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49-591: The site was established as Hill Street Station, the downtown terminus of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad . Pacific Electric acquired the property along with the railroad's other assets in the Great Merger of 1911, which saw the consolidation of most of the area's local railways. As street traffic grew in downtown Los Angeles, the Pacific Electric Railway undertook its most ambitious project,

98-630: A dedicated right of way into downtown through a tunnel; the first hub, Main Street Station , which served passengers boarding trains to the south and east, was reached by trains sharing the streets. To loosen traffic congestion that clogged the streets, the California Railroad Commission in 1922 issued Order No. 9928, which called the Pacific Electric to build an electrified tunnel to bypass downtown's busy streets. Plans for

147-788: A different version of the subway and the Subway Terminal Building in the mid-twenties. In 1908 LAP leased the Southern Pacific Santa Monica Line (the Air Line ) and the Long Wharf , and electrified it from Santa Monica to Sentous , which would become the interchange point with the SP for freight. In 1909, the company did build two tunnels north of the Hill Street Station, designed to make entry to Los Angeles easier for

196-547: A grand style. The Subway was widely met with success, as it rivaled Main Street Station as the busiest in Southern California, from the 1920s to the 1950s. Faster than the automobile and at 6¢ a fare, ridership reached an all-time high during World War II: in 1944, electric trains carried an estimated 65,000 passengers in and out of the Subway Terminal each day, which reckons out to more than 20 million per year. After

245-686: A key parcel from Macy's for $ 13.4 million. In 2016, for tax purposes, the company converted into a real estate investment trust. The company also sold its stake in the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center to Mikhail Prokhorov , sold its military housing division to Hunt Companies for $ 208.8 million, sold Terminal Tower to K&D Group for $ 38.5 million, and sold 7.7 acres and 8 buildings in Cleveland to an investor group for $ 3.5 million. In June, 2017 Forest City shareholders voted to eliminate

294-574: A line on Prospect Avenue in Hollywood, just north of the Colegrove line. Prospect Avenue, opened in 1887, would be renamed Hollywood Boulevard in 1910. Though much construction was financed though bonds, various people paid a bonus to the LAP to help with construction of various Colegrove and Hollywood lines, a common practice for Sherman and Clark. 1902 was a very active year. A section of private right of way,

343-723: A narrow-gauge street railway called the Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway Company (LACE). In addition, they acquired and electrified existing horsecar lines in Pasadena. On April 11, 1894, Sherman and Clark incorporated the Pasadena & Los Angeles Electric Railway Company (P&LA), southern California’s first interurban line. This line connected the Pasadena lines with the LACE Railway system at Sycamore Grove. In November, 1894, they incorporated

392-677: A publicly-traded company. In 1987, the company sold its retail lumber business to Handy Andy Home Improvement Center . In 2011, the company sold a 49% stake in a retail portfolio in New York for $ 172.3 million. In 2013, the company acquired a 100% interest in a mall in Pittsburgh . The company also sold a Sheraton hotel in Station Square in Pittsburgh for $ 61 million. It also announced plans to redevelop Ballston Common Mall . The company acquired

441-720: The Glendale–Burbank Line and the soon-to-be-completed San Fernando Valley Line , would become the Pacific Electric’s Western Division. In September, 1911, the Los Angeles Pacific brought to the new Pacific Electric Railway the following: LAP passenger cars operated local service in the cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena, Hollywood , Sawtelle , Santa Monica, and Ocean Park . LAP’s best performing interurban lines included these four: Other important interurban lines included these: Local service

490-538: The Los Angeles Railway Company (LARy). Sherman and Clark negotiated with the group and managed to keep the P&;LA and P&P lines. The Pasadena and Los Angeles line opened on May 4, 1895. Construction to Santa Monica via Colegrove of the narrow-gauge electric line began shortly thereafter, on June 11, 1895, with Clark serving as contractor, using the roadbed of the old Elysian Park Street Railway and

