New Housing Projects Spark DTLA Revival
How Downtown LA is becoming a residential district.
Los Angeles is known to be the entertainment hub of the world.
It was not until the last decade that downtown Los Angeles was considered a premier destination to work, shop, dine and play, let alone live. Beginning in 2014, an enormous wave of residential development has been underway, with 7,000 residential units currently under construction and another 35,000 in the pipeline.
These developments are credited to a combination of city planning officials, injections of foreign investment, and the changing mindset that DTLA is now able to compete with the wealthy suburban enclaves when it comes to providing all the elements that make up an enviable California lifestyle.
History of DTLA: “Adaptive Reuse Ordinance” and the Staples Centre
L.A. is perhaps best described as an endless geographical creation.
As the suburbanization phenomenon swept the U.S. in the 1950’s, very few American cities were positioned to rival L.A. in sheer size and infrastructure potential. Residential development spread out in all directions and was primarily single-family, with sprawling networks of freeways to connect vast distances.
As the suburbs continued to grow outwards and cars became the main method of transport, downtown L.A. saw the bulk of its urban activity between the hours of 9am and 5pm. There was nothing to draw citizens to stay in the downtown core once the working hours ended — it was made up of mostly offices, surface level parking, and dilapidated apartments and factories. With a severe recession in the 80s and early 90s, developments of all kinds stalled and the area failed to garner interest for residential projects.
But as the economy picked up, a new wave called urbanism emerged in large urban cities in the U.S. People wanted to be able to live, shop and entertain themselves in the same neighbourhoods that they worked in. As the population grew, L.A.’s infamous traffic and congestion problems grew with it, and the city began to consider if it was worth traveling longer distances to accommodate. City planners and developers saw enormous potential in DTLA’s under-utilized real estate, and set out on a decades-long mission to bring life to the area with civi, cultural, and infrastructure projects.
In 1999, the city passed the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance, a law that essentially eased traditional development restrictions. DTLA had a large supply of old buildings were primed to be converted into multi-family projects or creative spaces. The Los Angeles City Department wanted to increase density downtown, and along with developers, saw opportunities in the huge surplus of existing office space. Specific aspects like parking stall minimums were altered to accommodate this, while keeping the projects profitable for builders.
That same year, the Staples Centre was completed, bringing sports teams and tens of thousands of residents into DTLA’s South Park area for more than two-thirds of the calendar year. Developers responded again in the early 2000’s with LA Live, DTLA’s first mega mixed-use development, boasting over 7000 units, hotels, high-end restaurants and entertainment venues. The years that followed saw steady increases in residential projects that followed the same patterns.
Foreign Investment in DTLA: China and Canada
Foreign investment is also largely responsible for development in the area, particularly from China. Los Angeles is considered a gateway city to the rest of North America and has been a point of interest for much of the 20th century, with a large growing population and strong, diverse economy.
From the North, one Vancouver developer in particular, Onni Group, saw opportunities in Los Angeles decades ago and are currently one of the most active developers in DTLA. The downtown neighbourhood of South Park, along the bottom of the Figueroa Corridor, is being developed at a fast pace, with 33 active projects.
Notable mentions: amenity-rich luxury builds
Chinese developer Greenland Group’s Metropolis is a massive luxury build. With a price tag of just over $1 billion, the development is comprised of 1600 condominium units, a 350 room hotel and over 70,000 square feet of retail space.
Meanwhile, Shenzen Hazen is building a 49-storey, 435-unit residential tower as well as the new W Hotel. Across the street from LA Live, the project is bringing more shops, bars and restaurants.
After being stalled for the last few months, Oceanwide Plaza by Oceanwide Holdings has re-started, bringing 3 residential towers, totalling 688 units, as well as a Park Hyatt hotel.
Finally, Onni Group’s Hope + Flower project is one of its three large active builds downtown, totalling 730 residential units. Their additional projects are bringing nearly 2000 additional units to DTLA.
Bert Dezzutti, Executive Vice President for the Western region at Brookfield Properties says the area’s new residential development projects are “catalyst[s] for the transformation of Downtown LA”, and “once it establishes itself as a residential destination, it drives other uses.”
The influx of residential developments changes the way people interact with the city. Downtown LA is poised for change, and we can’t wait to see what the next few years will bring.
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