A Year of Firsts
In 2007, Downtown Saw a Grocery Store, Billion-Dollar Developments and Some Neighborhood Growing Pains
by Evan George
In 2007, a resurgent Downtown continued to boom. But along with the influx of residents and projects, there were some unlikely reverberations and aftershocks. As the developments progressed, the community began to find its voice, sometimes with unexpected results.
More than 1,000 people came out for the July 20 opening of Ralphs. For many, 2007 will be remembered as the year Downtown got a supermarket. Photo by Gary Leonard.
For many, 2007 will be remembered as the year that Downtown got a grocery store. But it was also the year that stakeholders stood up and demanded use of the pools and parks they've long been promised. Developers too asked where the park fees they pay to the city have gone. It was a year when one multi-billion-dollar project opened its first phase, and another earned its final approvals.
One thing the year was not, was uneventful.
Story of the Year: Ralphs Opens: If the pomp surrounding the July 20 grand opening of the Ralphs in South Park seemed unusually intense, it was, and for good reason: The ribbon cutting marked both Downtown's first new name-brand supermarket in more than 50 years and the culmination of local leaders' attempts to lure a full-service retailer to a quickly transforming residential neighborhood. That translated to the most high-profile opening for the chain in recent history, according to Ralphs officials. More than 1,000 residents, workers and community leaders showed up to celebrate and explore the 50,000-square-foot gourmet store at Ninth and Flower streets. The Ralphs anchors the 267-condo development Market Lofts, which was developed by CIM Group and the Lee Group, and will include chain retailers such as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cold Stone Creamery and Pastagina. As one of the chain's Fresh Fare concepts, the store boasts a wine cellar, sushi bar and cafe seating. It was also an instant hit: Months after the opening, company officials announced that the Downtown Ralphs had cracked the top 15% of the chain's 262 supermarkets, and the hours were extended.
The Trouble With Quimby: In the fall, serious questions emerged regarding Quimby fees, the funds housing developers pay to the city ostensibly to create park space. Since 2002, about $16 million has been collected Downtown alone, leading some stakeholders to demand more green for their green. The bombshell landed in October, when Jon Kirk Mukri, the head of the city's Department of Recreation and Parks, which administers the program, acknowledged that although more than $120 million in Quimby fees have been gathered citywide, the department had no effective system for tracking the money or planning park projects. A political pile-on began, with officials lambasting the department, and City Controller Laura Chick launched an audit. Meanwhile, land the department had eyed Downtown for new parks turned out to be off the market.
L.A. Live Arrives: Whether you were in South Park or South L.A., it was hard to ignore the wildly careening blue spotlights that marked the Oct. 18 opening of the Nokia Theatre. As the first phase of Anschutz Entertainment Group's $2.5 billion L.A. Live, the $120 million theater attracted design praise, growing anticipation for the rest of the mega-development (including the 54-story Convention Center hotel) and more than a few cigarette lighters held high in the air during the inaugural concerts by the Dixie Chicks and the Eagles. The venue has already hosted performers including Neil Young, Björk and George Lopez.
New Top Cops: In June, Downtown saw a couple of historic and high-profile promotions, when LAPD Chief William Bratton elevated Capt. Andy Smith, the charismatic and oft-quoted leader of Central Division (which patrols Downtown), to commander, and replaced him with Smith's former right hand, Capt. Jodi Wakefield. At the same time, Capt. Michele Veenstra was promoted to fill Wakefield's shoes as patrol captain; it marked the first time in LAPD history that an all-female command team has headed a station. The changes were more than just a game of musical chairs, however, considering that Veenstra and Wakefield face the difficult challenge of policing Skid Row and answering concerns from the growing residential community. Bratton attributed the promotions to both women's experience in the area, which saw a 35% drop in crime this year.
Summer Bummer at the School: During a sweltering heat spell, City West residents and Downtown children were left high and dry by city and LAUSD officials who could not come to an agreement on how to let the public use the Olympic-sized swimming pool at the $160 million Miguel Contreras Learning Center. Estimating that operating costs for the summer would run between $50,000 and $200,000, city officials said opening the facility to the community was too costly. The funding dispute centered partly on hiring lifeguards. The community was furious and protested; ultimately, the best the city could do was employ shuttle buses to other pools for about a month.
