Two (or 3!) Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles This Memorial Day Weekend - Starting at The Last Bookstore.

TWO Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles this Memorial Day Weekend!  The Last Bookstore (with its  2nd floor filled with 50,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  will be the starting point for the regular Saturday May 24th at 10:30 AM. Then there will be a 11 AM start time for this SUNDAY's May 25th 2 hour walking tour of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles -  FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

And with 24 hours notice there can also be a Monday May 26th Memorial Day tour - at the starting time of your choice.


And besides the regular 10:30 AM tour every Saturday, with reservations totaling at least 4 or more people  made by 5 PM Saturday - Sunday Tours can  also be given starting at 11 PM - or later depending -  on the first person's reservations.  And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or?? 
FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

New Arrivals in the $1 Room in The Last Bookstore's Labyrinth

After a brief hiatus - 20 boxes a day are once again being shelved in the One Dollar Room of The Last Bookstore in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring. 

 Owner Josh Spencer in Book Tunnel leading to the $1 Room  Photo courtesy of LA Weekly
Among recent acquisitions include a large collection of books on sailing and everything nautical, dozens of textbooks (including a strong selection on accounting, statistics and math)  over 200 books on all things gay and lesbian - from history to culture to fiction to biographies, over 100 biographies (including George Abbot, George Burns,  Chaucer and Willa Cather), and over 100 new books on psychology, several hundred books of poetry and over 100 books for our African-American section ranging from history and culture to popular and literary novel.

The Last Bookstore - located at 453 S. Spring Street - is one block from the 5th Street Red Line subway station between Hill and Broadway in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles and is open from 10 AM to 10 PM Monday - Thursday, 10 AM - 11 PM Friday and Saturday and 10 AM to 9 PM on Sunday.

75 Degrees Forcast for the SUNDAY May 18th Two Hour Walking Tour of Historic Downtown LA - May 18th at 11 AM Starting at The Last Bookstore

 Beat the Heat at The Last Bookstore's (with its  2nd floor filled with 50,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  special 11 AM START TIME FOR This SUNDAY's May 18th 2 hour walking tour of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles -  FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

Yes, due to the 75 Degree temperature for tomorrow Sunday May 18th- there will be a HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking with a start time of 11:0 AM and an ending time of 1 PM.  Then - next Saturday - May 24th - the regular 10:30 tours will resuje

 But on every Sunday, with reservations totaling at least 4 or more people  made by 5 PM Saturday - Sunday Tours can  also be given starting at 11 PM - or later depending -  on the first person's reservations.  And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

LA Weekly Honors Josh Spencer & The Last Bookstore

Josh Spencer of The Last Bookstore in the Labyrinth's Book Tunnel

 

 Photo by Ryan Orange

The current issue of LA Weekly's People 20014 includes Josh Spencer - founder and owner of The Last Bookstore, located at 5th & Spring in the Spring Arts Tower in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles

Three factors have made The Last Bookstore both a successful business at a time so many other bookstores are closing and a creative institution that is drawing fans from all over the world.  Josh's unique artistic vision of how the space looks and how the space functions as a community gathering center (for Downtown and all of Los Angeles as well as, increasingly, the greater international book community) - and Josh's ability to craft a business plan that allows the store to sell books at affordable prices and still remain a viable, sustainable business.

Here is the opening of the story:

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2014 issue. Check out our entire People 2014 issue.

When Josh Spencer first moved into the neighborhood, he saw quite a few unexpected things: "Dead bodies in the street, people shooting up outside my door. I saw so many blowjobs on the street, too."

It might be hard to believe Spencer is talking about the much-traversed blocks around Spring and Fifth Street in downtown L.A., much less that the era he's describing was just nine years ago. But as the owner of the Last Bookstore, Spencer has done as much as anyone to catalyze downtown's renaissance.

Modest to a fault, the soft-spoken Kentucky native chalks it all up to good luck. Selling books and other things on eBay had long been his business plan - until he got tired of his apartment "looking like a permanent garage sale" and decided to focus on books. Then, a cheap commercial space opened up across from his apartment in 2009, and he bowed to friendly local pressure for a brick-and-mortar store.

"It was on a short lease, so I could experiment," Spencer says. His contractor father flew in from Hawaii and they set up the place in 10 days.

But the shop quickly outgrew the space. Someone suggested a larger location just a block away, a 10,000-square-foot former bank. Spencer recalls visiting the empty building: "I would just sit there and imagine it: the high ceilings, the columns, the immensity of it. I was enthralled." He finished the designs and called his dad again.

For the rest of the story go to LA Weekly's website.

