07-16-18

The Comeback of Clayton’s

Eight Years After an Arts District Favorite Closed, A Restaurant Returns in the Historic Core See Page 12

July 16, 2018 I VOL. 47 I #29

INSIDE this week an old hotel is reborn

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redcat focuses on new works

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photo by Gary Leoanard

Tony Gower and Elizabeth Peterson-Gower in their Vicrorian-themed restaurant Clayton’s Public House.

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AROUND TOWN

Flower Street Closures for Regional Connector Work

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eople traveling through Downtown on the weekends will need to find alternatives through the Financial District. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is in the process of doing “cut and cover” work at Sixth and Flower streets as part of the Regional Connector project, which will connect the Gold, Blue and Expo lines through a 1.9-mile tunnel that will streamline cross-county travel. Work started on July 7, and the intersection will be closed every weekend through Oct. 22. The closures begin each Friday at 8 p.m. and continue through 5 a.m. on Mondays. The Regional Connector project is halfway complete, according to Metro, and the Flower Street work will help build the connection to the Seventh Street/Metro Center rail station. The $1.77 billion project is expected to be complete by December 2021.

Church Sets Up Services in Skid Row Mission

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nglewood’s Faithful Central Bible Church has launched a Downtown campus. The church took over the chapel in Skid Row’s Union Rescue Mission at 545 S. San Pedro

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St. Services started on July 8. The church’s branch will serve families staying at the mission and nearby Skid Row residents, according to Rev. Andy Bales, CEO of Union Rescue Mission. Bales said the church will not affect the chapel’s regular use, as a shelter for 100 women each night. “If we were ever going to transform Skid Row, we needed churches of South Los Angeles to be partners with us,” Bales told Los Angeles Downtown News.

“It has started off as a strong partnership.

They even showed up and gave us a gift of $40,000 for the renovations we made on our fifth floor for family services.” Faithful Central Bible Church has been headed by Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer since 1982. Bales said that the partnership is modeled on similar arrangements at missions in Chicago, and the church’s use of the chapel is open ended.

JANM Gets Major Grant

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he Japanese American National Museum recently announced that it has received a sizable grant. The Freeman Foundation, a Vermont-based nonprofit, will award JANM $300,000; the funds will cover admission fees to the museum for as many as 25,000 students and teachers between now and June 2020. “The Japanese American National Museum is deeply grateful for this generous support from the Freeman Foundation. It is a very significant grant which will help to ensure that the programs we offer to school groups are robust and deliver the impact that our student visitors deserve,” JANM President and CEO Ann

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Burroughs said in a prepared statement. In 2017, the Freeman Foundation launched its Asian Arts and Culture Educational Funding Initiative. General admission at JANM is $12 for adults and $6 for seniors and students.

CAP UCLA Dates at Ace Hotel on Sale This Week

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he Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA is preparing for its second season in Downtown Los Angeles, which will include 14 shows at the Theatre at Ace Hotel. Tickets for the diverse lineup will go on sale on Monday, July 16. The majority of programs take place in Westwood, but the series found a steady audience in Downtown last season, with crowds taking in events such as Taylor Mac’s four-night A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. The 2018-19 Downtown season launches Sept. 22 with a performance by Vijay Iyer and writer Teju Cole. Other Central City highlights include author Fran Lebowitz on Sept. 30, a 25th anniversary performance of Beth Lapides’ variety show “UnCabaret” on Nov. 18, and Sam Green and the Kronos Quartet on Dec. 7.

More information, a full listing of events and tickets are at cap.ucla.edu.

New Public Art Coming to Little Tokyo

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he Little Tokyo Service Center has launched an artist-in-residence program that will bring public and performance art to the neighborhood. The +LAB Artist Residen-

JULY 16, 2018

cy features four artists working in different media and styles. The four-month residency, which started this month, is centered around the theme of “community control and self-determination.” Susu Altar will hang painted fabrics in doorways across the neighborhood and host workshops at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, while filmmaker Tina Takemoto will create a documentary on the northern end of First Street. Calligraphy artist Kuniharu Yoshia will stage performances throughout the neighborhood and Dan Kwong will meet with members of the community in story circles to hear their personal tales. Kwong will present a theatrical piece based on those stories on July 28-29. More information is at ltsc.org/artist-residency.

Ad Agency Inks Space at Row DTLA

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nother office tenant has signed up for space at the Row DTLA complex in the Industrial District. The creative advertising firm WC+A has inked a deal for 12,000 square feet of space inside one of the complex’s buildings. Terms of the lease were not disclosed, and the firm will vacate space near the University of Southern California on Grand Avenue. “The decision to relocate WC+A to Row DTLA was solidified with our understanding of the incredible creative community that has been curated here — we want to be a part of this community,” co-founder and CEO Kevin Williams said in a prepared statement.

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EDITORIALS

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JULY 16, 2018

TAKE MY PICTURE GARY LEONARD

The Danger of Skid Row Tent Fires

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t’s a miracle that no one has been killed or severely injured in any of the scores of tent fires this year in Skid Row. But the lack of a death or grievous bodily harm should not make anyone underplay what is happening: The rash of conflagrations is one of the most pressing dangers facing Downtown Los Angeles, with the potential for truly devastating destruction. This is a serious matter that demands a complete and coordinated response.

Los Angeles Downtown News last week reported on the scourge of fires in the impoverished community. In 2017, there were an estimated 60 blazes in Skid Row. In the first half of 2018 alone, there were approximately 80, according to the business improvement district that operates in the area.

Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles Police Department representatives said some of the fires are accidents, the result of things like cooking with an open flame in a tent. In numerous other instances, arson is at play, often a result of retaliation.

LAPD Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph, who has patrolled Skid Row for nearly two decades, detailed the case of an elderly man who was beaten, and when he went to flag down police officers, his tent was set ablaze.

Joseph also noted that gangs sometimes set fires to intimidate people in the community. Given this reality, it seems only sheer luck that no one has burned to death. There is no telling when this luck will run out.

There are additional risks. Many buildings in the area bear black burn marks on their walls, the after-effect of a tent that went up in flames. All it will take is a little wind and embers will drift to a flammable part of an older manufacturing or industrial facility. Although there is a fire station in Skid Row, a property could be completely engulfed by the time fire engines arrive.

The staff of that fire station obviously is aware of what is happening in the community, and it is likely that the quick, adept work of the firefighters has so far prevented tent blazes from spreading fully into buildings or across the trash-strewn streets. Still, the fact that the number of fires is spiking means much more preventative work needs to be done.

Elected and other local leaders must proactively get involved and consult with top-level police and fire department officials so they can coordinate a response plan and acquire and allocate whatever resources are needed. The LAPD has a history of flooding neighborhoods with specially trained officers when crime spikes; the equivalent needs to happen again in Skid Row, this time with the LAFD participating. Perhaps people living in tents can be provided with safer cooking equipment. That may not happen, but new ideas should be on the table.

The arson fires are another story, a horrifying twist to the problem.

Some people in the area are clearly putting homeless individuals and others at risk by setting these blazes — they should be prosecuted as dangerous felons to the full extent of the law.

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July 9, 2018

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COMMENTS

Regarding the column “Antonio Villaraigosa’s Last Waltz,” by Jon Regardie His past is his legacy. It’s a tragedy that in him we had a Latino mayor in Los Angeles who brought so much disappointment. Why the L.A. Times chose to endorse him is a mystery, a laughable conclusion to this guy.

—Rafael Chavez Regarding the editorial “Don’t Applaud the Dip in Homelessness Yet” I do hope that some of that time (and money) and effort is spent on determining the causes of homelessness to begin with. One really cannot cure problems without first knowing the causes. Part of it is the ability to live on the streets without worrying about dying from exposure to the elements.

Some of it is people who are so mentally disturbed that they simply cannot hold down a job. Also, some of it is temporary.

I know of one person who became homeless shortly after being let go from her job. She was living paycheck to paycheck. By some miracle she was hired while homeless. Unfortunately, she was living in a tent before she could earn enough money to pay rent. During that time one of her dogs was killed and, later, all of her possessions, including the tent, were stolen.

—Liam Bean EDITOR: Jon Regardie STAFF WRITER: Nicholas Slayton, Sean P. Thomas CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Kathryn Maese CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Tom Fassbender, Jeff Favre

Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

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Regarding the article “Dinosaur Film Closes Grand Avenue,” about a promotion for Jurassic World shuttering the street in front of Walt Disney Concert Hall for nearly a week, by Nicholas Slayton This will only get worse when the Related Companies begins building its project The Grand. I am trying to understand why a major road to Bunker Hill gets closed while the other end, on Fifth Street, is reduced in lanes.

I’m a little tired of Grand being the concert hall’s party area. Why can’t they take over the top of the parking garage across the street and build a pedestrian ramp from the street to the top level?

—Robert Nichols

Hey You! Speak Up! Downtown News wants to hear from people in the community. If you like, or dislike, a story or editorial, let us know. Or weigh in on something you feel is important to the community.

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JULY 16, 2018

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

DOWNTOWN NEWS 5

Spotify to Stream Into Arts District Music Giant to Bring 120 Workers to At Mateo As Project Shifts From Retail to Office-Driven

By Nicholas Slayton he owners of At Mateo have inked a deal with Spotify to make the streaming music giant the anchor tenant of the Arts District complex. In the process, the project has been repositioned, completing a shift from a primarily retail hub to one focused on next-generation office tenants.

Spotify has signed on for 109,706 square feet of office space in the campus at 555 Mateo St. The company will relocate approximately 120 employees to At Mateo in 2019.

The deal brings At Mateo’s office component to 90% leased, and the overall 195,000-square-foot campus, which formally opened in May, is 85% leased (including a retail section), according to developer Blatteis & Schnur.

Spotify will join office tenants including the food and beverage company Soylent, which already fills 30,000 square feet, and the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art and Design, which occupies 16,000 square feet.

Spotify will vacate space in West Hollywood. A spokesperson for the company said the Arts District space will allow for future growth.

Cushman & Wakefield represented At Mateo in the deal, while Jones Lang LaSalle

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worked on behalf of Spotify. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.

The developers also announced that Girl & the Goat, a Chicago restaurant, has signed on for 7,000 square feet of space. The eatery will open in 2019.

Developers ASB Real Estate Investments and Blatteis & Schnur broke ground on At Mateo in October 2015. The $80 million project was originally envisioned as a commercial hub, with the developers promising a collection of shops and restaurant to serve the neighborhood’s rapidly growing residential population. The initial plan called for 125,000 square feet of space for commercial uses, and just 50,000 set aside for offices.

That changed as the Arts District itself evolved, according to Ashley Brown, senior vice president with Blatteis and Schnur.

Around the time of the Soylent deal, brokers shifted to marketing the site as a creative office-driven campus.

“The creative office component [at At Mateo] was very much market driven,” she said.

