City Center Plan Approved: New Housing, Commercial Revitalization for Downtown.News Editors LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2002 The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA See Community Reinvestment Act. ) and the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. today approved the establishment of a new redevelopment project
area for downtown.
The ordinance adopting the plan requires a second vote of the city council before it can be sent to the mayor's office for his signature. The proposed 879 acre City Center Redevelopment Project Area (City Center) is expected, over its 30 year life, to create up to 12,900 new units of housing -- at least a quarter of which would be affordable to low and very low income households -- and up to 6.7 million square feet of new commercial and industrial development. The plan also seeks to attract businesses and jobs, help the city's homeless, and rehabilitate re·ha·bil·i·tate v. 1. To restore to good health or useful life, as through therapy and education. 2. To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity. historic buildings to return them to economically productive use. "We have tremendous support for this project from downtown merchants, housing advocates, health and social service providers, and public safety officials," said David Farrar, Chairman of the CRA Board of Commissioners. "Countless numbers of people attended city council hearings and gave their full support for our effort to restore the part of downtown that remains blighted, underutilized, and a threat to public health and safety," he added. Carol Schatz, Executive Director of the Central City Association, the oldest and largest business organization in downtown, has urged the CRA Board and City Council to adopt the plan. "Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or has suffered for many years the combined impacts of neglect and a down economy. Recent efforts by the business community have started to show positive results. This plan provides resources to maintain the momentum and allow downtown to reach its long-desired potential," she said. Ken Aslan, Executive Director of the Historic Core Business Improvement District, has stated that "the adoption of the plan will help to move forward the many good things that can happen to the Historic Downtown -- renovated and reoccupied historic buildings, with lofts and ground floor retail uses that can bring about the rebirth of this important and neglected part of the city." The proposed City Center project area covers 879 acres in the eastern and southern quadrants of Downtown Los Angeles, generally bounded by Second Street (north), San Pedro Street (east), the Santa Monica Freeway The Santa Monica Freeway is the westernmost segment of Interstate 10, beginning at the western terminus of I-10 at the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California and ending southeast of downtown Los Angeles at the famous East Los Angeles Interchange. (south) and the Harbor Freeway (west), excluding the Convention Center campus and the high-rise buildings in the downtown Financial District. "Our mission is to eliminate blight blight, general term for any sudden and severe plant disease or for the agent that causes it. The term is now applied chiefly to diseases caused by bacteria (e.g., bean blights and fire blight of fruit trees), viruses (e.g., soybean bud blight), fungi (e.g. and revitalize re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. communities. That's what our stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. want and that is what we're doing," said Farrar. |
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