DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - The news media, and yes, Los Angeles Downtown News is part of it, harps on a lot of what might charitably be called “bad stuff.” Uncovering scandals, reporting crime and delving into various forms of malfeasance are part of the duty of the Fourth Estate. The transgressions also make for good headlines and, in this digital age, high click rates.
So it’s nice when there is something positive to report, a situation in which both government and “big business” do the right thing, even if the right thing is unexpected. That, fortunately, is the case with Grand Park.
The first part of the 12-acre facility opened on Thursday, July 26. The celebration was scheduled to extend through the weekend (Downtown News went to press on Friday) with a dance festival and performers from, among others, Cirque du Soleil’s Iris. It wasn’t hard to find a smiling public official with a positive word and a desire to get his or her picture amid the green space and in front of the restored Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain.
The $56 million effort reconfigures a portion of the Civic Center, addressing a multitude of problems. Key achievements include providing a clear sightline to City Hall and dismantling the parking ramps that made the site uninviting for those walking by on Grand Avenue. Now it beckons passersby.
Once the final segment of the park opens in October, Downtown will have a gigantic public space for everything from picnics to exercising to festivals to protests. It will be accessible to people who live and work in the area and inviting to visitors and tourists. Over time Grand Park may prove to be a civic heart for the northern half of Downtown.
The celebration of the opening of the park makes it easy to overlook how difficult it was to reach this point. The tumult of the real estate and development markets could easily have torpedoed a pricey project that doesn’t come with a built-in revenue generator.
Grand Park was long known as the Grand Avenue Civic Park, and as Downtown News reported last week, it was first envisioned as arriving as part of the Grand Avenue plan. That project bumped along for a few years near the beginning of the millennium until New York-based Related Cos. won the development rights.
Momentum picked up around 2006, as Related offered designs for a massive, $2 billion superstructure that would change the face of Grand Avenue. Area stakeholders were enthusiastic about a complex designed by Frank Gehry that would deliver 2,500 housing units, with a 20% affordable component, and create a buzzing retail scene. A supermarket was taken for granted. There were even whispers that the project would lure the Holy Grail of retail: an Apple store.
Amidst the early negotiation points came one spearheaded by County Supervisor Gloria Molina: The developer had to write a $50 million check before any housing or other construction began. The money was set aside for a public space. It didn’t seem like a controversial matter — at the time, the project appeared to be rolling forward.
No one predicted the devastating real estate downturn that hit in 2007, and projects across the country skidded to a halt as frightened financial institutions stopped lending money. In Downtown, a community in which $600-a-square-foot condo prices had been the norm before the nosedive, Related found it impossible to secure a construction loan.
Suddenly Molina’s requirement to get the money upfront was a brilliant, prescient move. Equally important was the fact that the money was protected so that it could only be used for the construction of a Downtown Los Angeles park. In times of economic uncertainty public funds dedicated for one matter can be seized and directed elsewhere (think of the shuttering of California’s community redevelopment agencies and the money lost by cities to the state). In this instance, the dollars that were set aside for a Grand Avenue park went to that very purpose. Molina’s move will be part of her legacy.
Related also deserves praise for sticking with the program. There have been many instances in which big companies go to war over far less money. Another developer might have tossed its project to the side in a dead market and sued to recoup its investment.
Instead, Related has remained a steadfast supporter of the park, and officials with the company still view it as a key component of the overall project. What’s more, Related has refused to walk away from the Grand Avenue plan, even as it is clear that the project must be downsized. It’s admirable that Related continues to look toward the future.
A new, lively park is a key element of that future. This is a jewel for Downtown.
© Los Angeles Downtown News 2012
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