When At Mateo was first proposed, the Arts District lacked the density and activity it currently has, said Mark Tarczynski, executive vice president with the real estate services firm Colliers.

Tarczynski noted that office prices in the

The 195,000-squarefoot At Mateo complex was originally envisioned as a retail and restaurant hub, but instead has been repositioned to draw in creative office tenants such as Spotify and Soylent.

photo by Nicholas Slayton

Arts District are less expensive than on the Westside, and that the Downtown neighborhood also has an inherent “cool” factor that is attractive to media and technology companies such as Spotify.

The four-building complex occupies approximately 3.5 acres of space at Palmetto and Mateo streets. It is in the vicinity of a wave of activity. The Barker Block Lofts are across the street, and developer Carmel Partners plans to build a 35-story mixed-use project at 520 Mateo St. Legendary Development intends to erect an 11-story office campus at Fourth and Colyton streets.

The area has also seen the opening of several restaurants and eateries. At Mateo is close to the Zinc Café, coffee purveyor Blue Bottle and, a block away, the Urth Caffé.

Nightspots Villains Tavern and Resident are in walking distance.

The project’s design is based on the neighborhood’s many bow truss warehouses, and uses repurposed bricks and wood, Brown said. The structures were built in a manner that could accommodate both commercial and office tenants. Courtyards and walkways are interspersed between the four buildings, Continued on page 6

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6 DOWNTOWN NEWS

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The Central City Crime Report

By Nicholas Slayton n the Central City Crime Report, we survey the recent week in public safety. All information is provided by the LAPD’s Central Division.

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■ An individual left a phone and a wallet on top of a car in a Hill Street parking lot on June 17. Someone rode by on a bike and stole the items.

■ On the afternoon of June 17, someone walked into a Central Avenue coffee shop and grabbed unspecified items. The person said, “I have a gun,” and then walked out.

■ A woman left her laptop and bag in a shopping cart on the second level of the Grand Central Market parking structure on the evening of June 17. An unidentified individual grabbed the items from the cart and fled.

■ A person fell asleep in a Fifth Street apartment with the door open at night on June 18. Someone walked into the apartment and grabbed money, a phone and other items.

■ Hearing a knock at his Spring Street apartment door, a man opened it up before dawn on June 18 to find someone pointing a gun at him. The armed individual entered the

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SPOTIFY, 5 and At Mateo has a parking structure that can house up to 540 vehicles.

At Mateo’s shift into the creative office field reflects a growing trend in the Arts District. Warner Music Group announced in October 2016 that it would lease the entirety of the revamped Ford Factory Building at Seventh Street and Santa Fe Avenue; the company is expected to move in by the end of this year.

In the wake of that announcement, a number of developers have filed plans to build, or have opened new office space in the area.

At Seventh and Alameda streets, the 30-acre Row DTLA complex has seen a number of of-

$89

■ On the morning of June 18, someone chased another person with a box cutter at Figueroa Street and Pico Boulevard. The assailant threw the box cutter at the victim but missed.

■ Two people got into an argument over noise at a 14th Street business on the evening of June 19. One pushed the other, then tried to stab the person with scissors.

■ Around 3 a.m. on June 20, an unidentified individual approached someone at Seventh Street and Maple Avenue, pulled out a gun, and demanded the person’s bike, money and bags. The victim handed the goods over.

■ A person was holding a phone at Flower Street and Olympic Boulevard on June 21 when someone on a motorized scooter drove by and grabbed it.

■ Two individuals approached another person at a Los Angeles Street parking lot on the afternoon of June 22. One pulled out a gun, pressed it against the victim and demanded money. The victim handed over some cash and the attackers fled. nicholas@downtownnews.com

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Tarczynski said the creative office market is booming in the Arts District, in part due to Downtown’s centrality and because of the community’s growing residential population, which skews toward millennials and other young working professionals.

“The bottom line is, what do businesses want? They want a talented employment base,” he said. “By relocating there, they have immediate access to that, with almost no commute problems.”

Brown said that remaining space in At Mateo will be a mix of office and commercial uses, with some designated for retail purposes. nicholas@downtownnews.com

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DOWNTOWN NEWS 7

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GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL MATERNITY CENTER: WHERE STARS ARE BORN – WE BRING L.A. TO LIFE Mothers and babies take center stage at the Davajan-Cabal Center for Perinatal Medicine. With a spotlight on a family-centered approach, we work in concert with women and their families to prepare for baby’s birth, and to facilitate parent-baby bonding.

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Doctors who practice at Good Samaritan Hospital are independent contractors, not employees.

Mothers get the star treatment with fully equipped private rooms where they experience labor, delivery and recovery in a comfortable, welcoming setting.

If baby requires specialized care, our superstar Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is waiting in the wings.

It’s all part of Good Samaritan Hospital’s investment in Los Angeles and our commitment to meeting the health care needs of our growing community – today, and for years to come.

Make Good Samaritan Hospital the destination for you and baby. For more information and referrals to Good Samaritan Hospital OB/Gyn’s, contact us at goodsam.org or call 1-800-472-2737.

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8 DOWNTOWN NEWS

JULY 16, 2018

A Thoroughly Modern Mayfair A 92-Year-Old City West Hotel Gets a Big Renovation

Veteran Downtown developer the ICO Group of Companies has revamped the Mayfair Hotel at 1256 W. Seventh St. in City West. Rates in the 294 rooms start at $185 a night.

photo by Tanveer Badal

By Nicholas Slayton he Downtown Los Angeles hotel scene has expanded significantly in recent years, with both historic buildings being converted into new destinations and ground-up construction bringing thousands of rooms.

