· Downtown's Mark Taper Forum renovation reviews keep coming in [NYT]
· Media headlines with word "bottom" also keep coming [MSNBC]
· Bye-bye: Builder KB Homes consolidates business, cuts staffers [BizJ]
· Glendale wants to make business district look prettier [GNP]
· Nutty man keeps driving his car into the Playboy Mansion gates [LA Times]
· Victory for Taco Trucks! Sister Eater has good news [Eater LA]
· Let it hang: Judge rules that San Onofre State Beach can remain nude [LA Times]

KOREATOWN: There wasn't much to look at six weeks ago, but if we're looking at the picture right, this is the high school (there are two other schools, too) that's rising off Wilshire on the site of the old Ambassador Hotel. All the renderings of the project are here. The high school is supposed to be done by 2010. Yeah, this whole thing still feels weird and sad. [Photo via Flickr user Conductor Mike]

DOWNTOWN: A reader sent in this question: "Hey, how many units have been leased at 717 Olympic, that new downtown rental building?" This is what we hear: 34 units have been leased. There are 151 units. So that's 22.5 percent, right? What to make of that news? Move-in date was June 15th and it opened for leasing this spring. Next question?

Chicken Little The Daily News reports on the Universal City project's environmental impact report that was just issued Monday (headline: 'Universal gridlock disaster?'). The development could bring two office towers, a 34-story hotel, homes, and retail to the area, and would serve as the West Coast home for NBC News, The Tonight Show (no more Downtown Burbank), and other media outlets—imagine a West Coast 30 Rock. But, as Connie Llanos reports, the EIR says 14,000 car trips per day could be generated when, if, this whole thing gets built by 2015. The project will sit on top of a Red Line stop; maybe Conan will take the subway? (Image courtesy Daily News)
· Universal gridlock disaster? [Daily News]
· NBC finds buyer for lot [Curbed LA]

The voting is intense! After day three we say a good bye to Nicole Contreras of Nourmand & Associates. Goodbye, Nicole! Men's contestant Grant Linscott of Keller Williams never got his voting block motivated enough to clear their cookies, continuously refresh and vote repeatedly for the last 24 hours. Tomorrow it's down to two at which point we'll clear all votes tallied so far and give each person a fair shot. Please Vote some more.

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Curbed polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

OK, via the World of Wonder blog, more info and a follow-up on that earlier post. The "I Am 8-Bit" show opened in the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery on August 14th; these are photos of French street artist INVADER doing his thing on the building. Apparently, this is sanctioned street art. All images via World of Wonder.
· BuildingSpotter: Hollywood's Shane Building, Round 2 [Curbed LA]

Each week ListingsWire mentions notable movements on the MLS: New listings, price chops, flips, and more. Spy movement? Email us.

VENICE: The saga of the gray Venice box continues. Not sure how long it's been on Craigslist, but a reader alerts us that this home, once priced at $13 million and then repeatedly chopped, is also available for rent for $25,000 a month. That seems expensive! It also remains on the MLS at $8.295 million. [Curbed InBox]

ENCINO: A reader forwards this listing with a dry note: "Worse in person." But for anyone wanting new construction in Encino, this may the poor man's Candy Spelling estate. Just look at the exterior. It's "jaw dropping grand living with 21 foot ceilings" and listed at $6.95 million, about the same price as the monthly electricity bill. [Redfin]

WEST HOLLYWOOD: If glassy and boxy and $2.795 million in WeHo is your thing, gaze upon this new construction on Rangely Avenue: "3 bed+(potential den/office) main house built around a decadent designer central courtyard connecting to large roof top patio/lounge with fire place...Open floor plan enhanced by over 14' high ceiling & walls of glass." It's hard to tell if it works or not but interesting... [Redfin]