Downtown LA's Last Bookstore $1 Room Now Has Non-Fiction - AND Fiction - Fully Organized!

When I first volunteered to organize some of the non-fiction books in the upstairs One Dollar Room in The Last Bookstore's famed Labyrinth, my goal was simply to help those in the community - students, residents in the SRO's and artists - who might be on limited incomes - be able to find books they needed to help improve their lives.   But - in time - I ended up organizing ALL the non-fiction into over 50 categories.

And - eventually - I started to alphabetize some of the fiction - and - once again - I got carried away.   So now - besides the books in installations - every non-fiction book is in one of 50 plus sections - and every novel not in an installation - is sorted by size and then by whether it's hardback or paperback - after which each of those four categories is fully alphabetized by author.

So stop by The Last Bookstore and see the NEW $1 Room at 453 S. Spring Street at 5th & Spring in the Spring Arts Tower and say hi. And if you are around at 10:30 AM this or any Saturday Morning - you can take my 2 Hour Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles.

Four Saturday Walking Tous of Historic Downtown Los Angeles This May at The Last Bookstore - 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

The Last Bookstore (with its  2nd floor filled with 50,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  a 10:30 START TIME FOR 2 hour walking tours  of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles -  FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

There will be a HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour this Saturday  May 10th, May 17th, May 24th and May 31st with a start time of 10:30 AM and an ending time of 12:30 PM. 

And on every Sunday, with reservations totaling at least 4 or more people  made by 5 PM Saturday - Sunday Tours can  also be given starting at 11 PM - or later depending -  on the first person's reservations.  And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

May Company Building on Downtown LA's Broadway Sells to New York Developer

 Photo courtesy of  Gary Friedman of the LA Times

Roger Vincent of the Los Angeles Times has the story on the sale of the largest building left to convert in Downtown Los Angeles.

Former May Co. building in downtown L.A. to get revived after sale

By Roger Vincent

April 12, 2014, 5:00 a.m.

A huge former department store on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles is being sold to a New York real estate investment firm that intends to pump new life into the old building and its rebounding neighborhood.

The century-old flagship of the May Co. contains 1.1 million square feet of space surrounded by Broadway, Hill Street and 8th Street. The commercial district was once one of the best in the Southern California, but fell on hard times in the late decades of the 20th century.

Waterbridge Capital has agreed to buy the property now known as Broadway Trade Center, city officials and property brokers said. The price was not disclosed, but experts familiar with the downtown real estate market expect the property to garner $115 million to $130 million.

And...

L.A. City Council member Jose Huizar said in a statement that Waterbridge plans a mixed-use development that may include offices, a hotel, stores and apartments or condominiums. There was no announcement about potential tenants.

The property is one of the largest available on the West Coast for conversion to new uses and many investors were interested in getting in on the comeback of downtown's historic district, real estate broker Phillip Sample of CBRE Group Inc. said.

"The rarity of a redevelopment opportunity in this size range, especially in a downtown core like Los Angeles that is clearly on an upward trajectory, created a tremendous level of interest from both private and institutional capital from all over the world," said Sample, who represented the seller.

Waterbridge's plan to combine several uses in one big historic building "will be a game changer for downtown L.A.," Sample said.

No building quite like that exists downtown. Historically, however, the old structure has been many things simultaneously.

It opened in 1908 as the Hamburger department store, and in addition to selling clothing and home furnishings it had an 80-foot-long soda fountain, a restaurant, a grocery store, a post office and a roof garden. The third floor housed the L.A. Public Library for a few years.

There was a house physician's office with a fully equipped operating room ready for emergencies "and a corner where a fainting woman can rest and be restored to strength," The Times reported at the time. There was also a theater where an audience of 1,000 could watch a moving-picture show or a vaudeville act.

And...

The historic Orpheum Theater across Broadway from the old May Co. building has been restored, and another former department store next door called Eastern Columbia has been converted to luxury condominiums.

A $100-million, 32-story apartment building is under construction across Hill Street, and the former United Artists theater and office complex about a block away on Broadway is now the 180-room Ace Hotel.

The activity piqued the interest of Waterbridge, said real estate broker Chris Caras of CBRE Group, who worked with Sample on the deal.

"The location within the downtown core," he said, "was a major draw for the buyer."

roger.vincent@latimes.com

The full story is on the L:A Times website.

Pilot of Missing Jet Likely the Hijacker!

