Arts District Set to Grow
City Council Approves Extension of Southern Boundary, Creating More Room For Residential Development
by Anna Scott
The Los Angeles City Council last week approved a plan to expand the southern boundary of the Arts District, paving the way for redevelopment of the mostly industrial area between Sixth and Seventh streets just west of the L.A. River. It could lead to new residential growth in the area.
Lapchih Fan and Michael Shannon, developers of the 2121 Lofts, one of the projects set to be included in the Arts District once that area officially expands. Local leaders say moving the district's boundary south will ease the creation of residential complexes. Photo by Gary Leonard.
Fourteenth District City Councilman José Huizar proposed the change partly in response to a controversial directive by the city Planning Department and Community Redevelopment Agency to preserve most of Downtown's industrial land.
The Industrial Land Use Policy, distributed in January to planning and CRA staff, has met strong resistance from some politicians and many in the Downtown development community, who would prefer to see the land made available to residential and mixed-use projects. In recent years, the city has routinely approved industrial zone changes on a case-by-case basis.
"We already have spot residential development occurring in that area," Huizar said of the streets surrounding the southern edge of the Arts District. Huizar and Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry have come out against the ILUP.
"This is a residential community that wants to grow," Huizar continued. "I say, let it grow. It's a great place to allow for a community to be created. It's right next to the river, where we hope to revitalize in the near future."
City Planning Director Gail Goldberg called Huizar's motion "a good compromise."
"I am open to looking at changes in the industrial land, so long as they are part of a public process that looks at it comprehensively," said Goldberg. "I am happy to help create policies, but when they are created I am going to implement them."
New Horizons
The current Arts District, defined in the city's Central City North Community Plan, is bounded by First Street on the north, Sixth Street on the south, the L.A. River on the east and Alameda Street on the west.
Within its limits, city officials are encouraged to redevelop commercial and industrial properties and help foster an artists-in-residence community.
The new southern boundary would stretch to Violet Street, less than a quarter mile south of Seventh Street. While short in distance, it would allow new development to piggyback on several recent residential conversions of formerly defunct buildings. The boundary change would also include land between Mill and Wilson streets - just east of Alameda - to the L.A. River.
Once the new inclusion is made official, a process Goldberg said could take six to nine months, developers could have an easier time obtaining zoning changes south of Sixth Street. Huizar also noted that it would ease the process of transforming old, underutilized buildings.
"In the Arts District, under the Community Plan, it's easier for them to convert," said Huizar. "They would not need to obtain a General Plan amendment, which is more cumbersome and less likely to be approved."
The change could potentially have "a huge bearing on value" for newly incorporated parcels, said John Hillman, vice president of industrial properties for real estate firm CB Richard Ellis. Hillman represents the owners of the Imperial Toy Company building at 2060 E. Seventh St. The property, which would be affected by the change, has generated some past interest from residential developers.
The change could also help projects already proposed for the newly designated land, such as the 182-condominium AMP Lofts at Seventh Street and Santa Fe Avenue, move forward.
After being rejected by the city Planning Commission, Huizar brought the AMP project partly under the City Council's jurisdiction earlier this year. It was then denied a key approval by CRA staff. The developer plans to appeal the ruling to the CRA board, and Huizar stressed during a public meeting last week that the board should be made aware of the project's new status as part of the Arts District.
Huizar said, however, that he primarily based his proposed new boundaries on several existing developments along Santa Fe Avenue below Sixth Street.
"This really takes into account the work all of us have put into the neighborhood," said Lapchih Fan, one of the developer's of the 2121 Lofts near the Seventh Street Bridge. Phase one of the project has already opened and 59 additional lofts are slated to be completed in May. "Three of the four corners of Seventh and Santa Fe are already residential. To say that none of this is part of the mixed-use zone is ludicrous."
Yuval Bar-Zemer of Linear City, the Arts District development firm behind the Toy Factory and Biscuit Company lofts - both between Sixth and Seventh streets - also supports the expansion. "It's definitely the right step in the right direction," said Bar-Zemer, whose buildings have brought hundreds of people, as well as ancillary businesses, to the area. "Otherwise, we are left like an island with properties falling apart all around us and no chance of a change."
Qathryn Brehm, an Arts District resident and director of marketing and communications for the Central City East Association, said expanding the district could usher in much-needed street improvements, along with new development.
"If you've ever driven that area, it's really funky," Brehm said of the streets south of Sixth. "With the boundaries being established as far as Seventh, it would be easier for a [business improvement district] to be established there."
The CCEA currently operates three BIDs that cover an area stretching roughly from Los Angeles Street to the L.A. River, between the 101 Freeway and Seventh Street. Tara Devine, the CCEA's director of business and government affairs, said that the Arts District expansion could lead to the formation of a fourth.
"Currently you have in the community plan a description of the Arts District that no longer matches the reality of what people consider the neighborhood to be," said Devine. The new boundaries, she said, "reflect the reality of the district."
Contact Anna Scott at
[email protected].
page 1, 3/10/2008
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