Grand visions

THE UNVEILING OF THE FIRST PHASE of the long-awaited Grand Avenue project on Monday struck a triumphant tone, and deservedly so. After years of watching politicians and developers scratch their heads over how to revamp the nine-acre Bunker Hill site, it was encouraging to see momentum; developer Related Cos. plans to break ground on the complex -- which would include a five-star hotel, seven restaurants, a luxury gym, 500 residential units (100 of them affordable housing) and thousands of square feet of retail space -- within the next 12 months.

It was welcome too to see architect Frank Gehry firmly onboard with the project. After all, it will sit directly across the street from his already-iconic Disney Hall, where Monday’s self-conscious (and self-congratulatory) presentation took place. And the project seems poised to complement, rather than detract from, that building’s beauty. The Grand Avenue Committee was wise to host its unveiling in the concert hall. With its swooping wood walls and dramatic splashes of sun, it is the kind of place that allowed Eli Broad -- without sounding too trite -- to wax rhapsodic about a downtown meant to “lift the spirits.”

But whether that will be the case is yet to be seen. Unknowns remain: Which establishments, other than Related Cos.-owned Equinox Fitness, will move in? Are we looking at an Olive Garden here, a Banana Republic there, or will the complex reflect some local character? Not that we can afford to be too esoteric or snooty in our tastes. Downtown desperately needs retailers and bookstores, and if they’re outposts of the big-box chains, so be it.

The real challenge for the development, as it rolls out in several as-yet-unplanned phases, is “weaving neighborhoods together that didn’t exist before,” as Councilwoman Jan Perry put it. Plans for a proposed 16-acre park that will stretch from Grand Avenue to City Hall, which everyone pays lip service to, remain especially sketchy.

At the unveiling, one guest stood over one of the umpteen architectural models on hand, pointed to the two blockish county buildings still standing in the path of the proposed park and muttered that “this doesn’t work unless those go.” There’s reason to think that they will and that Gehry will try to live up to his promise to field suggestions as to how Grand Avenue might best serve the city. But it probably won’t hurt to save the big excitement for a day when those questions are resolved.