http://www.laweekly.com/2013-05-02/news/styler-stonebreaker-arts-district
Hello everyone, it's time for the Monday edition of the "Preservation for Community Assets" blog. Today we tackle the topic of the Arts District in Los Angeles, California. The current issue of the LA Weekly featured a cover article written by Alissa Walker, which focused on the how the district became Los Angeles' hottest neighborhood. Ms. Walker profiled real estate broker Tyler Stonebreaker and his "curation" of the neighborhood. By curation, I'm referring to his careful choices of what businesses went into the neighborhood. As I've previously written, providing right mix of commercial and retail establishments in Downtown Los Angeles helped lead to its revitalization. The area of our blog today is outside downtown proper, near the Los Angeles River (hey it's real). This is an area bordered by Sixth Street to the South, Alameda Street to the West, First Street to the North, and the L.A. River to the East. In recent years it has become the hottest place in the city thanks in part to the commercial and retail businesses that cater to the artists living in the area and the students, faculty, and administration at the the Southern California Institute of Architecture. What is Mr. Stonebreaker trying do? Is it a good thing or not?
Coffee and the now ubiquitous food trucks, couples sketching while their dogs nap blissfully at their feet, people riding bikes waving to each other. Mayberry? No, it's a scene painted by Ms. Walker of the Arts District. A weekly pop-up farmer's market and a line outside Handsome Coffee Roasters (http://www.handsomecoffee.com), which moved into this urban arcadia a little over a year ago after months of searching for the ideal space that would allow to serve and roast coffee on site. A last minute phone call to Mr. Stonebreaker resulted in the space the coffee house currently occupies, according to Handsome co-founder Tyler Wells. The founders quickly realized that their role was more than just tenants. Their store is surrounded by windowless industrial building filled with more than just residents. Mr. Wells and his co-founders Michael Phillips, and Chris Owens wanted to facilitate the walkability and a real neighborhood feeling in the district. The potential existed but it required additional like-minded businesses. Specifically, connecting two pockets of development, up on Traction Avenue and along Industrial Street, making it one continuous community.
To put this plan into action, they turned to Stonebreaker for help. I like this, entrepreneurs with a sense of community not just in it for the profit. Stonebreaker was given the job of tapping into the neighborhood's potential for real community. The co-founders wanted a community that was thoughtfully guided down what they believed to be the right path. Oh, exactly what did they mean by "...a path that we think is right for the neighborhood." Let's move along and see what happened next. Under Stonebreaker's tutelage the red-brick building across the street from the cafe will soon be home to the Los Angeles branch of Laguna Hills, California restaurant Zinc Cafe (http://www.zinccafe.com). Adjacent to Handsome is craft distillery Spirit Guild (http://www.facebook.com/thespiritguild). Nearby, Stonebreaker helped other hipster friendly companies step up shop in the district, including an L.A. branch of Ace Hotel (http://www.acehotel.com). As sign of true solidarity, Creative Space, the firm owned by Stonebreaker and his partner Michael Smith recently relocated from Hollywood to the Molino Street Loft nearby. Oh, oh I smell Brooklyn West. As if there wasn't enough caffeine pumping through the district, earlier this year, it was announced that Portland-based Stumptown Coffee Roasters was coming to the Arts District. A huge coup for Stonebreaker who envisions a"Napa Valley of coffee." Hey I like good cup of espresso as much as the next person, but a "Napa Valley of coffee?" Really? Is that the highest and best use of the resources. Do you really want a bunch of over-caffeinated exhausted architecture on charrette using shop tools?