539-550: The St. Louis Car Company , that they numbered the 200-series. But even with two 57 h.p. motors, these cars were still not powerful enough for heavy interurban use. Once SP interests purchased a majority interest, the resulting influx of money let LAP purchase 50 heavy-duty cars from the St. Louis Car Company, which were numbered the 700-series. These cars were substantially larger, with a 56-passenger capacity, and had four 75 h.p. motors rather than

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588-491: The Venice Short Line . As the system expanded, the excursion expanded as well. Excursion cars (sometimes in multi-unit trains) made the following stops in 1909: This excursion line was heavily advertised and thus became well known. Brochures and ads touted it as “101 miles for $ 1.00”, or "10-dollar tour for one dollar”. The first car used was a Parlor car (#400), and as the line became popular more cars were added, until

637-750: The Westside , Santa Monica , and the South Bay towns along Santa Monica Bay . Originally a teacher from Vermont, Moses Sherman had engaged in a variety of activities in the Arizona Territory , one of which was creating a street railway in Phoenix, Arizona . He was interested in the possibilities such a system offered in Los Angeles. After his arrival in Los Angeles in 1890 Sherman and his brother-in-law, Eli P. Clark , consolidated old lines and created new lines for

686-684: The Hollywood and Colegrove cars. These opened on Tunnel Day, September 9, 1909, and cut 10 minutes off the time to Hollywood and Colegrove. In addition, they started preliminary engineering work on a line to the San Fernando Valley via Cahuenga Pass, a project that would ultimately be completed by the Pacific Electric Railway, which opened the line in 1912. By October, 1909, the Los Angeles Pacific had grown to 213.5 miles of track, all standard gauged. Sherman and Clark remained minority stockholders, executive officers and directors of

735-532: The Los Angeles Pacific. Sherman had asked Harriman to guarantee LAP bonds, and Harriman agreed, on condition that he receive a controlling interest. Sherman and Clark continued to manage the company. The Southern Pacific incorporated a new company on April 4, 1907, the Los Angeles Pacific Company, capitalized at $ 20,000,000 (210,000 shares at $ 100 each). 107,100 shares were held by Epes Randolph on behalf of Harriman. From 1907 through 1909, all

784-615: The Los Angeles and Pacific Railway. They negotiated an agreement with LARy to use that company’s track to enter the downtown area. Car shops and a rail yard were built midway between Los Angeles and Santa Monica, in an area they named Sherman . Santa Monica promoters Robert S. Baker and Senator John P. Jones provided 225 acres near the Soldier’s Home , and Sherman and Clark sold it to raise funds for construction. The property became part of Sawtelle . On April 1, 1896, after passing through fields of wildflowers and freshly plowed farms,

833-626: The Los Angeles-Santa Monica Railroad Company, and the original LA-P. During 1902 and 1903 there was a competitive threat to Sherman and Clark's plans. William Hook, principal behind the Los Angeles Traction Company (LAT), and developer Abbot Kinney were building a line to Venice as well. After much wrangling between the two groups, the Southern Pacific purchased the stock of LAT, who then abandoned

882-454: The Pasadena & Pacific Electric Railroad Company (P&P) of Arizona, to build a second interurban line from Los Angeles to Santa Monica. But all the construction on the LACE, P&LA and P&P properties stretched Sherman and Clark’s financial situation, and LACE defaulted on a bond payment. In March, 1895, the LACE Railway bondholder group acquired the LACE lines and organized a new company,

931-542: The access tunnel and tower by a block curtain wall and is separated from the Pershing Square station by a single structural barrier. Los Angeles Pacific Railroad The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (1896−1911) (LAP) was an electric public transit and freight railway system in Los Angeles County , California . At its peak it had 230 miles (370 km) of track extending from Downtown Los Angeles to

