If developers in the Arts District have their way, the population of the close-knit creative community in downtown Los Angeles will grow by roughly 70 percent in the next two years. And in the process, the neighborhood’s old, industrial charm will be augmented – some say nearly ruined – by the addition of several buildings.
At least four residential projects within a half-mile of each other propose to bring nearly 1,500 apartments to the neighborhood, boosting the number of people who live in the area roughly bounded by the Los Angeles River, and Alameda, First and Seventh streets from about 2,700, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, to more than 4,500.
Leading the charge is the first ground-up construction project built in the Arts District in decades, residential development One Santa Fe. The project is huge, spanning more than a quarter-mile along the river between the historic bridges at First and Fourth streets. Rising on the site of what was 75 years ago the Le Grande Station passenger rail terminal, the project is nearly complete. Its developers have begun preleasing apartments and 40,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. The 439-unit complex will open its first phase of 125 units next month, with the balance opening by the end of the year.
The three projects coming on its heels are also ground-up developments.
At 905 E. Second St., a block from One Santa Fe, Brentwood developer Lowe Enterprises is under way on a 320-unit apartment complex on a site formerly occupied by toy distributor Megatoys. At 950 E. Third St., developer Legendary Developments, based in the Arts District, is moving through the approval process to build a 472-unit apartment complex. Finally, at 695 S. Santa Fe Ave., Beverly Hills developer Bolour Associates has proposed building 240 live-work lofts.
Each developer is eager to capitalize on the growing popularity of the neighborhood, which in recent years has seen a slew of hip businesses open. But for all the developers’ enthusiasm, those who have already staked a claim in the Arts District have expressed concern.
Character critique
Nearly 100 people, including developers and architects based in the Arts District, submitted letters of opposition to the largest of the four residential projects during a meeting with city planners last month. Mark Rothenberg, president of architecture firm RSA Architects Inc., housed at 953 E. Third, critiqued plans for the “fortress-like development” planned across the street at 950 E. Third, calling its design uninteresting and uncool.
“The design aesthetic is very pedestrian and ordinary,” he wrote. “It incorporates no innovative or unique design concepts and is completely devoid of any significant elements that enhance the human spirit of its residents or this community.”
Yuval Bar-Zemer, a principal of downtown firm Linear City Development and a founding member of the Arts District Community Council of LA, said he’s worried so many projects will change the fragile character of the neighborhood, which has until now only really been host to conservative adaptive reuse projects. His development firm owns seven buildings in the area that have in the last decade been converted from industrial use, including the Biscuit Lofts; Toy Factory Lofts; and 661 Imperial St., the site of independent gourmet grocery Urban Radish.
“It’s unfortunately relatively easy to destroy the quality of life we’ve built here; these projects are so big, they’re going to wipe out the existing community just by sheer numbers,” he said. “Ten years of careful effort to develop in a sensitive way will be washed down the drain.”
But One Santa Fe’s development team, a partnership of McGregor Brown Co. of Beverly Hills, West L.A.’s Cowley Real Estate Partners and urban planner Nick Patsaouras, said they were careful to match the project to the surrounding community.
The team, financed by Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds of Century City and Goldman Sachs, hired critically acclaimed architect Michael Maltzan to design the train-inspired building and donated 5,000 square feet of retail space for use by five local arts non-profits, including its neighbor, Southern California Institute of Architecture.
The city’s Cultural Affairs Department received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to encourage low-income artists in the area to apply for the building’s 88 affordable units, and Runyon Group, the Culver City brokerage firm that is handling retail leasing, has been given strict instructions not to lease space to big corporate chains. So far, Manhattan Beach grocer Grow has signed a lease for space there, as has artisan ice-cream shop Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and apothecary Malin + Goetz.
“We could have built out a Spanish Tuscan revival for a lot less money, but we wanted to be more thoughtful,” said Cowley Real Estate’s Chuck Cowley. “Nothing the size of One Santa Fe would go up without differing points of view.”
Tyler Stonebreaker, co-founder of Arts District real estate company Creative Space, said so much development activity will, in the short term, keep real estate values on the rise. But long term, it could have a negative impact.
“If the neighborhood loses its character, it loses its purpose,” he said.