The Daily Mail has all the details on the timeline of what the pilot did just before he took control of the plane.
An image has emerged of the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet wearing a T-shirt with a 'Democracy is Dead' slogan as it has been revealed he could have hijacked the plane in an anti-government protest.
Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a father-of-three, was said to be a 'fanatical' supporter of the country's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim - jailed for homosexuality just hours before the jet disappeared.
It has also been revealed that the pilot's wife and three children moved out of the family home the day before the plane went missing.
It comes as FBI investigators say the disappearance of MH370 may have been ‘an act of piracy’ and the possibility that hundreds of passengers are being held at an unknown location has not been ruled out.
Officials also revealed that it is possible the aircraft could have landed and transmitted a satellite signal from the ground. If the plane was intact and had enough electrical power in reserve, it would be able to send out a radar 'ping'.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2581817/Doomed-airliner-pilot-political-fanatic-Hours-taking-control-flight-MH370-attended-trial-jailed-opposition-leader-sodomite.html#ixzz2w90m3MZm

The Broad (Art Museum) Announces Timothy Hollingsworth (formerly of 3 Michelin Star French Laundry Restaurant) as Executive Chef of Its Restaurant (REVISED)

Three announcements are being released by Eli Broad's Grand Avenue art museum this Monday, but  today's LA Times article by Christopher Hawthorne big news is... the kitchen in free standing restaurant in the plaza's park space will have as its executive chef, Timothy Hollingsworth. 

Hollingsworth, formerly of the world renown French Laundry (once called the world's finest restaurant by the New York Times), not only managed to retain the restaurant's existing 3 star Michelin rating (currently one of only eight in the country), but he twice won the US semi-finals for the Bocuse d'Or (the Olympics of cooking) and also tied with one other American for the highest scored received by an American at the finals even before he was made the head chef at the French Laundry.  

The New York Times has more on this aspect of the story:

Mr. Broad has invested in friends’ restaurants over the years, but he is now entering the field in a bigger way: He has formed a joint venture with Bill Chait, the force behind Bestia, Republique and Picca, to develop a restaurant next to the museum.

Other partners in the restaurant are alumni of Thomas Keller restaurants: Rory Herrmann, formerly of Bouchon Beverly Hills, who has signed on as director of culinary operations, and Timothy Hollingsworth, the former head chef of The French Laundry in the Napa Valley, who will serve as executive chef.

While the menu is still being developed, Mr. Hollingsworth described the vision as distinct from the Thomas Keller model. “It’s not going to be an ultrafine dining restaurant or the taco concept I talked about opening up, which I will still do in the future. We’re thinking more about approachable food with familiar flavors,” he said.

Mr. Hollingsworth said there were plans to involve the community directly, by hiring locally and serving subsidized lunches — “healthy, well-cooked meals” — to schoolchildren who visit the museum.

Hollingsworth's appointment as the executive chef (and the selection of Roy Hermann as the director of culinary operations)- despite Hollingsworth's statement they are not aiming for the type of dining experience at the French Laundry - still gives DTLA a chance to have a Michelin rated restaurant - for one reason.  If anyone can design a menu of 'approachable food' worthy of Michelin stars, this is the team that might be able to accomplish that. 
Below is the opening of Hawthorne's article - and the other two announcements.

The leaders of Eli Broad's planned Grand Avenue museum of contemporary art, to be called simply the Broad, will make news in three separate ways on Monday.They will unveil designs for a new plaza adjacent to the museum by architects Diller, Scofidio + Renfro and landscape architect Walter Hood. They will name Bill Chait, who runs Bestia in the arts district, to oversee a new restaurant on the plaza with Timothy Hollingsworth, former chef de cuisine at French Laundry in the Napa Valley.And they will announce that the opening of the museum has been pushed back from this fall to an unspecified date next year.

And the rest of Hawthorne's article is here. 

The Next Big Step for Broadway - Jobs & Businesses

Roger Vincent of the Los Angeles Times interviews Councilman Jose Huizar about the overall progress of his Bringing Back Broadway initiative - and the latest planning 'tool' to not just bring business and jobs to the upper floors of Broadway - but to older buildings everywhere in Los Angeles. 

February 6, 2014.

Broadway, the sparkling entertainment district of mid-20th-century Los Angeles, had a long fall.