Now the work has moved west of the 110 Freeway, and one of Downtown’s oldest hotels has been repositioned to compete in the modern environment.

On Tuesday, July 10, the historic Mayfair Hotel officially

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reopened (though it never actually shut down during four years of renovations and remodeling). The 15-story building at 1256 W. Seventh St. has undergone a top-to-bottom transformation, with work on the guest rooms, the common areas and the food and beverage program.

The hotel was built in 1926, and was the site of the first Academy Awards after-party. The ICO Group of Companies, a veteran of Downtown development, acquired the structure in 2014. Originally ICO looked at converting it to a residential

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building, according to Alex Moradi, managing partner with the firm. They decided to keep it as a hotel, and upgrade it, citing the demand for new hotels in Downtown.

“We see this as a luxury-type experience, at a very affordable rate, with some great food and beverage options,” Moradi told Los Angeles Downtown News.

The Mayfair is ICO’s first hotel. Architect Gulla Jónsdóttir oversaw the redesign, taking inspiration from the 1920s and ’30s. The lobby has been redone with large charcoal-colored pillars, gray and silver furnishings, and hanging lights in black metal cages. Large paintings are set up throughout the space, including behind the check-in counter.

The guest rooms build on a similar color scheme, with dark wood, white-tiled bathrooms and wall patterns of swirling black and white lines. Framed art, ranging from text-focused pieces to Jackson Pollock-like paintings, hang in the walls and rooms against the neutral backgrounds.

The Mayfair has 294 rooms, ranging from studios to junior suites. Rates start at $185 and go up to $250, according to General Manager Peter Kolla. The hotel employs approximately 200 people.

Work on the hotel only wrapped days before the official reopening. Renovations were done in phases, with the hotel remaining in operation the entire time. Moradi would not disclose the project’s budget.

Kolla and Moradi said the target audience is business and leisure travelers looking for prices below those at upscale hotels such as the J.W. Marriott/Ritz-Carlton and the new NoMad Hotel. The Mayfair’s proximity to the Financial District is an obvious draw, but Kolla said a few Los Angeles locals have already come to the hotel for overnight stays.

“We’re hoping to get everything from people visiting the Convention Center to people coming to visit all of the new things happening in Downtown,” Moradi said.

Growing Roster ICO has been involved in the Downtown Los Angeles real Continued on page 10

JULY 16, 2018

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DOWNTOWN NEWS 9

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10 DOWNTOWN NEWS

MAYFAIR, 8 estate scene for more than a decade. The company opened the Pacific Electric Lofts at 610 S. Main St. in 2005, before selling it to Essex Property Trust in 2012.

It also opened the Mercantile Lofts at 620 S. Main St., and owns the Broadway Lofts at 430 S. Broadway.

The Mayfair arrives as the number of hotel options for Downtown visitors is expanding. In addition to the new NoMad, the InterContinental in the Wilshire Grand Center and the Hotel Indigo at the Metropolis project have opened. In the Financial District, the Freehand Hotel targets more budget-conscious travelers.

Bruce Baltin, managing director with CBRE Hotels Advisory and an expert on the Downtown hotel market, said that the Mayfair can tap into the growing demand for business and leisure travel to Downtown. He said the off-the-beaten-track location and the lower rates can help it compete for certain travelers.

“That’s smart marketing. It develops a business,” Baltin said. “A hotel like that, in a secondary location, will want to get people to try them first, build loyalty, and then raise prices eventually down the line.”

While that portion of City West is light on hotels, the area is seeing a certain amount of development. Nightlife and music venues such as the Teragram Ballroom and the Monty bar on Seventh Street lure people to the neighborhood. City West has also seen some major residential projects, most recently Holland Partner Group’s huge Sofia Los Angeles on Wilshire Boulevard.

A highlight of the project is the food and beverage programming. The centerpiece is Eve American Bistro, a New American restaurant on the ground floor from chef Scott Commings, who won a season of the cook-

ing competition show “Hell’s Kitchen.” There’s also a cafe on the eastern corner of the hotel, plus a private dining space on the mezzanine.

Moradi said that as with the hotel rates, the restaurant’s prices are meant to be affordable.

“You don’t have to come here as a hotel guest and pay $300 a night and a meal won’t cost $100 a person,” he said. “But you’ll get the same experience.”

The lobby sports two bars, the main M Bar beneath the skylights, and the Library Bar behind it. The latter can be cordoned off for private events. Kolla said that the hotel staff anticipates that the bars will draw crowds after shows at the Teragram Ballroom.

There is also a unique element: the Mayfair’s “podcast studio.” The ground-floor spot is covered in classic vinyl records. The small space is still being set up, but Kolla said that hotel guests will be able to use it to record and edit their own podcasts.

The developers have also invested in the art program. They hired Kelly “Risk” Graval, known for his work in graffiti and street art, to curate the works, with each floor showcasing pieces from a different artist. Those will be rotated on a regular basis.

Currently Graval’s paintings hang on the 15th floor, and the lobby sports a stenciled “Haight Street Rat” from street artist Banksy, which is on display through July 27.

Kolla said the hotel also will hold live music in the lobby and throughout the building. He said the current plan is to have bands and DJs once a month, but additional shows could be added depending on what is happening in Downtown at the time.

ICO is still completing a few amenities on the third floor, including a ballroom. A pool will open in a former parking lot. Those are expected to come online by the end of the year. nicholas@downtownnews.com

JULY 16, 2018

photo by Tanveer Badal

Architect Gulla Jónsdóttir redesigned the lobby, which includes commanding columns and a pair of bars.

