Old Building Is Luring High-Tech Clients on Edge of Downtown L.A.’s Skid Row

Some people thought Cherryl Wilson had inhaled too many bus fumes when she set about wiring an old Los Angeles building for speedy Internet access to lure small high-tech businesses downtown. Now the manager of the 548 Building on South Spring Street is starting to see her efforts pay off.

Since the beginning of the year, 11 companies have taken space in the historic building near the intersection of Spring and 5th streets, lured by a combination of low rent, vintage ambience, Empowerment Zone tax breaks, Business Improvement District services--and those high-speed Internet connections.

It’s still a far cry from the digital village that Wilson envisions for the corridor, but it’s a big step up for a building just blocks from Skid Row.

“I’ve leased more space in the last six months than I’ve leased in the last five years,” Wilson said. “I figured there were lots of start-ups that needed cheap space in a funky environment with interesting architecture.”

And, she says, “these companies like to be around each other.”

So much so that Patrick Gallagher gave up a Santa Monica office with an ocean view for the chance to settle in with other digital denizens in the 548 Building. A partner in SnapDragonFX, which provides programming services to businesses, Gallagher says he’s already exchanging ideas and swapping tips with fellow tenants.

“We wanted community and a place to expand,” Gallagher said. “The momentum is starting to build here.”

Other techie tenants include LatinoLA.com, a Web site operator devoted to local Latino arts and culture; FastServe Network, a high-speed Internet access provider that wired the 548 Building; animation studio Loko Pictures; StudioSoftware Multimedia Inc., which creates interactive media; and Global Business Incubation Inc., a nonprofit that’s trying to nurture other new-media and digital start-ups downtown.

The building will soon get its largest tenant, SDN Online Inc., an online information manager. It will take up nearly a floor of the 12-story building when it relocates its 50 employees from Hollywood next month.

Once the stately home of banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies, South Spring between 4th and 7th streets today is better known for its check-cashing outlets and its proximity to downtown’s missions and soup kitchens.

Wilson’s tenants acknowledge that their bargain rent comes at a cost. Some say the area’s large homeless population makes them reluctant to invite clients to their offices. Parking is also a bit of a hassle, since the 548 Building doesn’t have its own lot.

Still, Wilson says she is encouraged by the progress.

“This is a market-driven phenomenon,” she says. “We just need more people doing these kinds of projects down here.”

Information on the 548 Building is available through its Web site at https://www.548.com.

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Marla Dickerson can be reached at marla.dickerson@latimes.com.