A Critical Mass for Central City Core : Major development is planned for lot across from Los Angeles City Hall

We’ve heard it before. Indeed, we’ve been told that Downtown is “coming back” so often in recent years that cynicism might be forgiven. But if scores of real estate developers can attest to the difficulty of reviving the spirit and bottom line of Downtown businesses, the persistence of others and the entry of new players give us reason to hope again.

Los Angeles County officials recently announced a tentative agreement with developers for a major project on a long-vacant and blighted lot across from City Hall. When construction is completed, in late 2001, the site will include two office towers, underground parking and a tree-lined plaza encircling eateries, shops and entertainment facilities.

The property is jointly owned by the state and county; the city expects to have some offices in the towers. If the county Board of Supervisors and the state approve the deal, construction could begin in February.

The lot, on 1st Street between Broadway and Spring streets, has been an eyesore for years, ever since the government buildings there were torn down. Ambitious plans for redevelopment have come and gone. This latest may also fade in the harsh light of high construction costs, a soft rental market and a flagging shopper base. We hope the project endures--and that its design is in keeping with the city’s best architectural traditions. However, optimism is tempered by the knowledge that Downtown is dotted with the remains of much ballyhooed projects, the short-lived Los Angeles Theatre Center being a particularly painful example.

Although some argue that Los Angeles has not one but many “downtowns,” we think the lack of a vibrant central core does matter. A city without a center bespeaks residents who, literally and figuratively, have a very hard time finding common ground. The Los Angeles of today is of course much more than shopping malls and freeways, but the failure of so many efforts to redevelop Downtown’s historic core wounds the collective civic pride.

If for no other reason, the new plans for the lot at 1st and Broadway are encouraging in that they testify to the continued determination of some developers and the city, county and state to revive the Civic Center. This project alone won’t do it, but it doesn’t have to. The sleek renovation of Grand Central Market, restoration of the Bradbury Building and reconstruction of Angels Flight--each well under way--along with the still-hoped-for completion of the stalled Disney Concert Hall project, will gradually expand the extent of redevelopment and create, ultimately, a self-sustaining market for other new ventures.