This Hollywood Boulevard building, the Shane Building, was featured as a BuildingSpotter last fall, prompting the cranky people who actually work in the building--specifically, at the production company World of Wonder ("Pam on the Loose", Tori & Dean")-to post this response on their blog. "This photo is posted in the category Building Spotter and with all the nattering comments about it, we want to shout, "Shut the fuck up! It's the World of Wonder building aka historical Shane Building at Hollywood and Cherokee." Uhm, you're sort of mean. But Pam, Tori and Dean, here's the second BuildingSpotter question: About a year later, why is there a Space Invaders symbol--or whatever that is--painted on your historical building?
· BuildingSpotter: Hollywood Gray in Hollywood [Curbed LA]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

This four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath caught our eye because it achieves that rare accomplishment - integrating period touches into a modern renovation (notice the kitchen and bathroom fixtures). But that upgrade will cost you - dearly. Yes, we smell a flip. The craftsman has a gourmet kitchen with a viking range, white marble countertops, Walker-Zanger tiles, dark wood floors and wood-beamed ceilings. Last purchase price in October 2007: $795,000. Today's asking price: $2.05 million. Fliptastic!
· 2464 Walnut Ave Venice, CA 90291 [Redfin]

Last check-in on the Beachwood Neighborhood Association revealed some unhappiness about a project (deemed too big) on Durand Drive . The post also revealed some unhappiness about the Beachwood Neighborhood Association. Regardless, the web site is reporting that a project at 3314-3320 N. Lugano Place, which was rejected by the city last year, is up to bat again. There's a hearing on the project on September 11th; via the public notice: "Design review and project permit compliance for the construction of a new 3 story over basement, 36’ high, 4,912 square foot residence with attached 993 square foot garage and 520 square feet of outdoor space on a vacant 19,231.5 square foot lot. Total project size: 6,425 square feet." The web site for the BCA is asking residents to come fight the project.
· PLEASE Attend this important hearing! [BCNC]
· CurbedWire: Fighting in Beachwood Canyon, Sawtelle Blvd Online, Rowan Lofts [Curbed LA]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

With all the development going on in Hollywood, it can be hard to keep track of each and every project cropping up, but say hello to El Centro, a new 18-unit townhome development three blocks from Vine and Sunset. Sales officially kicked off last weekend: Units range from $499,000-$729,000,; square footage ranges from 947-1565. There are three units in escrow, according to the sales office. "A lot of the buyers are coming from West Hollywood," Mina Azami, a real estate agent with Keller Williams, tells us. "It's a lot of industry, a lot of people who are priced out of the Westside." And fittingly, here's the tagline of the place: "The spirit of Venice in the heart of Hollywood." Are you sensing Venice? We're not really sensing Venice. But Mina, how about homeowners association dues? $250-$289.
· El Centro [Official Site]

Episode 4 of Bravos' Million Dollar Listing is here. Will Chad Rogers obsess over pleasing his client? Will Madison's man/woman love speech come back again? Will Josh Flagg talk on the phone? This is seriously a terrible show.

Chad Rogers goes to a cancer walk and is introduced to Cuttino Mobley of the LA Clippers, who is interested in selling his Beverly Hills home because it's too big. The 6,000 sq. ft, 5 bedroom house has flat screen TVs on every available wall surface but is sparsely furnished. The rub of this Chad Rogers segment is that Cuttino wants to wait to sell the house until after he's done with training in Las Vegas, and he needs Chad to find him a place in Vegas. So Chad and Victoria go to Vegas, meet Cuttino Mobley's bitchy manager, and have relationship fights. Despite last week's one-year anniversary celebration in Palm Springs, Chad remains unsure how long they've been together. "We've been together for like, what, a year? Over a year?" By episode's end, Cuttino decides to skip Vegas and instead focus on selling his Beverly Hills home.

Josh Flagg gets this episode's listing on Walden Drive in Beverly Hills from his grandmother, the woman who discovered polyester. The 6,900 sq. ft home is being offered at $6.75 million. It's hideous but the family Josh shows the house to appears to love it and offer $6,300,126.The episode is a series of offers and counteroffers, tainted by the inspection which finds multiple problems, ending with hardscrabble negotiations written on scraps of paper. The family offers $5.5 million due to the $800-$900k in repair costs they expect. Counteroffers finally bring the sale price to $5.8 million, with no contingencies and close of escrow in two weeks.