The intersection of Fifth and Main, “The Nickel,” was once a destination for those who frequented shady bars, looked for a fix or were just plain down on their luck.
But as redevelopment began to take hold in the last decade, art galleries, restaurants and stores began to crop up in the neighborhood at the edge of Skid Row. Now, there are efforts to improve housing in the area in a way that bridges its past and present.
The Skid Row Housing Trust has renovated the century-old Pershing Hotel, which it has used as a home for the homeless since 1989. Now called the New Pershing Apartments, the $16.5 million renovation, funded by the city and other public agencies, resulted in a contemporary interior design and the preservation of the original Victorian-style façade.
“We’ve hit the double bottom line,” said Mike Alvidrez, the trust’s executive director. “We are not inhibiting any change in the neighborhood while allowing some homeless folks to move in.”
New Pershing’s 69 subsidized housing units are made available to the working homeless. Rent does not exceed 30 percent of a resident’s income. It is intended to provide both permanent and shorter-term housing.
The development is a step toward getting people off the streets, but it is an incremental step. In addition to the daunting number of homeless in Los Angeles – the city estimates there are some 25,000, up from 22,000 two years ago – Alvidrez said rising downtown rents make it more difficult to provide housing.
“Families are doubling up, holding two or three jobs to afford rent in a very, very tight rental market with very low vacancy rate,” Alvidrez said. “It’s tough for many people to find an apartment that’s affordable.”
Stuffed
Fancy going out for potstickers in Little Tokyo?
Well, so do the two biggest names in competitive eating, Matt “The Megatoad” Stonie and Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who will battle it out in Major League Eating’s ninth annual Day-Lee Foods World Gyoza Eating Championship on Aug. 22 in Little Tokyo.
The event will take place as part of the Los Angeles Nisei Week Japanese Festival at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center Plaza at 1 p.m.
While 16 contestants will be participating, all eyes will be watching the two marquee names on the ticket to see whether the Megatoad can exact revenge on Jaws. Last year, thousands turned up to see Chestnut devour a mind-blowing 384 gyoza, which adds up to about 15 pounds of potstickers, besting Stonie, who ate a mere 377. Oh, and they did it in 10 minutes.
“Every matchup between Stonie and Chestnut is certainly a thing to behold,” said Major League Eating’s Sam Barclay, who will be emceeing this year’s showdown.
Admission is free, and food and drink will be available for purchase. Tastings of Day-Lee products will also be offered – provided you still have an appetite for potstickers after seeing the competition.
Founded in 1934, the Nisei Week festival is a nine-day event celebrating Japanese and Japanese-American culture and history as an integral part of Los Angeles. Other community events will include a grand parade Aug. 16 as well as traditional Japanese folk theater and dance performances Aug. 23.
Transplanted
The FBI’s former chief international hostage negotiator has swapped dealing with terrorists in war zones for boardroom bloodletting in downtown Los Angeles.
Chris Voss consults with businesses by showing them how the same negotiation tactics that worked on kidnappers from Baghdad to the Gaza Strip can be applied here to solve a range of corporate problems.
He recently relocated to Los Angeles and has based his company, Black Swan Group, downtown.
“It’s the perfect place because the business community is thriving here on multiple levels and the location is ideal for me as I’ve also begun teaching negotiation to M.B.A. students at USC’s Marshall School of Business,” he said.
Voss won’t name the downtown companies that have used his services but says they are in sectors such as finance, real estate and health care.
Staff reporters Covey Son, Omar Shamout and Sandro Monetti contributed to this column. #DTLA is compiled by Senior Managing Editor Jonathan Diamond. He can be reached at [email protected].
