Big future for housing downtown
Downtown should be the best place to live in the near future. The near-term housing effects are more a reaction to the mortgage crisis than the viability of downtown. (“A cooldown in downtown housing,” March 13.)
There will be more recreation and culture concentrated in 40 square blocks than anywhere in the city. Downtown has a workforce of 500,000 people and is at the hub of all freeways and the metro system.
With $4 gas prices on the horizon and longer commutes, 40,000 residents are only the beginning of a transformation that will bring residences and work closer together.
Mark Kaplan,
Wilshire Realty
Los Angeles
Everyone I know who was aware of the downtown development, none of whom are developers or real estate professionals, commented on the fact that L.A. could not sustain the overbuilding going on downtown.
The repeated refrain was, “Who do they expect will buy all those lofts and apartments?” These observations were made well ahead of any housing crisis. They were simply common sense.
John Di Minico
Los Angeles
There is no lack of interest in living downtown, simply a restraint, hopefully temporary, of financing because of the nationwide mortgage crisis. Even with a lack of lending support, there are those who can and are still investing in the downtown market.
* Not only empty-nesters but a vibrant and upwardly mobile class of people who desire to live near Disney Hall, the Music Center, Staples Center and Nokia Theatre.
* Entertainment, communications, Internet and other technology innovators, and creative young professionals who don’t want to live in a cookie-cutter community.
* People who decry a gated community and have joined with city government to be part of the dynamic of addressing the needs of the disadvantaged among us.
* The $8 billion to $10 billion worth of development being poured into downtown neighborhoods on such projects as L.A. Live, Grand Avenue, educational institutions such as the Colburn School, theater restorations, Bringing Back Broadway initiative, new subway stations, hotels, parks and lots more retail.
Whether you want to live in an architecturally significant readapted piece of L.A. history, a vibrant arts community or in the middle of a cultural district in a luxury condo, downtown has it all.
Bill Cooper, President
Downtown Real Estate Assn.
