Skid Row Building Converted to Light-Manufacturing Uses

The Renaissance Building, a six-story, 66,000-square-foot structure on the northeast corner of 5th and San Pedro streets in downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row, was dedicated Tuesday as a labor-intensive, commercial and light-manufacturing center.

The former headquarters of the Air Quality and Management District was converted to its new use at a cost of $2.7 million. It is expected to create about 300 jobs, 60% of which are targeted for Skid Row residents.

Funding for construction came from the U. S. Economic Development Administration, the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Community Development Department.

Present at the dedication were Mayor Tom Bradley, Councilmen Gilbert Lindsay and Robert C. Farrell, Supervisor Ed Edelman, Community Redevelopment Agency Board Chairman James M. Wood and Martha Brown Hicks, president of the Skid Row Development Corp., developer of the building’s conversion.