Downtown LA: rising

Recently, GQ Magazine declared, “America’s Next Great City Is Inside L.A.” They were talking about the dramatic resurgence of Downtown Los Angeles and its growing place in the world spotlight. This isn’t news to us; many of us have been working — and specializing — in the Downtown market for many years. We’ve seen the transformation first hand, but always from offsite Aaroe bases. Now, with the opening of our new Downtown offices at 7th and Grand, we have a permanent home in the heart of the scene. The DTLA phenomenon is unfolding fast.

It’s been decades coming, but a flourishing Downtown LA renaissance is bringing thousands of new residents and billions of dollars of development and renovation to LA’s long-overlooked urban core. The major transformation is reinventing the downtown area. Its ideal location, accessible by bus, rail and car, has flocks of freeway-weary Angelenos reaching for the promise of living within walking distance of both their work and world-class culture.

Thanks in part to an Adaptive Reuse Ordinance aimed at helping reduce vacant space, preserve Downtown’s architectural and cultural past, and encourage the growth of a residential area, DTLA’s elegant Art Deco and Beaux-Arts office buildings are being converted into funky lofts, condos and boutique hotels. Gleaming new apartment towers are attracting thousands more residents. Both new developments and renovations are being envisioned with an eye to open space.

Cultural attractions in the urban core’s fourteen sectors range from the Arts District, a collection of gritty warehouses and processing plants that’s now a vibrant and unique creative enclave, to Bunker Hill with its world-class Disney Concert Hall, Center Theater Group and about-to-open Broad Museum. The business profile is also changing. Downtown LA is already the conduit to the world’s financial markets and the location of choice for national and regional corporate headquarters and major law firms. Now it’s become the destination for a creative class, including communications firms and digital consultancies. And with its South Park Staples Center/LA Live district developed and other cultural centers emerging, DTLA is drawing visitors from across the region and the world, creating a growing tourism business.

“The newly vibrant Downtown LA is just one of the many reasons Los Angeles real estate is a great choice for investors here and abroad,” says John Aaroe. “Our new office there is just one of the many ways we’re positioning ourselves to effectively serve buyers and sellers. This opening will be followed by two more in other key Greater LA markets before year’s end.”