New South Park study outlines future development.

Initial jobs would include marketing, graffiti removal

When Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Co. moved into its building south of Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, company officials thought their office would be in the forefront of a development boom.

Transamerica made its move before the buildup of the Central Business District and, over the years, watched as developments sprung up to the north, east, and west. But in the immediate area surrounding the Transamerica building, commercial development was noticeably lacking.

Thirty years later, Transamerica is still waiting for development to catch on, but several nearby property owners and City of Los Angeles officials insist that Transamerica's wait won't be much longer.

"With the convention center expansion and our location near the Central Business District, we feel this area is ready to burst" with new development, said Randy Hoiby, vice president and general counsel for Transamerica.

Hoiby is a member of the South Park Stakeholders Group, which just released the results of a $30,000 study examining ways to improve South Park, the one-square-mile area bounded by Eighth Street on the north, the Santa Monica (10) Freeway on the south, Main Street on the east and the Harbor (110) Freeway on the west.

Ultimately, the South Park stakeholders envision a fashionable community with restaurants, retail stores, mid-rise commercial office buildings, parks and a hotel/entertainment complex adjacent to the convention center that would attract tourists.

The study notes that with 35 percent of South Park being either parking lots or vacant land and only 4 percent being housing, there is a great potential for additional development.

Because downtown Los Angeles already has a high office vacancy rate, Hoiby said the stakeholders group is not counting on lots of high-rise office buildings to be developed in South Park. But he wouldn't elaborate on specific projects the group has in mind.

The comprehensive study commissioned by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency -- the agency in charge of urban renewal -- lays the groundwork for development by providing suggestions on improving the image of the area.

In particular, the study urges getting rid of graffiti, beefing up security and increasing South Park's name recognition as top priorities, said Michael Pfeiffer, executive director of the South Park Stakeholders Group.

He said the stakeholders group was formed two years ago to ensure that South Park got its fair share of emphasis in the strategic plan being developed for downtown L.A.

As Hoiby put it: "South Park has always been a stepchild for Los Angeles. Development has either gone north or in the Central Business District."

Many property owners in the South Park hoped that thousands of affordable housing units would be constructed in their neighborhoods, as well as high-rise office buildings and a sizable hotel to service the convention center. But the homes never materialized, the bulk of the commercial highrises were built several blocks to the north and the convention center hotel never broke ground.

Although past studies on South Park have come and gone with little material change to the area, the local stakeholders said too many property owners are vested in the most recent study to let South Park be ignored again.

Members of the stakeholders include the California Medical Center, the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau, UCLA and USC.

What's more, a number of new developments reflect increased interest in the area. The most notable development by far is the expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Others include Grand Hope Park, the first phase of Hope Street Promenade and a Blue Line transit center. Future development proposals for South Park include an electric trolley bus and various office and housing projects.

The community improvement study offers a number of fairly low-cost suggestions to clean up South Park, which would be financed through state, federal, local and private contributions, said Pfeiffer.

The 12-month startup budget to carry out the suggestions is estimated at between $175,000 and $260,000, according to the study.

Pfeiffer said he is unsure of where the group is going to get the money for the improvement efforts because the study was just released and not many people have had a chance to respond to it.

He said establishing an assessment district in South Park hasn't been considered as a potential funding strategy because there aren't enough businesses in the area from which to collect a special tax.

The study's initial suggestions include:

* Developing a marketing campaign for South Park to increase the area's visibility in Los Angeles. This could include creating a logo, brochure, maps and newspaper ads and encouraging South Park retail outlets, hotels, apartments, schools and churches to attract people to the area.

* Staffing a graffiti-removal team to get rid of graffiti within 24 hours.

* Developing better coordination between police, private security personnel and business owners to reduce crime. This would include increasing volunteer efforts to clean up alleys, sidewalks and curbs.