Senders Communication Group - Demo Site

By Beige Luciano-Adams
Contributing Writer

In a topping-out ceremony for the centerpiece of what developers hail as ‘Times Square West,’ city officials and media personalities honored hundreds of union craftsmen on Dec. 10 for their two years of work on the new luxury condo/hotel high-rise at LA LIVE.

CBS 2 News anchor Laura Diaz paid tribute to workers with a special roll call of all the trades involved in construction, calling out a list of more than 20 locals and eliciting shouts of enthusiasm from the audience.

In the safety awards ceremony that followed, actor Jimmy Smits, who is part-owner of the adjacent Conga Room at LA LIVE, addressed union workers, saying, “You guys will be able to look at this structure when you pass by and know that you helped revitalize this city in a positive way. That’s huge; that’s important.” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined City Councilwoman Jan Perry in saluting workers, and calling the impending project “a magnet for jobs.”

Signed by the LA Live workers – as well as by the Japanese steel workers who made them and local school children – the last three girders were hoisted and put in place at the top of the building. Following tradition, they were topped with fir trees and an American flag, marking a safe completion of the job.

Built by an estimated 1,200 union workers, the 54-story building spans a total of 2 million square feet on 2.5 acres of land, anchoring surrounding venues in the $2.5 billion LA LIVE district. On track for LEED certification and completion in early 2010, the structure will house a J.W. Marriot Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and Ritz-Carlton Luxury Residences.
“We defied the odds on this one,” said AEG CEO Tim Lieweke. “For 20 years, everyone bet against this project saying we wouldn’t be able to pull it off. The conventional wisdom was that a hotel and condos of this magnitude would never be able to survive downtown. But we’re proving them wrong. We’ll prevail on this one.”

“We’ve created a landmark here. We’re ready to start booking rooms and to build more hotels downtown,” Lieweke added.
Among the many trades, Ironworkers were well represented on the job with around 200 craftsmen.
“With the use of union Ironworkers and apprentices,” says Robbie Hunter, President of Ironworkers Local 433, “Herrick Steel Company delivered this job over eight weeks early.” Right beside it, notes Hunter, is the Nokia theatre, which union craftsmen delivered six weeks before schedule, with a total of 725,000 man hours in slightly more than two years. The Nokia Theatre opened in 2007, marking the first phase of development at L.A. LIVE.

“This job provided a large number of job opportunities to our members and to new apprentices,” Hunter says of ongoing work on the steel and glass skyscraper.
“The finishing trades represented by District Council 36 Painters and Allied Trades are very proud to be a part of such a historic project that will do so much to revitalize Los Angeles,” said Grant Mitchell, DC36 Business Manager.

Working under contractors CMC Fontana and Pacific Coast Steel, Ironworkers Local 416 had between 35-50 men on the job a few months ago, winding down to about 15-25 currently, as they finish the last two or three months of work.

“We went out and recruited for the local hire, set up job fairs, hired some of the workers from the area into our local, and they’re currently on the project,” says Local 416 President and Business Rep Marco Fausto.

“So far, so good,” says Tom Warren, Business Rep for Plasterers Local 200, which had some 25 members at a time working onsite. “We’ve met their local hire requirement, which was really important,” says Warren. “I’ve heard everyone’s been very well pleased.”

The Project Labor Agreement negotiated by the Building Trades, has been “absolutely fantastic,” says Warren. “It all worked out really well.”
Local 200 craftsmen will also be working on the new cinema and an administrative building, which will involve EFIS foam application in addition to the requisite exterior cement and plastering. Altogether, members will be working with about eight different contractors. “It’s kinda nice, to get that many at once – we rarely see that,” says Warren.

Along with many of his members, Warren says he is looking forward to the PLA between the LA/OC Building Trades Council and the city’s Community Redevelopment Project, unanimously approved by the LA City Council in late October. The historic PLA is expected to cover an estimated $10 billion over a 10-year period, in projects spread throughout the

Los Angeles area, both public works and private developments supported by the agency.
“It’s just fantastic for our guys,” he says, adding that public works projects are often done by non-union workers, but this time, “the city is looking for better quality, and LA Live was kind of a model. They’re really happy.”

Shomari Davis, Business Rep for IBEW Local 11, which has had some 80 members on the LA LIVE high rise, agrees. “We’re doing some great things there.”
Davis is particularly pleased with the trades’ success in getting local hires at LA LIVE and considers it a kind of “jump-start” for the PLA with the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. “LA LIVE is a primer for us on the local hire component. We’re trying to make sure LA workers have a first crack building city of LA projects.”

Davis also stresses the value of local hire in helping to build communities in LA. “It’s a great way to boost stimulus within the depressed areas of LA.”
In addition to work on the residential tower, Local 11 electricians also installed a large solar photovoltaic array on both the Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre. Several IBEW 11 members are still on the job, with a large portion of the project still to be completed before the projected finish date of 2010.

Among the many trades involved in building the skyscraper are: Heat and Frost Insulators, Boilermakers, Bricklayers, Tile and Marble, Electricians, Elevator Constructors, Operator Engineers, Painters, Floor Covering, Drywall Finishers, Glaziers, Ironworkers Reinforcing, Ironworkers Structural, Laborers, Plumbers, Steamfitters, Pipefitters, Sprinklerfitters, Plasteres, Cement Masons, Roofers, Waterproofers, and Sheet Metal Workers.

At the topping out ceremony, AEG CEO Lieweke called for more hotel rooms to be built. “Downtown needs more hotel rooms and you need more jobs,” he told the hundreds of craft members gathered there. A few days later, Leiweke confirmed that the company was indeed moving ahead with plans for a new hotel at the corner of Olympic and Francisco Streets. Ted Tanner, VP of AEG Real Estate, said, “The lot is fully entitled,” however, as of press time, the brand for the new hotel or any contracts had not yet been confirmed.

The LA Live Complex

LA LIVE opened in October 2007 with the Nokia Theatre and Nokia Plaza, followed by Club Nokia. Joining the residential/hotel complex, several other venues opened before year’s end in 2008 – including the Grammy Museum, The Conga Room, and several chain restaurants and bars. In early 2009, more venues (among them more chain restaurants) are set to open, to be followed by the luxury hotels and a new cinema in early 2010.

In somewhat of a rare occurrence for behemoth developments, LA Live has proceeded with significant support from community groups, and promises to set high environmental standards with a LEED certification. Opinions on community impact continue to be mixed, and some doubt that a truly public space will evolve – but community groups have been undeniably successful in pushing for economic justice and community rights.

The Figueroa Corridor Coalition for Economic Justice (a coalition of 30 community groups, including environmental, tenant and immigrant rights, health, and religious groups), along with SAJE and LAANE were able to negotiate one of the most comprehensive Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) to date, with provisions for public space, local hire for permanent jobs, affordable housing, basic services for the community, as well as traffic, parking and safety.

The CBA was also incorporated into the development agreement between the developer and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, making it enforceable by both the city and the contracting community groups.