Little Tokyo Project

It is a pleasure to see reporting on community developers and the important work they are doing throughout Los Angeles. I was especially happy to see the spotlight on our client, the Little Tokyo Service Center, through whose efforts the redevelopment of the San Pedro Firm Building was realized.

As I continued to read, though, and saw such heavy emphasis on the physical rehabilitation, I was dismayed at the implication that LTSC’s development partner acted as architect. For the record, this firm and our consultants handled the architecture and engineering for the project, and I am the architect of record.

Although our firm has been involved in numerous affordable housing projects, encompassing about 1,600 units, many of them downtown, the San Pedro Firm Building project will always be special to us. This is because we could see for ourselves the reactions of the returning residents. I will never forget Yoshiko Takai’s cry of delight at her newly refurbished home; our lead architect George Kaneshiro and I were introduced to her as the architects, and she wrung our hands with profuse thanks. What a marvelous illustration of the real purpose of our work!

VIRGINIA TANZMANN, FAIA

The Tanzmann Associates