980-517: The additional traffic. The Santa Monica Short Line (Venice Boulevard, San Vicente Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard) and the Venice Short Line (Venice Boulevard, Trolley Way, Ocean) took away much of the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 's passenger business. After the Santa Fe received permission to abandon their line from Santa Monica to Inglewood , LAP acquired it. At

1029-491: The company until May 28, 1910 when they sold their shares to the Southern Pacific and retired from active participation in the company. SP then pressured Huntington to sell his shares in the Pacific Electric Railway. On September 1, 1911, in what is called “The Great Merger”, the Southern Pacific consolidated seven electric railways into the new “Pacific Electric Railway Company”. The Los Angeles Pacific lines, along with

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1078-454: The company was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management . In 1920, Forest City was founded as a family-owned lumber and household hardware business by siblings Charles, Leonard, Max and Fannye Ratner, immigrants from Poland. Beginning in the 1930s, the company invested in residential garages, apartments, retail strip centers. During World War II, the company manufactured and prefabricated governmental housing. In 1960, Forest City became

1127-533: The company’s lines, which had almost all been narrow-gauge, were rebuilt to standard-gauge. Plans for a subway from Fourth Street to Vineyard, along with a large terminal building were announced, along with addition a third and fourth track to the Venice Short Line, and tunnels north of the Hill Street station that would benefit the Hollywood line, but a business panic in 1907 and other projects interfered with these plans. The Pacific Electric Railway would later build

1176-418: The dual share structure that had enabled the founding Ratner family to control the company. The City of New York also filed a lawsuit against the company in conjunction with the rent due pursuant to a ground lease. In August, 2017 the company sold 25 acres in Cleveland. In October, 2017 the company sold its interests in 10 malls to Queensland Investment Corporation for $ 1.55 billion. On December 7, 2018,

1225-474: The first car entered into Santa Monica, where its arrival was celebrated. On November 9, 1896, Sherman and Clark incorporated the Pasadena and Pacific Railway Company of California, and built a line from Los Angeles, then known as the Sixteenth Street Division, via West 16th Street ( Venice Boulevard ), to Beverly . Shorter by two miles and faster to the beach than the line through Colegrove , it

1274-535: The first section of what would be called the Trolleyway, was built between Santa Monica and Venice. The Palms Division was built, encompassing a line from Vineyard through Ivy Station (the future Culver City ) to Ocean Park. Called the Venice Short Line, this would become LAP’s most popular line. A new powerhouse in Ocean Park was built to handle the increased power requirements. The company purchased new cars to carry

1323-546: The ground floor, and business offices on the upper floors. The station was built in unfinished concrete and fitted with art deco lamps. The mezzanine's waiting room was trimmed in terra cotta tiles and hosted at least one soda fountain and a newspaper stand. On the ground floor, to the back where passages went down to the mezzanine level, columns and recessed ceilings were finished in Italianate styled terra cotta, and front lobbies boasted marble floors and columns, and skylights, in

1372-415: The historical setting of Metro 417. The developers of Metro 417 have exposed the natural stone exterior, stripping off layers of paint. They restored the lobbies to their original showcase conditions in marble and brass and have curated the historic terra cotta trim of the intermediate spaces. The passenger ramps to the train station underground have been dismantled; the station itself has been shut off from

1421-404: The larger 700 class cars made trains possible. Excursions departed downtown Los Angeles at 9:30 am each day and returned to Los Angeles at 5:00 pm. In 1906, when Harriman /Southern Pacific interests took over ownership and operation of LAP, they continued the excursions with Pierce in charge. When the LAP was consolidated into the new Pacific Electric Railway Company (PE) in 1911, PE took over

1470-543: The local Pasadena lines in late 1898, leaving Sherman and Clark with their western lines and, as Henry Huntington noted, a nice profit. They then created another corporation on June 4, 1898, the Los Angeles-Pacific, and folded the existing lines into this corporation. They followed this practice of creating new corporations for new lines, and then combining the new line and old lines into another new corporation for years. On December 15, 1899, Sherman and Clark started

