019 collection offers a taster of the label’s new ‘toned-down’ style.

“This season will be the last one with so many bright colours and prints,” Andersen said. “Things will become more grounded in the future. There will be a trend to slower living.”

The idea of taking a step back from the fast-paced world of modern technology and spending more time with nature is a theme that more labels will explore further through collaborations with outdoor brands, Andersen said.

Note: The last sentence was changed to state that more collaborations with outdoor brands will be observed. A sentence was added to clarify that Just Female will continue to be used as a trademark on the webshop and on social media.

Photos: Just

Source: https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/danish-brand-just-to-take-control-of-its-currently-outsourced-web-store/2018110824450

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CBRE is launching its own co-working company

CBRE is launching its own co-working company

The new service, Hana, will compete directly with WeWork, Knotel and others

A CBRE office space (Credit: CBRE)

CBRE is entering the co-working business.

The brokerage announced on Wednesday that it is launching Hana, a subsidiary that will enter property management agreements with landlords to provide flexible office space to large corporate clients.

In getting into the co-working business, the world’s largest real estate services company is betting that landlords want co-working components in their buildings but not the hassle of managing them or the prospect of competing with their own tenants. CBRE’s model has the company co-investing the cost of building out co-working spaces, managing them and taking a portion of the revenue, but not collecting rent.

New York City will be a key focus for the brand’s launch, where 4 percent of the office market is taken by co-working companies, according to Crain’s. Office space has been leased to co-working companies in recent years at a startling rate — WeWork announced last month that it had become the largest leaseholder in the city with 5.3 million square feet.

“We have already generated significant interest from building owners who are looking for a trusted partner to help deliver flexible space offerings, and have a robust deal pipeline,” CBRE president and chief executive Bob Sulentic said in a statement.

Hana will launch at the start of 2019 under CBRE’s Real Estate Investments business, and will be led by Andrew Kupiec, who joined CBRE from Zipcar in 2017, and Scott Marshall, who previously led CBRE’s investor leasing service line in the Americas.

In addition to its primary service for large corporates, known as Hana Team, the new company will also cater to the traditional co-working models. Hana Meet will offer conference room and event space on an hourly basis — a service provided by New York startup Convene — and Hana Share will cater to the traditional co-working model for smaller-sized clients, by providing shared amenities and technology in a communal space.

CBRE’s move into co-working comes as the exploding industry shifts away from freelancers and startups and instead targets large corporate clients with flexible office fit-outs. Many landlords are leery of leasing space to co-working companies, so as to avoid competing with their own tenants.

In addition to competing against WeWork and Knotel for office space and new clients, CBRE’s new company will enter the space alongside other real estate companies. RXR Realty led a $152 million funding round for Convene in July, and partnered with the co-working brand to manage an exclusive penthouse club at 75 Rockefeller Plaza. And next month, one of the world’s largest private landlords, Tishman Speyer, will launch Studio, a flexible office space at 600 Fifth Avenue. Tishman said it plans to expand the brand to offices in Chicago, Beverly Hills, Boston, Washington D.C. and Germany.

Source: https://therealdeal.com/2018/10/31/cbre-is-launching-its-own-co-working-company/

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To make transit work, does LA need to make driving harder?

Los Angeles voters have made it clear they’re willing to tax themselves for more transit options.

But, so far, most residents aren’t displaying much interest in riding: Metro ridership declined for the fifth straight year in 2018, and census data show nearly 75 percent of Los Angeles County commuters still drive to and from work by themselves. Less than 7 percent use public transit.

A new UCLA study suggests there may be a good reason for that: Transit systems thrive in places where it’s difficult or expensive to drive. In 2016, when LA County voters approved Measure M, a sales tax measure funding transportation infrastructure, backers of the initiative billed it as a solution to LA’s traffic congestion.

That means that many voters may be less interested in an alternative to driving and more interested in faster trips on the freeway—which could present problems for LA officials struggling to address rising tailpipe emissions.

“It doesn’t get us anywhere to pretend that we can change LA and make it more sustainable and accessible without having some sort of reckoning with the extent to which we’ve organized the landscape around the car,” says UCLA urban planning professor Michael Manville, who authored the report released last month.

“If you feel like the most reliable way to politically secure transit funding is to say you and your car are going to go faster,” he argues, “that might explicitly contradict arguments for making a more transit-friendly built environment.”

What does a more transit-friendly built environment look like? Manville points out that cities like New York or Washington, D.C., where transit ridership is high, have dense urban centers where parking is both scarce and expensive.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is actually more dense than the greater New York region, but that density is spread out through crowded suburbs and relatively large municipalities that border the city proper. New York’s central city, meanwhile, is nearly four times denser than that of Los Angeles.

That leaves LA in a difficult situation.

