LOS ANGELES-The growing momentum of development in Downtown Los Angeles prompted local officials to court New York investors last week with the local group's third trade mission in six years. A delegation of business and political leaders took their story to a gathering of prospective investors in New York City to make their pitch for investing in Downtown Los Angeles commercial real estate projects.
Hosted by the Downtown Center Business Improvement District, the trade mission was led by Eli Broad, philanthropist and founder-chairman of KB Home and SunAmerica Inc. who is active in a number of Downtown Los Angeles initiatives. The contingent met with more than 100 Wall Street investment bankers, real estate investors and financiers to tell the Downtown Los Angeles story.
Among the locals' messages: Housing is booming, the office market is strong and retail is growing in the city's center. At a press conference before the trade mission, Broad and others from the mission, including Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry and Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Downtown business improvement district, outlined their pitch to the New York investors.
Schatz pointed out that a recent study by her group showed nearly 7,000 residential units and 32 commercial structures and public facilities have been rehabilitated or built new since 1999, with 100 projects now under construction or in the permitting or planning stages. The study found that more than $12 billion will be invested in construction in those projects.
In addition to the 7,000 residential units built since 1999, some 6,600 are under construction and an additional 5,700 are permitted or in plan check, according to the study. The Downtown Los Angeles population is quickly nearing 30,000, providing the density needed for ongoing development, the study says.
The local contingent also told the New Yorkers about two mega projects in development in Downtown, the $2.5-billion LA Live development and the $1.2-billion Grand Avenue project. The LA Live project is planned for a convention center hotel, restaurants and retail mixed with luxury condos next to the Staples Center, with Phase I scheduled for completion in late 2007. The Grand Avenue project is slated to break ground in December in the area around the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
In addition to Broad, Schatz and Perry, speakers at the New York event included a cross section of Los Angeles executives whose firms are involved in projects that are bringing a host of new residential units and commercial development to Downtown. The program was sponsored in part by Broadway Real Estate Partners LLC, a private real estate investment and management firm, headquartered in New York.
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