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America’s Number One Imported Italian Wine Stella Rosa Turns 15 Riboli Family Wines ‘Stellabrates’ Momentous Occasion With Donation to Make-A-Wish Foundation

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fter 15 years of success as America’s number one imported Italian wine, Riboli Family Wines of Los Angeles’ San Antonio Winery, is celebrating by giving back. The family behind L.A.’s 101-yearold winery has chosen to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. They will be collaborating with the local Los Angeles chapter through the AdoptA-Wish program, granting a local child’s one true wish.

“We are honored to be partnering with such a reputable organization, which does so much good for thousands of children across this country,” said Steve Riboli, vice president of Riboli Family Wines. “Our family has always been dedicated to giving back to the community that supports us, so to be able to help put a smile on a child’s face, is very special for us.”

“We are so grateful to Riboli Family Wines for their generous gift,” said Marc Sawyer, Development Director, Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles. “Their commitment to our mission will help us fuel recovery for even more children with critical illnesses in LA County.”

Riboli Family Wines will also be giving back to its longtime dedicated customers by gifting a special birthday lip balm to the first 10,000 people who sign up on their website. And those who have the same birthday as Stella Rosa, July 18, could win a special Taste the Magic birthday box. There will also be a special package of six specially selected Stella Rosa wines to purchase online July 11-July 18.

The Stella Rosa wines will be flowing at both the original L.A. location and the Ontario location, where customers could enjoy four tastings of Stella Rosa for $5.

Stella Rosa was created by the Riboli family to meet

a growing demand by its customers who visited their original location of San Antonio Winery in Los Angeles.

After enjoying the family’s Il Conte Moscato D’Asti, the customers were seeking a similar sweeter wine with the health benefits of a red wine. Enter Stella Rosa Rosso, L’Originale, first in the Stella Rosa collection.

After 15 years, Stella Rosa has grown to become the leading imported wine Hot Brand by volume, reaching more than 1.7 million cases last year, according to Shanken News Daily, and has received the Shanken Impact Hot Brand Award for five consecutive years now.

Never resting on its laurels, Riboli Family Wines continues to expand the Stella Rosa collection to offer its customers new and exciting wines, with 14 wines in its Originale semi-sweet, semi-sparkling collection and seven in its fully sparkling Imperiale wine. “We never imagined the success Stella Rosa would have when we first bottled Rosso,” said Riboli. “We are eternally grateful to our dedicated customers for supporting our wines throughout all these years and continuously inspiring us to create new ones.”

JULY 16, 2018

DOWNTOWN NEWS 11

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Updated Milner Hotel To Reopen Next Year Flower Street Property Will Have Mix of Traditional and Hostel-Type Rooms

By Nicholas Slayton he Financial District’s Ritz Milner Hotel opened in 1923 and closed in August 2017 for renovations, with few details provided at the time. Now the scope of the work is finally coming into play, as is a timeline.

The hotel at 813 S. Flower St. is expected to reopen in early 2019. A renovation will turn it into a boutique establish-

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The 1923 Ritz Milner Hotel at 813 S. Flower St. is being renovated and is expected to reopen next year. The façade is being restored and new eateries will open.

ment with an array of amenities, and it will target leisure travelers as well as people coming to Downtown Los Angeles for shows and events at the nearby Convention Center.

Irvine-based Pacifica Hotels acquired the property in 2016, and Rockefeller Partners Architects is redesigning the space, including the façade, according to Kate Bartolo, a land-use and development consultant for the project. The 12-story hotel that previously had 180 rooms will have 156 in the future, with a mix of traditional hotel rooms and hostel-style accommodations. The precise split between the types of rooms is still being determined.

This would make it the second Downtown hotel to have that kind of division. The Freehand Los Angeles opened last summer at Eighth and Olive streets, bringing 157 traditional rooms and 59 hostel-style units with up to eight beds.

The Ritz Milner renovations will include overhauling aged infrastructure, such as electrical, air conditioning and lighting systems. The work will also update the food and beverage programs, Bartolo said. There will be a 3,469-squarefoot ground-floor cafe, plus a 1,890-square-foot basement bar. The latter facility will double as kind of game room, with darts, table tennis, arcade games and other options.

The main addition will be a 3,825-square-foot restaurant and bar on the rooftop. The eateries will be open to the public.

Pacifica Hotels has a history of developing boutique hotels along the California coast; it operates 26 hotels in California, with three others in Hawaii and Florida. The Ritz-Milner is the company’s first Downtown project.

Rates for the hotel have not yet been set, and no budget for the work has been revealed. nicholas@downtownnews.com

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12 DOWNTOWN NEWS

JULY 16, 2018

A Visit to the Victorian Age After Years of Waiting, the Spring Arcade’s Clayton’s Public House Finally Debuts wood-backed chair. “Pubs are supposed to

By Sean P. Thomas hen Elizabeth Peterson-Gower and be fun, right? We don’t like to take ourselves Tony Gower shuttered their pub too seriously here.”

Stepping into Clayton’s Public House Royal Clayton’s in 2010, it drew a significant amount of consternation in can feel like you’ve walked out of a time Downtown Los Angeles. The Arts District machine. The design team borrowed at the time didn’t have anything close to heavily from themes and aesthetics of the the number of restaurants it now offers, and Victorian Era (1837-1901). The exterior, people had come to rely on the spot for its on the Spring Street side of the arcade, accessible fare, good beer list and role as a features a green-tile laden beer garden patio, while the interior is lined with more neighborhood hang.