1519-428: The motorized cars. Passenger cars changed over time, reflecting the continual upgrading of the system from a simple country trolley line to a heavy-duty interurban railroad. LAP purchased groups of cars and assigned series numbers; for example, they acquired the 60-series in 1895-96 and numbered them 60-69. The original cars, purchased in 1895-96 from Pullman and Brill , included the motorized 60- and 70-series, and

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1568-602: The non-motorized trailer 40-series. These cars had two 43 h.p. motors and could carry up to 48 passengers. They also had the distinctive 5-window ends that would become the standard for LA streetcars. After 1902, when LAP had built more lines, larger and more powerful cars were purchased including the 180- and 190-series from the American Car Company , along with the 48-series trailers. Most cars had open sections on either or both ends, and were called California cars . In 1904-05, LAP purchased 50 new 48-passenger cars from

1617-623: The operations and continued the excursion until 1923. The Balloon Route Streetcar Depot, West Los Angeles has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. In 1906 the company owned and operated 405 cars: 144 passenger cars, 6 parlor cars, 17 electric locomotives, 221 freight cars, 5 mail cars and 12 repair service cars. The company had several types of cars. This is what LAP had as of April, 1911. Passenger cars included motorized cars that conveyed passengers from place to place, or non-motorized trailers that were pulled by

1666-508: The other electric train terminal and headquarters, the Pacific Electric Building , from the south and east of Southern California. Thirty-one feet below Hill Street, the Subway Terminal underground enclosed six platforms, the tower where engineers fetched their schedules, and overhead electric cables that powered the trains. The station lay underneath a waiting room and concessions in a mezzanine level, ticketing and retail shops on

1715-522: The parent corporation, Southern Pacific Railroad , sold Pacific Electric Railway to a subsidiary of General Motors, trains were replaced with motor buses; Pacific Electric service from the Subway was shut down in 1955. The last electric train to carry passengers, adorned with a banner reading To Oblivion, left the Belmont Tunnel on the morning of June 19, 1955. Shortly thereafter, Southern Pacific lifted

1764-479: The proposed line, freeing Sherman and Clark to proceed with their plans. In 1903, a new, larger power house was built at Vineyard which replaced both the damaged Sherman power equipment and the Ocean Park power house. In 1905, the Lagoon line, the line from Santa Monica to Venice, was extended from Venice to Playa Del Rey. When Robert C. Gillis' new Brentwood Park subdivision (in which Sherman and Clark were investors)

1813-501: The second station for electric trains to the north and west of the region—the “Hollywood Subway”—as the project came to be known, were drafted as early as February 1924, and ground was broken in May of the same year. After eighteen months of building and $ 1.25 million spent ($ 21.7 million adjusted for inflation), the Subway Terminal opened to the public on December 1, 1925. The Belmont Tunnel, under Bunker and Crown hills, led from

1862-556: The station onto the Toluca Electric Substation and Yard at the Beverley viaduct over Glendale Boulevard, near Westlake and Echo Park. It channeled trains through Westlake to all over Hollywood, Westwood, Santa Monica, North Hollywood, Glendale, Burbank, West Hills, and San Fernando. It cut off seven miles (11 km) or more off similar journeys on rails running along Alameda Street and Exposition Boulevard, which led trains to

1911-435: The time, it was the only standard-gauged line that LAP owned. By June, 1902, the company had 102.635 miles of equivalent single track. In September, 1902, the Los Angeles, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Railway Company was formed to create a line down the coast. The Del Rey Division was built from Ivy to a new resort development named Playa Del Rey , whose many investors included Sherman and Clark. Opened on December 7, 1903, it

