Wilshire Village Scraped

Wilshire Village is officially no more.



Swamplot has really been the critical source of information about this crime against history and interesting architecture.



I am interested in what happens next. Certainly something new will be built there, but in today's economic environment, getting loans for development is hard. So it may sit for a while. But I will be watching and taking photos whenever I notice a change in status.



Here's what I hope. I hope that the new development there, whatever it is, is a reasonably high density development, like the one it replaces. I hope that the new development preserves the beautiful trees on the site.



I hope the new development is people-oriented and community-oriented. I hope that it engages the street and is pedestrian-friendly. I hope that it is architecturally interesting. I hope it has no fake stucco, no faux-Tuscan features. I hope it has no turrets or oversized, penis-shaped entryways. I hope it doesn't have big garages that face the streets.



And I hope it is a well-built place. I hope it is built with care and built to last. I don't really have a lot of hope, though. The owner, Matt Dilick, hasn't demonstrated much in the way of vision or stewardship. After all, it appears possible that he used a dirty trick to evict the last of the residents--after years of neglecting Wilshire Village and letting it decay, when he needed to evict the last residents, the fire department condemns it as unfit for habitation. So who called the Fire Department right at that moment?



One of Dilick's other project was Bayou on the Bend (a completely nonsensical place name). You can read some things tenants say about it here.



Given this, I hope Dilick flips the property. In any case, I'll be there with my camera.