So many rejoiced in 2012 when news than 125 pieces of period art collected by broke that Royal Clayton’s would have a the pair. The pictures, playbills, etchings spiritual successor in the revitalized Spring and more depict popular performers of the Street Arcade building. Yet the wait has been time including magician Chung Ling Soo long: The follow-up, Clayton’s Public House, (real name William Ellsworth Robinson) and singer and dancer Aida Overton Walker. finally debuted on June 12.

For Gower, it was a throwback to the ’60s.

The six-year lag in between restaurants allowed expectations to settle, and the new No, not the 1960s.

“I always thought the best pub period iteration is somewhat different from its predecessor. While Royal Clayton’s drew from occurred during the 1860s to the turn of the the iconography of popular and traditional century,” Gower said. “The average Joe Blow British pubs, the couple opted for a more on the streets had some coin in his pocket, local feel for the new location, albeit some and they built these beautiful pubs to get some of that money. That time period of pub 130 years in the past.

“If you put Victorianism in a washing building is what we wanted to bring back machine with Monty Python, you would and let people see.”

800.900.5788 I aerioconnect.com Broadband Voicewith I WiFiClayton’s I HDTV Public Through the Doors come Iout House,” The couple came to the project with Gower said on a Tuesday afternoon, while sitting next to his wife and co-owner in a ample experience beyond the original

Elizabeth PetersonGower and Tony Gower opened Clayton’s Public House last month. It comes eight years after its spiritual predecessor, the Arts District pub Royal Clayton’s, was shut down.

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Clayton’s. Peterson-Gower is CEO and founder of the urban planning and consulting firm EPG LA, one of the top fixers in Downtown. Gower has had his hand in a number of projects, including the nowdefunct bars The Derby and Bordello.

The restaurant also pays tribute to the Spring Arcade Building itself. Los Angeles muralist Joseph Powell’s re-creation of the building as it would have appeared in the 1920s overlooks the 30-plus tables.

Sign painter Ronn Overby worked for nine months diligently painting Clayton’s distinctive gold leaf window signage.

The walls and pillars of the restaurant are lined with approximately 500 wooden doors, with some coming from Downtown landmarks including the United Artists

Theatre on Broadway (now the Ace Hotel) and the Commercial Exchange Building (now the Freehand Los Angeles) on Eighth Street. The restaurant owners snatched up the artifacts as the properties were being redeveloped.

“Technically, Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford could have walked through those doors,” Gower said enthusiastically, pointing toward a large brown wooden door hanging on a pillar. Chaplin and Pickford were among the partners in the United Artists Theatre.

The new location also repurposed fixtures of the original Royal Clayton’s. That includes a stained-glass window from a church in New York, a three-hinged mirror hanging above the bar, and a stuffed pigeon quirkily named Jack.

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DOWNTOWN NEWS 13

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The interior features more than 125 individual pictures, playbills and artwork depicting some of the stars of the Victorian era.

photo by Gary Leonard

Royal Clayton’s was open for five years before the team decided it was time for a change. The owners recalled that foot traffic was lax, especially compared to the Historic Core. So when the opportunity to move to the new location arose, they jumped.

“We just fell in love with the Spring Arcade,” Gower said. “It was a longer lease for us, it was centrally located and it just made sense.”

Still, the process was slow. There were rumors that Clayton’s Public House would open in 2016, then 2017, then early 2018.

Peterson-Gower maintains that many of the premature opening dates came from other people’s assumptions of when the location could possibly open, and not directly from

the owners. Peterson-Gower said she knew from the onset that the construction of Clayton’s Public House was closer to a brisk jog than a speedy race.

“The minute we signed the lease, people were like, ‘They are reopening!” she said.

“That was never realistic.”

Much of the elongated construction period had to do with the Spring Arcade Building itself, Peterson-Gower said.

Longtime owner Joseph Hellen launched a remodel and slowly began the process of going from swap meet-style vendors to new eateries. Clayton’s Public House arrives in the property after Downtown favorites such as Gelateria Uli and the taqueria Guisados.

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Other delays stemmed from a tricky build-out, as the space had to be repurposed. That included rebuilding portions of the basement to hold some of the pub’s kegs while adding additional plumbing and piping.

“We just got caught up,” Peterson-Gower said. “This was going to be retail and now you have restaurants. It’s a completely different requirement for gas, for power, for water, for everything.”

The Bill of Faire The menu — or as the team calls it, the “bill of faire” —is based on pub favorites with a few special additions. Executive Chef Matt Bata’s appetizers include a

cheese plate, salt cod fritters, a Scotch egg, and fried chicken bites. Among the entrees, which run from $14-$34, are angus beef burgers, veggie burgers, lamb shanks and, of course, fish and chips.

Clayton’s, which recently added lunch in addition to dinner service, boasts more than 30 beers on tap, personally selected

by Gower. The list features local favorites from Iron Triangle and Boomtown breweries, as well as imports from Europe such as Belgiums Brasserie Dupont and Brouwerij De Brabandere.

“That’s my passion,” Gower said. “Apart from building pubs, it’s the beer list.”

Kristi Jensen compiled the cocktail roster — or “fancy drinks,” as they were dubbed during Queen Victoria’s time — through research into favored drinks of the era. They are named for famed performers, such as the Harry Johnson (toki Japanese whisky, absinth, fresh lemon and lime) and the Maud Wagner (Plymouth gin, cocchi Americano, linie aquavit and bitters).

Crowds have been steady in the first month. Peterson-Gower said that many patrons of the original Royal Clayton’s have visited, as have people who are newly arrived in the neighborhood.

