L.A. Live

Coordinates: 34°02′40″N 118°16′00″W / 34.04444°N 118.2666667°W / 34.04444; -118.2666667

Aerial view of Staples Center and L.A. Live at night

L.A. Live is an entertainment complex in Downtown Los Angeles, California adjacent to the Staples Center. L.A. Live cost approximately $2.5 billion USD and was developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Wachovia Corp, Azteca Corp and investment firm MacFarlane Partners with help from Los Angeles taxpayers.^[1] It has 5,600,000 square feet (520,257 m²) of apartments, ballrooms, bars, concert theatres, restaurants, movie theaters and a 54-story hotel and condominium tower, on a 27-acre (10.9 ha) site.^[2] The complex become home to AEG and Herbalife headquarters in December 2008.^[3]

Features

Nokia Plaza

Nokia is a 40,000-square-foot (3,716 m²) open-air plaza that serves as the central meeting place for L.A. Live. The plaza provides a broadcast venue featuring giant LED screens as well as a red carpet site for special events.^[2] Nokia Plaza hosted the first WWE SummerSlam Axxess event on the weekend beginning August 22, 2009, leading up to the 2009 SummerSlam event on August 23 at Staples Center. On June 24, 2010, the plaza was the location for the official red carpet premiere of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.^[4]

Nokia Theatre and Club Nokia

Nokia Theatre as viewed from the stage

Nokia Theatre is a music and theatre venue seating 7,100, while Club Nokia is a club venue with a seating capacity of 2,300 for live music and cultural events.^[2][5] The theatre has hosted the ESPY Awards since 2008. The first scheduled event held at Nokia Theatre was a concert featuring The Eagles and The Dixie Chicks on October 18, 2007.^[5] National events hosted since have included the American Music Awards on November 18, 2007.^[5] The venue has also hosted the finale of the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth seasons of American Idol on May 21, 2008; May 20, 2009, May 26, 2010 and May 25, 2011 respectively. Recording artist John Mayer's live album Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles was recorded at the Nokia Theatre. On March 11, 2008, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced with AEG that the venue would be the home to the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony from 2008 until at least 2018. The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards were held at Nokia Theatre on September 12, 2010.^[6] The theatre has hosted a number of events of the Anime Expo since 2008. Again on August 28, the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards was held at Nokia Theatre.

Grammy Museum

Main article: The Grammy Museum

On May 8, 2007, it was announced that the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences would establish a museum dedicated to the history of the Grammy Awards.^[7] The museum opened on December 2008 for the Grammy Awards 50th anniversary. It consists of four floors with historical music artifacts.^[8][9] It has featured a number of exhibits, including the John Lennon, Songwriter exhibit, October 4, 2010–March 31, 2011. Embedded on the sidewalks at the LA Live streets are bronze disks, similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring each year's top winners, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.

Hotels and residences

Hotel tower

The centerpiece of the district is a 54-story, 1,001 room two-hotel hybrid tower, constructed above the parking lot directly north of the Staples Center.^[2] Built by Webcor Builders, the skyscraper contains both an 879-room JW Marriott hotel on floors four through 21 and a 123-room Ritz-Carlton hotel on floors 22 through 26. Floors 27 through 52 hold 224 Residences at the Ritz Carlton condominiums.^[10] Groundbreaking for the structure took place in June 2007.^[10] The project was completed in the first quarter of 2010.

ESPN Zone and broadcasting studios

L.A. Live at night from Figueroa Street

The second phase of development included a 12,300-square-foot (1,140 m²) ESPN broadcasting studio, as well as an ESPN Zone restaurant built on the corner of Figueroa Street and Chick Hearn Court. In an effort to expand coverage of West Coast sports, ESPN began broadcasting the 1 AM ET (10 PM PT) edition of SportsCenter from the studio on April 6, 2009.^[11][12][13] The state-of-the-art studio, designed by Lexington, is the first studio capable of broadcasting High Definition video at 1080p resolution and 60 frame/s.^[14]

Regal Entertainment Group

The $100 million Regal Entertainment Group movie complex includes 14 screens and 3,772 seats.^[15] It includes a three-story art-deco-style atrium and an 806-seat theater called the "Regal Premiere House" intended for "lucrative" premieres.^[15] The theater complex became the West Coast flagship location for Regal, the largest theater chain in the United States.^[15] The Michael Jackson film This Is It was the opening film at the theater.^[15]

Restaurants

L.A. Live is also host to a set of mid to high scale dining including Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Katsuya, Lawry's, Rock'N Fish, Rosa Mexicano, The Farm of Beverly Hills, Trader Vic's, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, and Yard House.

