California City Scoop: Los Angeles

City Grill

Bob Hale
Managing Principal/ Partner
Rios Clementi Hale Studios

“Los Angeles is in the midst of a building boom beyond anything seen here since the 1980s, driven by the severe lack of housing and the redevelopment of Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles,” Hale says. “The past year has seen a significant number of iconic projects move forward that were either in the drawer for several years or hung up in entitlement battles.” The complex environmental review process and “not in my backyard” mentality “make getting a good project through to implementation extremely difficult, expensive and risky,” he says.

Firm in Focus

Atkinson Construction
18201 Von Karman Ave., Ste. 800, Irvine
Year Founded: 1926
2014 Calif. Revenue: $258.7 million
What's New: Atkinson has begun construction on just over five miles of high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 10 in Covina, at a construction cost of $172.2 million.