The goal, the couple said, is to offer something a bit different.

“It’s escapism,” Gower added. “I want people to come in, have a nice cold beer and just escape.”

Clayton’s Public House is at 541 S. Spring St. (213) 620-1904 or facebook.com/claytonsdtla. sean@downtownnews.com

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

14 DOWNTOWN NEWS

JULY 16, 2018

REDCAT’s New Original Works Festival runs over the course of three weeks and showcases productions that experiment and blend media and form. On the lineup this week is How Many Years Did We Fight the Beast Together, which mixes Filipino dance and instruments with Western operatic form.

DT

photo by King&Cub Media

CALENDAR

At REDCAT, the Future Is NOW Venue’s 15th Annual New Original Works Festival Veers Into Theater, Dance and Technology

By Nicholas Slayton owntown Los Angeles’ REDCAT is known for experimental fare that often blends the worlds of theater, dance and an array of new media techniques. This week, the venue in the back of Walt Disney Concert Hall makes an even harder turn to burgeoning artists.

The 15th annual New Original Works Festival takes place over three weekends, with three different acts each week. It opens Thursday, July 19.

The series began in 2004. As in years past, the NOW Festival is designed to showcase emerging artists and revolutionary storytelling, and to expose audiences to unconventional stage shows.

Mark Murphy, executive director of REDCAT, said there were 144 applications this year, including dance works, performance art, music and installations. He noted that the artists are evolving.

“There are more people participating that ever; only three of the nine artist acts had been part of a previous festival,” Murphy said last week. “So much of the work we’ve done in the last year and a half at REDCAT has been political. With these artists, there’s a very human and almost sensual quality in what they’re doing, even when using technology.”

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The NOW Festival runs through Aug. 4, with 8:30 p.m. shows every Thursday-Saturday. Tickets are $20 for individual performances ($16 for REDCAT members). A pass for all three weeks is $40.

This week’s lineup includes the animated show Eat Your Young from Miwa Matreyek and Morgan Sorne, and Jmy James Kidd and Tara Jane O’Neil’s dance work solid, like a rock. Also on the bill is composer Jasmine Orpilla and choreographer Peter Deguzman’s How Many Years Did We Fight the Beast Together, a mix of opera and dance.

Deguzman is the artistic director of the Malaya Filipino-American Dance Arts troupe, and the show draws heavily from traditional Filipino instruments and dance, specifically gongs, but the format is decidedly Western. Orpilla said that the result is like “a high, penetrating soprano cutting through the dark.”

“This has never really been done, combining classical operatic modalities with kulintang music — they’re completely opposite,” she said. “Kulintang music is cyclical and meditative. Then you have the world of Western music, where there are scales. Part of it is to see what happens when you try to bridge the styles.”

As with many other shows in the festival, How Many Years Did We Fight the Beast Together is a teaser for a larger work that is being developed. This production will run roughly 30 minutes.

Body Issues The second weekend brings a series of works that focus on the movement of the body and physical experience.

The lineup includes Sebastian Hernandez in Hypanthium, and Milka Djordjevich’s CORPS, which has a number of performers marching to martial beats.

In the third piece, performance artist KyungHwa Lee will explore body image and the concept of the ideal body in the multimedia installation Malleable Bodies: Flusser, Plasticity, and the Corset. The show uses projections, 3D printers and virtual reality.

“My work is basically about the architecture of the body,” Lee said in a phone interview. “I thought, in the future, every person will choose their body like fashion, as today we choose and change clothes. The technology is developing already, so I’m using 3D printing and virtual reality to show that.”

The NOW Festival’s third week leans heavily into dance and choreography, with Christine Marie’s Shadow in Stereo: Antiquated A.R., CARLON’s fold, unfold, refold, and the astrophysics-inspired Singularity Song from Rachel Mason and the butoh dancer Oguri.

The latter show projects a number of images on the floor of the stage and the background, and also incorporate live video. As Mason’s score plays, Oguri slowly contorts his body, interacting with the images on stage.

Mason said the piece came out of in-

DOWNTOWN NEWS 15

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

The third week of the NOW Festival includes Christine Marie’s Shadow in Stereo: Antiquated A.R., which utilizes 3D glasses.

photo by Christine Marie

JULY 16, 2018

terviews with astrophysicists such as Cal Tech’s Kip Thorne, whose work influenced Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Mason said the show is meant to represent elusiveness and mystery, in

the way that physicists are still trying to study the “singularity,” the center of a black hole.

“We’re using some of the language of the ecclesiastical traditions of music

across many different cultures, because there is an absolute parallel between what you get when you have a cosmic experience through music and through physics,” Mason said. “Oguri is kind of the conduit for that.”

Murphy said that this year’s projects are particularly ambitious, especially in how they utilize technology. He noted Lee’s use of 3D printers and projections, and Christine Marie’s third-week show, which incorporates non-digital stereos and 3D glasses. He added that Orpilla and Deguzman make heavy use of lighting arrangements to create “an almost ethereal experience.”

This edition of the NOW Festival is budgeted at $22,000, according to Murphy, with about half of that going directly to artists’ honoraria. The participants were given access to REDCAT’s space over the last two months to rehearse and work with the technology. As in years past, the National Endowment for the Arts supports the festival, contributing $6,000 to the budget.

Murphy said that part of the goal of the NOW Festival is to showcase works that focus on the purity of expression and celebrate humanity. Audiences, he hopes, will discover a sense of beauty in new and unexpected ways.

