Quote:
Originally Posted by alki
Originally posted by Brigham Yen
When I would walk the streets of DTLA, I always envisioned Broadway as developing into a La Brea circa late 90s and 7th Street becoming high end retail.......not high, high end but stuff like Nike's or Banana Republic. I always saw the Bank District as a potential Soho.
Restaurants tend to be urban pioneers that are low margin affairs even if they serve alcohol. Typically, they are the first wave into a commercial strip that has the potential to turn around. That was 7th Street a few years back and the restaurants are doing what they typically do.....bringing new life to the street.
However, I don't think this is the final configuration for 7th. It really lends itself to retail. Macy's could be a formidable anchor.....esp. if the damn building is renovated and opened up to the street. The old Robinson's store could be another anchor.....with its high ceilings......the upper floors could be turned into a mid rise mall or offices. Then there is the old Bullock's store at the corner of 7th and Broadway. What's happening with it?
Given the greediness of LA landlords and their propensity to take advantage of a street that's turning, I don't see restaurants staying long term on 7th. I bet in ten years more and more retail will be on 7th and it will act as a connector between Fig@7h and Broadway. FWIW.
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I can see that vision coming to fruition especially when demand picks up. However, even though 7th Street SHOULD be the east-west corridor connecting Fig and Broadway, we can't ignore 6th, 8th, and 9th Streets with all so much potential if we can just get some damn good infills to replace those ugly surface parking lots.
Downtown LA's 7th Street is like Broadway in NY through SoHo. Then there are the side streets with more interesting boutiques, galleries and cafes that branch off of Broadway such as Prince or Spring Streets. Most of the UBER high end stores in SoHo are not on Broadway like Prada, Alexander Wang, etc.
Macy's Plaza is hands down the most valuable location right now because it sits right smack dab in all the activity happening around it. With FIGat7th and Metropolis attracting big time names, there will be a high chance another national company like Brookfield will come and purchase Macy's Plaza from the apathetic Jamison Properties.
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