Timeline

Initial construction at L.A. Live began in September 2005.^[5] The first phase opened in October 2007 and contains the Nokia Theatre, the Nokia Plaza, a retail plaza, as well as an underground parking garage, holding a fraction of the project's expected total of 4,000 parking spaces.^[5]

Phase	Phase description	Scheduled opening
Phase I	7,100-seat Nokia Theatre and Nokia Plaza	Completed[2]
Phase II	ESPN studios and ESPN Zone restaurant/arcade complex, restaurants, Grammy Museum, Club Nokia, Lucky Strike bowling alley, and The Conga Room	Completed[2]
Phase III	54-story Ritz-Carlton/JW Marriott hotel and the 14-screen West Coast flagship theatre multiplex operated by Regal Entertainment Group.	Completed[2][16]

Future expansion

The Los Angeles Downtown News reported on November 11, 2009 that AEG plans to submit significant expansion plans to the Planning Department on November 12. It includes "332,618 square feet (30,901.2 m²) of office space and a 269,182-square-foot (25,007.8 m²) broadcasting studio that could accommodate a nationwide cable television network, a 275-room hotel and a 25-story residential building with 65 units adjacent to the L.A. Live campus."^[17] Plans are also being developed for the NFL to return to Los Angeles with a new stadium being planned on the campus, to be called Farmers Field. Scheduled to open by the 2016 NFL season. The LA City Council approved AEG's plan to build Farmers Field on August 9, 2011 in a 12-0 vote. ^[18]

Construction gallery

• 

  L.A. Live during Construction

• 

  The hotel on Olympic Blvd. under construction in November 2008

• 

  The completed Nokia Theatre from Chick Hearn Court

• 

  The completed Ritz Carlton Residences at LA Live

In popular culture

• L.A. Live is shown a various amount of times during ESPN's SportsCenter from Los Angeles.
• L.A. Live is featured under construction in the 2008 video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
• L.A. Live is the filming location of the grand finals of American Idol.
• L.A. Live was used as a filming location for Stark Expo 2010 in Iron Man 2.
• Summer X Games are held here.

See also

• Farmers Field
• Grand Avenue Project
• Hollywood and Highland
• Kodak Theatre
• List of tallest buildings in Los Angeles
• Park Fifth Towers

References

1. ^ "Nokia Theatre L.A. Live Launches New Era For Live Entertainment" (Press release). Anschutz Entertainment Group. 2007-10-17. http://www.nokiatheatrelalive.com/press_101707.php. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Nokia Theatre L.A. Live-About L.A. Live". Anschutz Entertainment Group. http://www.nokiatheatrelalive.com/lalive.php. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
3. ^ Regardie, Jon (2007-10-22). "Nokia Gets Strong Reception". Los Angeles Downtown News. http://www.downtownnews.com/articles/2007/10/22/news/news01.txt. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
4. ^ http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2010/05/16/summit-entertainment-announces-camp-out-dates-for-%E2%80%9Ceclipse%E2%80%9D-premiere/
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Nokia Theatre L.A. Live-About". Anschutz Entertainment Group. http://www.nokiatheatrelalive.com/about.php. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
6. ^ "Emmys Will Move To New Venue". Associated Press/USAToday. 2008-03-11. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-03-11-emmys_N.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
7. ^ "Grammy Museum Set To Open In September" (Press release). The Recording Academy. 2008-06-05. http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/News/Default.aspx?newsID=2939&newsCategoryID=7. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
8. ^ Bream, Jon; Ken Viste (April 16, 2009). "Museum in a Minute: Grammy Museum strikes a chord". Star Tribune. Star Tribune (San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190: San Jose Mercury News). 12158930. http://www.mercurynews.com/travel/ci_12158930. Retrieved Wednesday, April 29, 2009. "The country's newest music shrine — the Grammy Museum, which opened in December — fits in downtown Los Angeles like another cowboy hat in Nashville." 
9. ^ "Our Mission" (PHP). 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015: The Grammy Museum. 2008. http://www.grammymuseum.org/interior.php?section=about&page=aboutindex. Retrieved Wednesday, April 29, 2009. "The GRAMMY Museum explores and celebrates the enduring legacies of all forms of music; the creative process; the art and technology of the recording process; and the history of the GRAMMY Awards, the premier recognition of recorded music accomplishment." 
10. ^ ^{a b} Richardson, Eric (2009-05-15). "L.A. Live's Ritz Tower Nearly Done With Glass". blogdowntown.com. http://blogdowntown.com/2009/05/4336-la-lives-ritz-tower-nearly-done-with-glass. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 
11. ^ "SportsCenter In L.A.- From ESPN". Sports Media Journal. 2009-06-05. http://sportsmediajournal.com/2009/06/05/sportscenter-in-la-from-espn/. Retrieved 2010-07-15. 
12. ^ Levine, Stuart (2009-04-06). "ESPN's 'SportsCenter' heads West". Variety.com. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002174.html?categoryid=14&cs=1. Retrieved 2010-07-14. 
13. ^ Pucin, Diane (2009-04-06). "ESPN's studio in L.A. debuts". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-sp-espn6-2009apr06,0,2491719.story?track=rss. Retrieved 2010-05-07. 
14. ^ "The Fabulous Forum". Los Angeles Times. 2009-04-06. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/04/the-big-opening-for-west-coast-sportscenter.html. Retrieved 2010-05-07. 
15. ^ ^{a b c d} Richard Verrier [A Hollywood opening for downtown cinema]; AEG hopes its $100-million Regal movie complex will capture lucrative premiers October 24, 2009 B1 Los Angeles Times
16. ^ "JW Marriott". LA Live JW Marriott. 2008. http://lalivemarriott.com. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
17. ^ http://ourla.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=907
18. ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/nfl-stadium-los-angeles.html

External links

• NOKIA Theatre - L.A. Live
• L.A. Live
• RTKL L.A. Live
• The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles
• Los Angeles Sports Council
• Staples Center official web site

Preceded by Shrine Auditorium	Host of the Primetime Emmy Awards 2008-Present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Kodak Theatre	Host of the American Idol Finale 2008-Present	Succeeded by current