Is Tyler Stonebreaker a neighborhood "curator?" Like Stonebreaker, I'm also tired of the the overuse of the word curator. It seems like its applied to anyone who is deliberate about the choices they make. However, in this case, we have to tred carefully here because, the scent of hipsterism is permeating the Arts District, threatening to spill over into the less affluent area of Aliso Village and the City of Vernon and cause tensions. This is speculation, premature at best but one can't help thinking this. Stonebreaker assured the article's author Ms. Walker that he's "...hyper-locally focused, asking people on the ground-those living and working in the neighborhood-what do they want?" The residents wanted a grocery store in the neighborhood. Working with the residents, he found a former glass manufacturing factory owned by Linear City developer Yuval Ben-Zemer, who also owns the Toy and Biscuit Lofts. The artisanal grocery store Urban Radish (http://www.facebook.com/urbanradish) will occupy the space. Trader Joe's or Whole Foods wasn't interested? I could go off on this but I won't bore you with the digression. Suffice it to say exactly how many people will shop there, other than the affluent residents. If Mr. Stonebreaker is truly serious of investing in the "hood" as he claims, wouldn't it make sense to put in place businesses that attract a wider segment of society not just hipsters? This sounds like curatorial work to me? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's more of a case of catering to the people that live in the immediate area. Hard to say for sure.
What is the future of the Arts District? Currently the area is undergoing major developments that will not only change the face of the district but also indicative of the larger trends in Los Angeles in context to transportation, public space, and sustainability. Here six examples of projects that are intended to add residents and businesses to the Arts District, deliver much-needed green space, and connect the neighborhood to the adjoining communities.
The Sixth Street Bridge: this "concrete cancer" is in need of demolition of this historic bridge will make way for a more ambitious proposal by HNTB, Michael Maltzan and AC Marting Partners. The new viaduct will accommodate auto traffic, pedestrians and cyclists, and provide parks on both sides of the river. Construction is expected to begin in 2015 and be completed in 2019. Promising
Alameda Square: though not in the Arts District proper, the 1.5 million-square-foot former Union Terminal Annex on the west side of Alameda Street is converting its empty warehouse to a space for creative and fashion brands. The space is being designed by Joey Shimoda with Tyler Stonebreaker's firm acting as the developer. When completed the complex will have a public outdoor marketplace for retail spaces and food trucks (eye roll).
Cleantech Corridor: this four-mile corridor on both sides of the L.A. River hopes to lure businesses specializing in sustainable manufacturing and green technologies. At its heart will be the Los Angeles Clean Tech Incubator, an organization that funds such businesses. Though it currently occupies a temporary space, it is building the La Kretz Innovation Campus at Fifth and Hewitt, a 60,000 square-foot complex with office space, R&D labs and a workforce training center. This also sounds promising but given the surrounding communities' low levels of literacy, where are they going to draw workers to train?
Metro's Regional Connector: this massive project intends to connect the Gold Line with the hub of the Blue and Expo Lines at Seventh and Flower streets will expand the current Little Tokyo/Arts District Gold stop, demolishing the Spice Table and Senor Fish restaurants to accommodate more trains and a larger station. The restaurants will be relocated. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year and be completed in 2019. Great but how is someone who works in the Financial District supposed to get from the Regional Connector to his/her office? Will there be dash bus lines?
One Santa Fe: this is a proposed mixed-use project on a slender strip of land between SCI-Arc and the MTA rail yard that, when completed later this year, will bring 438 new rental apartments to the neighborhood. Additionally, the 510,000-square-foot complex, designed by Michael Maltzan, will have a theater, dining, parkland, and retail space including a large space that could be potentially used for a grocery store. Promising, could provide housing for SCI-Arc students. The one large space could serve as a branch of a chain grocery store.
SCI-Arc Arts District Anchor Project: the school won a grant to produce two arts venues, one of which, an outdoor pavilion by Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich of the firm P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, will be the largest public arts venue in the neighborhood. The firm will also program the theater at One Santa Fe. Okay, will see what type of productions they program.
This all sounds wonderful but I can't help thinking about what director Martin Scorese said about the gentrification of the Bowery in New York City. It'll bring in an element of conformity. While it's nice that Tyler Stonebreaker and his company are committed to retaining the industrial character of the Arts District and re-purposing the buildings, there is a certain feel of exclusion of the long-term residents of the area. The meticulousness which Tyler Stonebreaker employs seems a bit too elitist.
No comments:
Post a Comment