As residents moved to the suburbs, opulent movie palaces dating to the early days of the film industry closed their doors. Upscale shops were closed, and department stores decamped for newer neighborhoods in the 1970s and 1980s. Businesses catering primarily to Latino immigrants kept the sidewalks active, but most buildings fell empty above the first floor.
Much of downtown has enjoyed a renaissance since 2000. New residences, bars and restaurants have peppered downtown from L.A. Live to Chinatown, but the dream of making Broadway a hot spot again has remained elusive. Now, five years into a Bringing Back Broadway initiative launched by politicians, preservationists and property owners, there are signs of reawakening prosperity.
On the Broadway blocks between 2nd and 12th streets are a growing number of new bars, restaurants and stores. Near Olympic Boulevard, the trendy Ace Hotel just opened in a former office building and movie house, and plans for another boutique hotel a few blocks away were announced in December.
An Urban Outfitters clothing outlet set recently up shop in the former Rialto Theatre. Hip Swedish retailer Acne Studios launched a flagship store in the Art Deco landmark Eastern Columbia building, a former department store turned luxury condominium tower.

And here is the important new reform that is about to be initiated - allowing developers the same type of flexibility for developers to restore old office buildings for offices - and not just residences - as did the first Adaptive Reuse  Ordinance of 1999.  And everything that has happened in the past 15 years has been a result of that first ordinance - champion by Carol Schatz and the Central City Association.  Even the proposing of that ordinance was enough to convince me to leave Malibu and move full time to Downtown. 

In an effort to hasten the recovery and revive still run-down sections of Broadway, city officials in December revamped real estate development guidelines intended to make it easier for landlords to reactivate their old buildings. The policies are intended to help Fire Department and Department of Building and Safety staff members consistently interpret the rules for upgrading old buildings that don't meet modern safety codes.
"We are knocking the dust off of decades of layers of red tape and impossible and conflicting codes that have resulted in our historic buildings on Broadway sitting empty for far too long," said City Councilman Jose Huizar, whose district includes downtown.
In an interview with The Times, Huizar — chairman of Bringing Back Broadway — talked about new real estate development guidelines that were adopted in December and how Broadway is evolving as downtown Los Angeles gets its mojo back.

You described these new guidelines as the biggest thing downtown since the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance of 1999 that opened the floodgates to renovations of historic buildings. What do you expect their primary benefit to be?
This is the linchpin that will allow for full revitalization of these historic buildings on Broadway where about 1 million square feet on upper floors have been empty for decades. It will be easier and cheaper to put them to use again.
Why did we need more guidelines?
The city was requiring that once buildings were upgraded they must be brought up in full to modern codes, but it wasn't clear which codes would be applied. Owners got different answers from different city staff members. There was a lot of uncertainty and confusion. It was easier for a lot of building owners to simply rely on lease activity on the first floor.
What was the main source of the confusion?
There were conflicts in the codes themselves, the California historic building codes that cities are supposed to interpret and use. Were we to use those codes or modern codes? Then there were different interpretations by different city departments.
Why won't that happen again?
Now people can work with a staff person — a plan checker — dedicated to helping them through the process in Building and Safety and the Fire Department. They'll help people navigate the guidelines. Safety will remain a priority.
Presuming this works, what is Broadway going to look like in five years?
You will see a real mix of activity among people from a mix of backgrounds, including tourists and residents who live on Broadway. There will be creative offices upstairs, new restaurants going up. There's going to be a wide variety of activity.
Some people have expressed fear that gentrification will drive out low-income residents and rob Broadway of some of its more recent ethnic flavor.
Concerns about gentrification were overstated initially. We are opening up historic buildings and floors that haven't been used in decades, not removing people. There will be a change, but we're adding more people and more services.

For the rest of the story with an update on the streetcar and the upcoming trial run of the new streetscaping plan for Broadway - click here.

Why Does an Atlanta Filmmaker & a GQ Reporter from NYC Understand Downtown LA Better Than Writers & Reporters in LA?

Both the January GW Magazine article on Downtown LA by New York raised Brett Martin and the the February debuting film by Atlanta producer Will Packer (read this morning's LA Times article by Richard Vernier) understand and appreciate our unique community  - our own small town in the heart of the big city we have built in Downtown Los Angeles - in ways many local LA writers and reporters - still too blinded by past perceptions  to be able to see.  Here is the opening of Vernier's article:

A movie Valentine to Downtown L.A.

'About Last Night' is among the first films to depict Los Angeles' revitalized business center, showcasing gastropubs, bars and historic spots in a 10-block radius around 6th and Main.

By Richard Verrier

February 5, 2014, 5:00 a.m.

A bustling community of dog parks, gastropubs and historic lofts where people actually walk to work?

That's hardly the typical depiction of Los Angeles, at least in the movies.
Yet that is precisely the unconventional image of L.A. that emerges in the upcoming romantic comedy "About Last Night," a remake of the 1986 film starring Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins that explored the world of dating among four singles.
Though the original movie was based on a David Mamet play set in Chicago, the contemporary remake joins the 2009 film "(500) Days of Summer" as one of the first to depict the revitalized L.A. downtown, which is enjoying a commercial and cultural renaissance fueled by an influx of residents and merchants. The Screen Gems movie, which stars popular comedian Kevin Hart, premieres Feb. 14.