1960-542: The tracks from the yard and tunnel, shut up the Subway Terminal, disconnected the Toluca Electric Substation, and abandoned the properties. The upper floors of the Subway Terminal remained as an office building for many years. The tunnel below remained unbreached along its whole length until December 1967, when part of the tunnel under Flower Street was filled in. In 1974, a piling for the Bonaventure Hotel

2009-870: The two that most previous cars used. These cars were immediately put to use on the Venice Short Line and Santa Monica Short Line. Some were plusher than regular cars; these included Observation cars used for the Balloon Route excursion (especially car 400), the beautiful “El Viento” for LAP’s officers’ use, and the “Mermaid”, Sherman’s private car. Some cars were built or modified at the Sherman Shops. New passenger cars had new bracing installed to make them stronger, or had different brakes or motors installed. Old passenger cars may be converted to Line or Maintenance cars. The shops even built electric locomotives from older cars. Forest City Enterprises Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. , formerly Forest City Enterprises ,

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2058-486: The west. The two stations, together forming the shape of a ‘T’, are separated by the eastern wall of the old station. In 2007, the Subway Terminal Building, Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #177, was renovated into Metro 417, a luxury apartment building owned by Forest City and built by Swinerton Builders. Concerns were raised for the historic Florentine exterior when a 76-story skyscraper, Park Fifth ,

2107-648: Was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings , shopping centers and apartments in Boston , Chicago , Dallas , Denver , Los Angeles , Philadelphia , and the greater metropolitan areas of New York City , San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The company was organized in Maryland with its headquarters in Cleveland , Ohio . As of December 31, 2017, the company owned 29 office buildings, 29 shopping centers, and 78 apartment complexes. On December 7, 2018,

2156-674: Was being built in 1906, LAP built tracks for the Westgate Line, which ran on San Vicente Boulevard to Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica) and then turned south to the Santa Monica Main Line. In February, 1906, there were persistent rumors that E. H. Harriman , of the Southern Pacific Railroad, had purchased the Los Angeles Pacific, but Clark denied them. Finally, in March, 1906 it was revealed that Harriman had purchased control of

2205-454: Was built through the spot. The tunnel could be spied from the bottom level of the hotel's parking garage, which became an entrance into the eastern half of the tunnel for daring graffiti artists. When the Metro B (formerly Red) Line was built underground, the Pershing Square station , running north and south under Hill Street, was built at the east end of the old train station, whose tracks ran to

2254-595: Was called the “Santa Monica Short Line”, and opened July 1, 1897. Again, financial difficulties arose. The P&LA defaulted on its bond payments in 1897 and the bondholders forced the company into receivership in January, 1898. The P&LA was sold by the court on April 27, 1898 and then reorganized as the Los Angeles-Pacific Electric Railway Company. Henry E. Huntington bought the LA&;P and

2303-576: Was followed by a line from Playa Del Rey to Redondo Beach , which was inaugurated in late summer, 1904. The Redondo line passed by Hermosa Beach , where Sherman and Clark also had major investments. With the Redondo and Del Rey Divisions well underway, the Los Angeles, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Railway Company was merged into a new company, the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad Company of California on June 16, 1903, along with another line,

2352-606: Was initially proposed on the former site of the Philharmonic Auditorium behind the building. In 2014, the new owner, San Francisco real estate investment firm MacFarlane Partners, announced that the Park Fifth development was going ahead with 650 units in a high-rise apartment building instead. In 2020, an outdoor paseo (path) was built between the new complex and the Metro 417 apartments with tables, chairs, and lighting, preserving

2401-687: Was primarily provided on these lines: The Balloon Route Trolley trip was a featured excursion of the Los Angeles Pacific, and opened in 1901. Beginning in November, 1904, Charles Merritt Pierce, the original owner of the Glen-Holly Hotel , Hollywood's first hotel, operated the line for the LAP. Initially, the line ran from the Hill Street station in downtown Los Angeles, via the Santa Monica Short Line through Hollywood to Santa Monica and Ocean Park, and then back to Los Angeles via Palms and

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