The architecture, transportation systems and neighborhoods in Los Angeles are in incredible transformation. Construction is taking place in almost every portion of the City, both in private and public venues (and some with both private and public uses).
One project in construction which epitomizes this transformation — something you have to see to believe — is located in the “Arts District” downtown. That is a part of Los Angeles which until recently has been off the beaten track or, more accurately, right off the tracks of the rail lines south of Union Station. On a “hardhat” tour not long ago, Joe was amazed at the size and scope of this mixed-use enterprise in what was for decades an industrial part of town next to the train terminal and the Los Angeles River.
Imagine a 400+ unit apartment building with a substantial retail element extending for three city blocks from First Street to Fourth Street along Santa Fe Avenue. There are two very long buildings laid out like passing trains which will have apartments on the upper floors plus retail and restaurant sites with rental rates in the range of $3.00 per square foot along both sides of the three buildings below the residential units. To give you an idea of just how long the project is, visualize this: had the structures been erected vertically, they would have formed the fifth tallest building in the world!
Of course, this project is initially going to appeal mostly to people working downtown and those in creative fields, for whom the explosive growth of the Arts District is a boon and a real game-changer. What may prove to be even more remarkable will be what the project signifies as to rejuvenation of the City’s urban core. Like the loft conversions not that long ago in the old Bank District, One Santa Fe is stimulating developers to pursue mixed-use possibilities throughout the Arts District, thereby setting the stage for a new wave of gentrification of a previously underutilized segment of Los Angeles.
In fact, due to the excitement generated by One Santa Fe and the clamor for retail and restaurant space in the vicinity, other significant developments are in the planning stage or scheduled to break ground soon. For example, on the west side of Santa Fe Avenue at Third Street, right across the road from One Santa Fe, another sizeable mixed-use project has obtained its entitlements and is expected to commence construction very shortly.
Get over there and take a look. While you are there, drive around to see some of the other changes and try the Factory Kitchen or one of the other excellent, cutting edge restaurants which have recently opened nearby and which are, incredibly, becoming destination sites themselves.
The Cobert Blawg 