Residential Boom Continues: The residential juggernaut continued to roll in 2007, though there were signs of a slowdown. About a dozen housing projects came online this year, everything from new construction to adaptive reuse, covering various income levels: the 37-story tower at 1100 Wilshire, which had been empty for two decades, finished its transformation; the Biscuit Company and the Eastern Columbia joined the adaptive reuse craze in the spring; Little Tokyo's Hikari and the Union Station-adjacent Mozaic, both rental properties, leased quickly; South Group's latest, Luma, was 90% filled by June; and the low-income apartments Emerald Terrace in City West leased even quicker, completely occupied within months of opening. On the other hand, some condo buildings flipped to rentals before they debuted, and developers of other projects began giving away cars and trips in the effort to entice buyers.
Battle at the Alexandria: During the summer a bitter battled erupted over the $14 million rehab of the Alexandria Hotel in the Historic Core, amid complaints from some residents that developer Amerland Group was unfairly evicting and shuffling tenants while renovating the 1907 building. Amerland executives countered that some level of inconvenience was unavoidable because of the scope of the conversions and maintained that all the evictions were legal. Meanwhile, officials from the Community Redevelopment Agency, which oversaw public subsidies given to the for-profit developer, vowed to investigate tenants' claims. City officials also voted to administer a new round of funding for Amerland's planned renovation of the nearby Frontier Hotel in the next two years.
Children Left Behind: In July, a prominent South Park-based developer of affordable housing evicted a 24-year-old daycare center. The unusual skirmish pitted teachers, parents and church leaders associated with the school against its landlord, 1010 Development Corp., led by a former pastor. The eviction was the end result of a yearlong clash for control of the daycare center, which served 62 children, most from low-income families. Also at stake was a $325,000 Community Development grant contingent on a daycare center operating at the site. The S. Mark Taper Children's Learning Center has since closed.
Pricey Police Palace: High-rises were not the only thing growing in 2007 - the price of the LAPD's headquarters directly south of City Hall also continued to soar. Although originally approved by the City Council with a budget of $300 million, in 2007 the project cost jumped and then jumped again, ultimately hitting $437 million, with officials indicating costs could climb again in 2008. Critics had a field day, and Controller Laura Chick began an audit into the matter.
Angels Flight Stays Grounded: Despite statements that things would change, in 2007, Angels Flight, the short, historic railroad that connects Bunker Hill to the Historic Core, remained shuttered, just as it has since a fatal accident derailed the Olivet and Sinai cars in 2001. During a January press conference, John Welborne, the volunteer who oversees the nonprofit Angels Flight Railway Foundation, announced the funicular would reopen during the summer. The date came and went. In the fall, Welborne announced that the group was making a final fundraising push and that the railway would open by the end of December.
Park Fifth Promises: In May, developer David Houk surprised Downtown with his plans for a 76-story tower overlooking Pershing Square. Park Fifth would be the tallest building on the West Coast if completed. However, in November, Park Fifth management confirmed that internal operations were being "restructured" and that some sales staff had been eliminated; still, they noted that 348 reservations had been taken for the high-profile condo project valued at nearly $800 million, and said that the first of two towers is still expected to be finished by 2010.
Grand Avenue Goes Forward: In February, the first phase of the massive development planned by Related Cos. for Grand Avenue between First and Third streets got the go-ahead from city and county officials. The project is set to include a 48-story glass-clad tower designed by Frank Gehry, as well as a civic park stretching to City Hall. A high-end hotel and 2,000 residential units are also planned. As Grand Avenue moved forward, an appeal brought by the owner of the nearby Bonaventure Hotel, who contended that the Related Cos. should not be given public subsidies such as hotel room tax exemptions, was shot down. A groundbreaking scheduled for October has been pushed back until early 2008 and the cost has risen to $3 billion.
Rumble in the Industrial District: A battle that began in late 2006 over how much residential development to allow in the Industrial District continued in 2007. Business leaders and politicians blasted a plan by the city Planning Department and the Community Redevelopment Agency that called for preserving the majority of industrial-zoned land, effectively halting new housing projects in much of the area. Late in the year, the Planning Department and the CRA unveiled a new proposal, with clear definitions over where they will and will not approve housing projects. But with a bent to preserve much of the land, the issue is likely to divide people again in 2008.
page 1, 12/31/2007
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