LOS ANGELES-The Ratkovich Co. made news last week with its $241-million purchase of Macy's Plaza in the downtown area. The developer plans to totally revamp it into a multi-use destination that will transform the existing and dated retail, office space and hotel on the property.

Taking on transformative projects is nothing new for the company since president/CEO Wayne Ratkovich founded it in 1977. It has been responsible for acclaimed renovations to the Oviatt Building and the Wilshire Theatre, among other local landmarks, and is currently involved in several other deals that will update treasured local real estate properties.

GlobeSt.com had some questions about where Ratkovich sees Los Angeles heading.

GlobeSt.com: Some say downtown retail is at a tipping point, and may become a shopping destination like San Francisco and New York. What do you think?

Wayne Ratkovich: I think it will urbanize, but it will do so in its own way. Those cities preceded the invention of the automobile. I think urbanization has definitely arrived here and the time is right.

GlobeSt.com: What does urbanization mean, in your view?

W.R.: It means if you were to go way back – there's a book called “The Crabgrass Frontier,” about the suburbanization of America - it all started in NYC when developers were promoting land in the suburbs and said life in the city was bad in all respects. So everyone went to suburbia. Then suburban growth came to L.A., and we took it to its ultimate configuration. But there's been a return to the city since around 1990. We are now receiving that in a visible dose. It's influenced by demographics, the young people moving into the city. That's what you see in downtown. People enjoy the city, enjoy the pleasures and delights of the city and particularly if they're not in their family years – if they are pre or post-family - the city offers a more interesting life, I think. That's what it's all about. It's for people to share everything from museums to good restaurants.

GlobeSt.com: It says in your bio that you are committed to city building. How does that vision play into what you're doing with Macy's Plaza and Los Angeles at large?

W.R.: That's what we fancy ourselves as doing, being committed to urban development and helping to build the city. We won't build an entire city, but we'll make a positive contribution in the city we live in. Macy's Plaza is a magnificent opportunity to demonstrate what we can do. I think this property has the opportunity to be the heart of downtown L.A., the center point. You mentioned New York, but if the (New Year's ) ball dropped in L.A., then this is the place the ball would drop. This is the urban core. We're situated right in the heart of the city. It's sitting on top of the second largest transit station in Los Angeles. It has the potential to be the city center. 

GlobeSt.com: You mentioned transportation. How will that play a role in shaping downtown? Some say the subway goes nowhere you'd want to go.

W.R.: I suppose that's true for some folks. It certainly has made a big difference. In the early years, I was no fan of it. But if you look at what has transpired since then, downtown L.A. has benefitted from it. It allowed companies that are contemplating where they're going to locate in Southern California another option, the advantage to draw employees from the North, East, South and West. Gensler (the global architecture firm) is an example of a firm that benefitted from coming downtown.. They could draw from a larger labor pool. The large architecture firms are in downtown, and they don't have to provide parking for every one of their employees. The access is also better. If you're in Santa Monica at 3 p.m, you're not going far. But in downtown, you have mobility. I also sense that the devotion to the single-person automobile and to the auto in general is waning a little bit in favor of alternative forms of mass transit and living.

GlobeSt.com: Beyond being a developer, do you have any other ambitions? Politics? Owning a sports team?

W.R.: Absolutely not, except to be the best developer I can possibly be, and it's not even me, it's the company that I have formed. Our company is the entity by which we can make the most significant contribution to our city.