When Kent Smith became executive director of LA Fashion District 17 years ago, the business improvement district only spanned 18 blocks. Now it covers 100 blocks and counts 1,000 property owners as members.
“You can’t stop change from happening,” Smith said. “Downtown has reinvented itself so many different times.”
Smith is about to reinvent himself as well, with plans to leave the BID and venture into a new career in urban development. He said one of his biggest accomplishments was connecting the Fashion District with the rest of downtown.
“The bones have always been here. We’ve been able to make the street comfortable for people to walk, do business, have shops, outdoor dining. … These were things that just weren’t happening in downtown when I started,” he said.
For example, City Market South is on the horizon as a dining and shopping destination built into a former wholesale produce mart founded in 1909. Restaurants are slated to include San Francisco eatery Slanted Door and a restaurant from chef Steve Samson, of Italian restaurant Sotto in Mid-City.
But Smith has had his frustrations. Homelessness has worsened, and sidewalk vending has sometimes held back brick-and-mortar businesses or blocked sidewalk access. He is hopeful that his successor can address those issues while tackling a new one: revamped zoning regulations that would allow for residential development, rather than just industrial use.
“It’s one of the few places in the entire county that would welcome new, modestly priced residential development,” he said. “It’s been frustrating that it’s taken so long for the city to embrace that.”
Popular Culture
Hauser Wirth & Schimmel’s new Arts District gallery-meets-museum only opened in March, but it’s already welcomed 35,000 Angelenos to revel in its artistic and architectural beauty.
Helping the venue become such a popular destination have been offerings such as its basket-weaving workshops, unique bookstore items, and free art history talks.
Local artists such as Liz Larner, Rachel Khedoori, and Lara Schnitger have works on display as part of its “Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947 – 2016” exhibition, which will run through September. The ambitious undertaking includes nearly 100 works. It’s free to tour the space and view the art, but some of the pieces are also for sale – ranging in price from $28,000 to $2 million.
“Although the model looks like a museum from the outside, it runs like a gallery from the inside,” said Aandrea Stang, head of education for the family-owned gallery. “We’re able to secure museum loans from around the world, which is unusual for a gallery to do, but Hauser Wirth has a long history of doing it to create historical shows that look at art history.”
Co-founded in 1992, Hauser & Wirth (named for co-founders Ursula Hauser, and Iwan and Manuela Wirth) opened its first gallery devoted to contemporary and modern art in Zurich. Since then, it has grown into a global enterprise, with spaces in London, New York, and its latest in Los Angeles.
Once a storage facility, the 100,000-square-foot complex has been repurposed with a goal of creating accessibility for all local residents to enjoy – even the four-legged variety. One of the most popular spaces for visitors to linger is the public courtyard in the center of the building, where people (and pets) can gather and enjoy local food truck fare and fresh air.
Retail Roundup
Cleveland-based developer Forest City, the company behind the Metro 417 Lofts at Fourth and Hill streets, is turning its attention below ground.
The firm is planning to convert 130,000 square feet at the same building just north of Pershing Square into a retail and creative office complex. Downtown brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle will rent out the space. The structure above, known as the Subway Terminal Building, was built in 1925 and once housed a Red Line subway station. The development was first reported by the L.A. Downtown News. … South Park pet owners will soon have another place to buy treats for their loved ones. Petco plans to open one of its Unleashed stores in a 5,000-square-foot location at Ninth and Hope streets by the fall, according to blog DTLA Rising. The store, across the street from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, will take up the ground-level retail space of a six-story parking structure.
Staff reporters Daina Beth Solomon, Kristin Marguerite Doidge, and Jonathan Ponciano contributed to this column. #DTLA is compiled by Managing Editor Omar Shamout. He can be reached at [email protected].
