State of the Arts District in Los Angeles

Source: SK Staff

State of the Arts District in Los Angeles

by SweisKloss
January 21, 2020

From an architectural standpoint, urban development and revitalization in the Los Angeles area is of great interest to us. We also see the importance in staying informed on the current direction of design and construction around the city. To be completely biased, LA has some of the best creative thinkers when it comes to innovation, and the architectural design community is no exception. Our blog last week made us think about the Arts District in DTLA. While Covid-19 may have slowed down development plans, it certainly has not halted them. In fact, The Greyhound Lines 8.29-acre site was just purchased for $91 million for the purpose of redevelopment. This is in addition to the current large-scaled projects underway, such as the Arts District Center, 520 Mateo, and 6AM—a $2 billion development. Many of the plans for these projects are for mixed-use structures, which will include live/work spaces, artist studios, galleries, creative offices, retail and more. One multi-phased development is slated to complete in 2035. Plans also include a vision for sustainability with net zero energy and net-zero carbon buildings. And steps are being taken to build in a way that will stay true to original architectural features. While we firmly believe in revitalization as long as historical preservation remains intact as much as possible, what do these mega complexes ultimately mean for the Arts District? A place that artists took over in the 1970’s in order to move away from an increasingly expensive art scene in Venice and Hollywood. They saw an opportunity in occupying the forgotten warehouses downtown. Since then, this district east of Alameda has that certain grit that inherently exudes from a combination of art and industrial backdrops. One SK staffer said, “The Arts District is my favorite place to go downtown. It’s great that they are continuing to develop the area, but I hope it doesn’t become too polished. It needs to maintain that art edge.”