HouseOnTheHills.com

For over 70 years the 20 square block area of downtown Los Angeles was the center of business, shopping, and society for the city. Over the years urban spread moved those activities from downtown to other newer areas: Hancock Park, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and the San Fernando Valley. This led to a migration out of downtown and changed how people shopped and lived. Urban life became more suburban and downtown businesses, shops, and restaurants closed. The last of the grand mansions that once typified the wealthy residents of the city were torn down on Bunker Hill. For many years downtown was only a daytime business center and almost completely dead at night.

While boasting a daytime population of almost 500,000, by 1998 the full time resident population was down to just over 18,000. During the past ten years that course has dramatically changed. Begun and led by the artist who reclaimed the empty factories and warehouses, it spread to young urban pioneers who loved the bohemian energy and edgy artistcness of the new scene.

Around 2000, the classic old building in the Historic Core around Spring Street began to be bought and refurbished by developers who saw a petential future in saving the grand old 1920′s and 1930′s building. Gradually the development gathered more and more interest and the revitalization spread to other areas of downtown.

When the architecturally significant Eastern Columbian Building of South Broadway was bought and refurbished by the Kor Group, it gave a credibility to a whole new segment of upwardly mobile young people with money who wanted a new expreience, and gave a new credibility to the idea of urban, downtown living in Los Angeles.

Transformation of empty office and bank buildings into housing started happening rapidly. Renovation and conversion of the Biscuit Lofts and Toy Lofts in the eastern district warehouse area pused out the preceived acceptable boundaries. While both of the projects have sold out, the Barker Block (also by the Kor Group) has been very successful in selling their project of the old Barker Brothers Furniture factory turned lofts of 297 units.

Architects and developers looked at the opportunity and began rethinking how these interesting and beautiful ofld buildings could be used. The Hellman, The Continental, The San Fernando all had been office buildings and found new life as housing. The Higgins building, a 135 unit building on 2nd St became condos, as did the historic Douglas Building on S. Spring with 50 condo units. The mid-century Gas Company building on Flower was converted to 251 loft apartments, moving the new residential area to the western side of downtown.