Redevelopment in Los Angeles

Bill Boyarsky gave redevelopment a backhanded compliment in his Aug. 7 column where he opines that the city should “declare victory over the war against slums” and shut down the Central Business District Redevelopment Project. However, he incorrectly claims the city, county and school districts would immediately reap a financial windfall to help ease this year’s budget crunch.

Even if the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) ceased operations today, it would be five years before the agency’s tax increment flow would revert to the various taxing agencies. Moreover, Boyarsky read his financial table wrong. The yearly sum he reports should be divided by four.

How could this reporter claim slums have been eradicated downtown? Despite strides made by CRA in the last 15 years, stubborn social, physical and economic problems persist downtown. Banks are leery of offering loan assistance and private investors have snubbed it. Yet, this is fertile ground for redevelopment and hope.

In this vein, CRA has harnessed the tax resources of the new high-rises to resuscitate downtown’s heartland.

The agency has spent $300 million in tax increment generated from downtown development to construct more than 16,000 low- and moderate-income housing units citywide. CRA is the lead city agency in Skid Row where it supports an array of social service providers. To date, the agency has teamed with nonprofit developers to rehabilitate 3,500 units in aging residential hotels, often the last refuge between the would-be homeless and the streets. Monthly rents average $200. CRA also pays to operate shelters for more than 500 homeless people a night.

In the industrial Eastside, CRA acted as a catalyst to fashion the funding package for a new $90-million wholesale produce market. In South Park, it paved the way for a massive expansion of the Convention Center. In all, CRA generated more than 75,000 jobs downtown.

As Los Angeles struggles to rebuild in the wake of the riots, we can’t afford to toss the tools of redevelopment on the scrap heap. The federal, state and local governments are strapped for cash. Without strong incentives, the private sector also will steer clear of the historic core, South-Central and other communities desperately in need of help.

EDWARD J. AVILA, Administrator, CRA