"About Last Night" was shot almost entirely downtown, showcasing such locations as the Santa Fe Lofts, Casey's Irish Pub, Broadway Bar and Cole's. The $13-million movie also was the first to shoot in the new Grand Park.
"L.A. has not been known for its downtown urban life, but there is really a resurgence," said producer Will Packer, who lives in Atlanta and is best known for the 2012 comedy "Think Like a Man." "There are lofts, gastropubs and night life — a real culture here now — so it felt like the right time to showcase that. We wanted the film to be an organic slice of life, like being on a street corner and seeing the way young people interact, drink, party and eat."
The "About Last Night" remake filmed over seven weeks in the fall of 2012. With the exception of Dodger Stadium, the entire movie was shot within a 10-block radius of the corner of 6th and Main streets, where the crew had set up a base camp.

 

That's highly unusual in that most movies film at multiple locations spread miles apart. But selecting locations within one small area enabled producers to keep transportation and other costs down.
"If we couldn't walk to it from 6th and Main, it was out of range," said Brian O'Neill, the film's location manager.
One of the principal locations was the Santa Fe Lofts, where Danny, the lead character played by Michael Ealy, lives. His friend Bernie (played by Hart) lives nearby in the historic Pacific Electric Building.
Filming in one area for several weeks can be risky. The downtown area already is heavily filmed, occasionally prompting complaints from local residents and merchants about disruptions caused by crews.

With that in mind, O'Neill sought to partner with local businesses such as Casey's and Broadway Bar by giving them roles in the film — as themselves.
"I reached out to the local community and approached them with the idea of: 'Do you want to be a partner in this movie? We're going to shoot your property as is,'" O'Neill said.

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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-et-ct-onlocation-downtown-la-20140205,0,3213674.story#ixzz2sSlhSqcn

By Richard Verrier

February 5, 2014, 5:00 a.m.

A bustling community of dog parks, gastropubs and historic lofts where people actually walk to work?

That's hardly the typical depiction of Los Angeles, at least in the movies.
Yet that is precisely the unconventional image of L.A. that emerges in the upcoming romantic comedy "About Last Night," a remake of the 1986 film starring Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins that explored the world of dating among four singles.
Though the original movie was based on a David Mamet play set in Chicago, the contemporary remake joins the 2009 film "(500) Days of Summer" as one of the first to depict the revitalized L.A. downtown, which is enjoying a commercial and cultural renaissance fueled by an influx of residents and merchants. The Screen Gems movie, which stars popular comedian Kevin Hart, premieres Feb. 14.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll 

"About Last Night" was shot almost entirely downtown, showcasing such locations as the Santa Fe Lofts, Casey's Irish Pub, Broadway Bar and Cole's. The $13-million movie also was the first to shoot in the new Grand Park.
"L.A. has not been known for its downtown urban life, but there is really a resurgence," said producer Will Packer, who lives in Atlanta and is best known for the 2012 comedy "Think Like a Man." "There are lofts, gastropubs and night life — a real culture here now — so it felt like the right time to showcase that. We wanted the film to be an organic slice of life, like being on a street corner and seeing the way young people interact, drink, party and eat."
The "About Last Night" remake filmed over seven weeks in the fall of 2012. With the exception of Dodger Stadium, the entire movie was shot within a 10-block radius of the corner of 6th and Main streets, where the crew had set up a base camp.

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That's highly unusual in that most movies film at multiple locations spread miles apart. But selecting locations within one small area enabled producers to keep transportation and other costs down.
"If we couldn't walk to it from 6th and Main, it was out of range," said Brian O'Neill, the film's location manager.
One of the principal locations was the Santa Fe Lofts, where Danny, the lead character played by Michael Ealy, lives. His friend Bernie (played by Hart) lives nearby in the historic Pacific Electric Building.
Filming in one area for several weeks can be risky. The downtown area already is heavily filmed, occasionally prompting complaints from local residents and merchants about disruptions caused by crews.

VIRTUAL TOUR: Hollywood's Walk of Fame

With that in mind, O'Neill sought to partner with local businesses such as Casey's and Broadway Bar by giving them roles in the film — as themselves.
"I reached out to the local community and approached them with the idea of: 'Do you want to be a partner in this movie? We're going to shoot your property as is,'" O'Neill said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-et-ct-onlocation-downtown-la-20140205,0,3213674.story#ixzz2sSlhSqcn