Right now, its landscape is dense enough to ensure regular traffic jams; but since that density isn’t concentrated in any one place, it’s harder to build a transit network that would be more convenient to most people than driving.

Manville says building more housing near transit stops—and less parking—would give more people incentive to ride. But these options might not be popular with those who supported Measure M in hopes it would reduce their drive time.

Voter surveys Manville conducted shortly after the 2016 election indicate that only about half of those who voted for the ballot initiative also support the construction of more housing in the Los Angeles area. Just 40 percent were in favor of reduced parking requirements near bus stops and train stations.

“Seeing that 70 percent of people support a sales tax for more transit might create a false impression that there’s a lot of consensus about building a transit-oriented city,” Manville says. “Because now, when we go to build this rail line, we want a corridor of density; we don’t want a lot of parking; we want a walkable environment. That’s a really big change compared to, ‘I’m going to buy a TV and my sales tax is a little higher.’”

Right now, Manville points out, LA’s transit system primarily serves low-income residents who may struggle to afford the costs of car travel. Reversing recent ridership declines, he suggests, could be as simple as reducing fares.

But with sales tax money rolling in, Metro is taking on the more difficult task of creating a transit system capable of competing with the automobile. To do that, Manville contends that both voters and elected officials will have to take a more realistic look at what makes transit systems successful in places where a larger share of residents are regular riders.

Source: https://la.curbed.com/2019/2/5/18211168/transit-los-angeles-parking-density-report

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Home prices in the world’s most expensive market are tumbling

Home prices in the world’s most expensive market are tumbling

Prices in Hong Kong are down 7% from an August high

December 28, 2018 10:15AM

A view of the Hong Kong skyline (Credit: iStock)

Hong Kong’s property market reached unfathomable heights in 2017, but prices started falling back to earth in 2018.

Goldman Sachs projects a 15 to 20 percent decline in property prices over two years as interest rates, Bloomberg reported. Home prices have dropped 7 percent from a high in August.

One site in Kai Tak, for example, had a winning bid from China Overseas Land & Investment of HK$13,523, or $1,726, per square foot of floor area. That price is 13 percent less than what Goldin Group paid last month for a nearby property. The Kai Tak deal is the second-biggest residential land sale by area this year.

Sign up for China Watch for weekly emails on Chinese real estate investments.

“The number of bids drawn this time was small, and that has to do with the current market situation,” James Cheung, a senior associate director at Centaline Surveyors Ltd., told Bloomberg.

This year, the value of land parcels sold by the government plunged by 37 percent from last year.

That doesn’t mean some properties aren’t still hitting the market at sky-high prices. A home in the exclusive Peak neighborhood was listed for $446 million in October. If it sells anywhere near that price, it be one of the most expensive sales in the world, according to a previous report. [Bloomberg] — Meenal Vamburkar

Source: https://therealdeal.com/2018/12/28/home-prices-in-the-worlds-most-expensive-market-are-tumbling/

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Pot Gives Back, Led by Bloom Farms ' World Food Day Campaign to Help Local Food Bank

As the season of giving kicks off, the cannabis industry continues its year-round effort to give back, recently highlighted by some of California's biggest brands and a ton of local dispensaries joining forces to raise awareness of hunger on United Nations' World Food Day.

Led by Bloom Farms, which since 2014 has fed more than 1.4 million meals to Californians in need, the companies kicked off a monthlong effort starting Oct. 16, which is World Food Day. During the campaign, Bloom Farms doubled its standard donation of one meal for every one product sold. Pax, whose Pax Era is one of the most popular pieces of vaporizer hardware used for consuming Bloom Farms oil, kicked in $10,000 toward the campaign.

"There are too many people wondering where their next meal will come from in every county in America, even those with significant wealth or great agricultural traditions, like many counties in California," said Michael Ray, Bloom Farms' founder-CEO. "We built Bloom Farms around two missions — to provide great legal cannabis products and to end food insecurity in the communities that we live and work in. We've made great strides so far and, with the help of so many community-minded members of the cannabis industry this month, we can move even further toward our goal."

We spoke with Ray on the eve of the campaign's end.

"It went really well," Ray told L.A. Weekly. "We feel like World Hunger Day was a great success in bringing awareness to the United Nations–recognized day. We were able to take a unique approach here, something we've never really done before, and bring in our partners, both our dispensary partners and our product partners, to collaborate on this."

Joining Bloom Farms, Pax and Eaze were 30 retailers across the state. Nine L.A. dispensaries took part, making up nearly a third of total retail participants. Among them were Buds & Roses, Herbarium and Urban Treez.

"We got everybody behind this initiative. People sharing it on social media, people sending messages to their email list. And we got [the media] who kind of picked up on it and wrote about it as well. We think it was a big success from a visibility standpoint. There is an end goal of no hunger by 2030 — it's all about spreading the message and getting out in front of it. It was a lot of fun," Ray said.

