DTLA Growth Is Still in Its Infancy

LOS ANGELES—“It wasn't clear to me until five or six years ago that this would really work,” Carol Schatz, president of the DCBID, said at RealShare Los Angeles about the prospering DTLA market. She spoke on the Breaking Ground, Breaking Walls: Development and Redevelopment in Downtown Los Angeles panel with Dale Yorkin, EVP and residential studio director at Nadel Architects, and Mike Rovner, president of Mike Rovner Construction.

After discussing the catalyst for growth in the Downtown Los Angeles market—specifically the development of the Staples Center and the adaptive reuse ordinance—the speakers looked at the future of development in the market. “I think the future is extremely bright,” said Schatz. “We are seeing every market on fire. We are retail, and we are seeing interest by other museums and cultural institutions. The renaissance is 18 years old, and that is infancy for a city of this size. We are really just at the beginning of this.”

She said that the proof is in the growth that the market has already experienced. Today, there are 65,000 people living downtown and 38,000 apartment units. In 1999, she says, there were only 16,000 residents and 11,600 residential units. Today more than $30 billion has been invested in the market.

There are still challenges. Schatz says the biggest problem is the homeless problem. “I think our biggest hurdle is dealing with the homeless population,” she said. It is a problem that is very visible.” The good news is that Measure HHH passed in November and will provide permanent housing for the homeless. “There is a path forward,” added Schatz. “I talk to people, and they are saying that there will be no excuse once that money rolls in if we do not see a substantial reduction in LA.”

Now, the renaissance is flooding into surrounding neighborhoods, like Boyle Heights. “[I knew that] if we took over DTLA, we would spill life into every neighborhood into all of the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Schatz. “That has happened.” There are still neglected submarkets of Downtown Los Angeles, but Schatz says that she is starting to see movement in those neighborhoods as well, like Chinatown and the areas surrounding skid row. “Those will be developed in the next few years,” she added.

LOS ANGELES—“It wasn't clear to me until five or six years ago that this would really work,” Carol Schatz, president of the DCBID, said at RealShare Los Angeles about the prospering DTLA market. She spoke on the Breaking Ground, Breaking Walls: Development and Redevelopment in Downtown Los Angeles panel with Dale Yorkin, EVP and residential studio director at Nadel Architects, and Mike Rovner, president of Mike Rovner Construction.

After discussing the catalyst for growth in the Downtown Los Angeles market—specifically the development of the Staples Center and the adaptive reuse ordinance—the speakers looked at the future of development in the market. “I think the future is extremely bright,” said Schatz. “We are seeing every market on fire. We are retail, and we are seeing interest by other museums and cultural institutions. The renaissance is 18 years old, and that is infancy for a city of this size. We are really just at the beginning of this.”

She said that the proof is in the growth that the market has already experienced. Today, there are 65,000 people living downtown and 38,000 apartment units. In 1999, she says, there were only 16,000 residents and 11,600 residential units. Today more than $30 billion has been invested in the market.

There are still challenges. Schatz says the biggest problem is the homeless problem. “I think our biggest hurdle is dealing with the homeless population,” she said. It is a problem that is very visible.” The good news is that Measure HHH passed in November and will provide permanent housing for the homeless. “There is a path forward,” added Schatz. “I talk to people, and they are saying that there will be no excuse once that money rolls in if we do not see a substantial reduction in LA.”

Now, the renaissance is flooding into surrounding neighborhoods, like Boyle Heights. “[I knew that] if we took over DTLA, we would spill life into every neighborhood into all of the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Schatz. “That has happened.” There are still neglected submarkets of Downtown Los Angeles, but Schatz says that she is starting to see movement in those neighborhoods as well, like Chinatown and the areas surrounding skid row. “Those will be developed in the next few years,” she added.