Bloom Farms donates one meal for every product sold.

Courtesy Bloom Farms

Ray took pride in how fully his team and partners got on board with this mission, which he has worked for years to embed in Bloom's corporate culture. He brought the entire company together to help promote this mission. "This wasn't just some kind of marketing team initiative," he said. It went from the production department to the legal team and even the accountants.

"Everybody did whatever it was that they could do," Ray said. "For a lot of them it was small things like volunteer day at one of the participating food banks, or just changing their email signature to bring awareness to World Food Day."

And it wasn't just his staff. "We had Eaze volunteering at the food bank with us, we had brick-and-mortar dispensaries partners volunteering with us at the food bank. It was a big success in my eyes."

As we enter the official season of giving, Ray noted the cannabis industry's penchant to give back all the time, as opposed to when it's at the front of people's mind during the holidays.

"For us, our season of giving and participating in our social good program is year-round, not necessarily something special for the holidays. We just continue to promote our one-to-one program. It's a never-ending initiative," he said.

Ray noted, thankfully, that around the holiday season food banks get a lot of support from the community.

"That's the time the general population really wants to give back as well. So they get very busy with volunteers workers and help, which is fantastic. In November and December, they're pushing out a lot of meals to people who need it."

But for Ray, the problem really doesn't change a whole lot no matter what month is on the calendar.

Here in L.A., Bloom Farms has spent the last three years working with World Harvest Food Bank and founder Glenn Curado. Curado started the food bank in 2007 after seeing the process from a volunteer perspective at other food banks and believing it could be improved.

"He's a total sweetheart and one of the nicest people I've ever met," Ray said of Curado. "He's dedicated his whole life to this. We're proud to be working with them."

The praise was mutual from Curado's end as he explained how it all came together.

"They gave me a call and said, 'Hey, we're a one-for-one company' and asked if we wanted to be a part of it. I said yeah. Then he said, 'Do you have any problems with marijuana and cannabis?' I said no," Curado said.

Curado told Ray he was raised in Hawaii, "so it was all over the place," he said with a chuckle. While Curado doesn't personally indulge in cannabis, he thought the whole thing sounded pretty awesome. "And they have been great ever since," he said.

A Bloom Farms worker preparing food donation

Courtesy Bloom Farms

This kind of deal hasn't always worked out well for the food bank, so Curado takes joy in how well the ball has kept rolling over the years.

"They support us every step of the way," he said. "Some people say this is what we're going to do for you, for every something that we sell we're going to donate back this much. And you never see the money. They use you for publicity somehow and you'll be lucky if you get 35 cents."

While Curado was on board early, his team at the food bank initially had some reservations about working with cannabis companies. The concern came around the branding on trucks, advertising, the website and other places the food bank might want to show their big sponsor some love. After a quick glance around the table when they met on the subject, everyone was ready to move forward.

As for ramping up around the World Hunger Day Campaign, with new companies and volunteers coming through, Curado said it continues to be nothing but a positive experience with the cannabis community.

Curado said he is glad to see the influx of support during the holidays. But the standard canned-goods drive doesn't so much fit in with the healthy-eating ethos attached to the food bank's mission. This makes the kind of financial support the cannabis community brings extra helpful.

"We're not your grandma's food bank," Curado explained. "What we do here is everything is certified organic. We do as little as possible in regards to canned and nonperishable goods. So we're all about healthy, sustainable eats. What Bloom does for us by giving us the cash is we're able to purchase stuff for the families that we might not otherwise be able to afford. Simple stuff like milk and cheese that we don't always get on a regular basis.

Seven other food banks also will be supported by the program this month.

Source: https://www.laweekly.com/news/pot-gives-back-led-by-bloom-farms-world-food-day-campaign-to-help-local-food-bank-10066350

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Male model dies after collapsing on catwalk at Sao Paulo Fashion Week

AFP

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Monday, April 29 2019

A Brazilian model died Saturday after collapsing on the catwalk during a show on the last day of Sao Paulo Fashion Week, organizers said.

"SPFW has just received the news of the death of model Tales Soares, who suddenly took ill during the Ocksa show," the organization said in a statement, without giving a cause of death.

The 26-year-old model fell while turning to leave the runway. Medics immediately attended to him in front of horrified onlookers, according to local media reports.

SPFW said he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. "We offer our sincere condolences to Tales' family," it said, while label Ocksa said on Instagram its entire team was "shocked" by the death of Soares, who was signed to Base MGT modelling agency. (AFP)

Source: https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/male-model-dies-after-collapsing-on-catwalk-at-sao-paulo-fashion-week/2019042927495