REDCAT’s New Original Works Festival runs Thursday-Saturdays, July 19-Aug. 4, at REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., (213) 237-2800 or redcat.org. nicholas@downtownnews.com

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16 DOWNTOWN NEWS

JULY 16, 2018

Feasting on Little Tokyo Historic Community Brings Back a Food Festival

By Sean P. Thomas ittle Tokyo is known for its collection of dainty shops and historic charm, as well as a coterie of restaurants offering sushi, shabu shabu and more.

Those eateries will be in the spotlight this week, as locals and visitors flock to the neighborhood for the third annual Delicious Little Tokyo food festival. Taking place Friday-Saturday, July 20-21, primarily outside the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.), the event features a schedule of free and ticketed performances, workshops and tastings provided by some

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of the neighborhood’s hippest restaurants, both old and new.

“It’s really a weekend of special events in which these restaurants can highlight some of their best dishes,” said Chris Komai, president of the Little Tokyo Community Council.

The festival grew out of a partnership between the Community Council, which advocates for businesses and residents in the historic neighborhood, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It was conceived as a way to highlight businesses in Little Tokyo that have been economically impacted by the construction of the Metro

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“While the construction is going on, we wanted to let the community know that Little Tokyo is still open for business,” Komai said.

Komai said the event has grown each year, with more and more businesses from the neighborhood participating. That in turn lures a greater number of visitors. The hope is that people who come to the festival find something they like, and then return in the future to eat and shop in the community.

The festival kicks off on Friday with Sake on the Rocks, a 21-and-over event devoted to the Japanese rice wine. It features 50 sake

varietals with smaller plates of food served by local restaurants and chefs. It runs from 7-10 p.m. and admission is $150.

On Saturday, the focus falls almost solely on food. Little Tokyo restaurants will offer giveaways, conduct demonstrations and hands-on workshops, and offer food tastings.

Participating restaurants include Sake Dojo and the 115-year-old First Street confectionary shop Fugetsu-do.

Saturday also features a walking tour dubbed “Windows of Little Tokyo: Halfway Reception.” It starts at the JACCC and ends at Aloha Café. Along the way there will be live Continued on page 20

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ROCK, POP & JAZZ

Blue Whale 123 Astronaut E. S. Onizuka St., (213) 620-0908 or bluewhalemusic.com.

July 16: Ethan Sherman Group.

July 17: Vinny Golia Group.

July 18: Brandon Bae Group.

July 19: Graham Dechter, Akiko Tsuruga, Jeff Hamilton.

July 20-21: Nate Smith + Kinfolk.

July 22: The Gnu Sextet.

Bootleg Bar 2220 Beverly Blvd., (213) 389-3856 or bootlegtheater.org.

July 16: Indie-pop singer Johanna Samuels’ residency continues. As in, she plays weekly, she’s not living there. So no housewarming gifts.

July 17: Psych rockers The Anti-Job are speaking our language.

July 18: Fell Runner has a foreboding name to go with their West African-influenced music.

July 19: The Unending Thread has an EP release show. We assume the EP has an ending.

July 20: Cornelia Murr has an album release concert.

July 21: Another album release show, this time courtesy of Mom Jeans. Listen to it while you wear it!

July 22: We see what Pearl & The Oysters did there.

Escondite 410 Boyd St., (213) 626-1800 or theescondite.com.

July 20: Riodosa, The Glen Livers. Ah, whisky puns.

July 22: Wicklow Atwater & The Fallen Flame failed to complete the ritual and now must keep playing to keep the demons at bay.

Exchange LA 618 S. Spring St., (213) 627-8070 or exchangela.com.

July 20: Hot Chip has a DJ set.

July 21: Kaskade.

Grammy Museum 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-6800 or grammymuseum.org.

Continued on next page

photo courtesy Grand Performances

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TUESDAY, JULY 17 Simon Romero at Zocalo Public Square National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, 111 N. Central Ave. or zocalopublicsquare.org.

7:30 p.m.: The New York Times’ national correspondent moderates a debate that asks, “What are the social consequences of anti-immigrant rhetoric?”

Bruce Lee and the Afro-Asian Connection at Aloud at the Central Library Mark Taper Auditorium, Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7000 or lfla.org.

7:30 p.m.: Comedian W. Kamau Bell, critic Jeff Chang and Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon dive into the martial artist’s legacy and his impact in the African-American community.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 Feminist Book Club at The Last Bookstore 453 S. Spring St., (213) 488-0599 or lastbookstorela.com.

7:30 p.m.: Julia Callahan leads this month’s discussion of “Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion.”

FRIDAY, JULY 20 Dance Downtown, Salsa Night 800 N. Alameda St. or unionstationla.com.

8 p.m.: Dance the night away with live music from LA Picante.

There is an intro session for beginners.

Cloud City OUE Skyspace LA, 633 W. Fifth St. or bit.ly/cloudcityjuly.

8 p.m.: This elevated dance party includes sets from DJs Eric Sharp and Valida, plus yoga at sunset.

Art Buzz Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1717 E. Seventh St., (213) 928-0833 or theicala.org.

5:30 p.m.: Curator Meg Cranston leads a tour and happy hour tasting session of the “This Brush for Hire” show at the museum.

1 2 photo by Javier Guillen for the Music Center/Grand Park

EVENTS

By Sean P. Thomas

3

4

5

photo courtesy the Department of Recreation and Parks

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DOWNTOWN NEWS 17

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

photo by Patrick Brown

JULY 16, 2018

1. Juliette Lewis is known for her many acting roles, including in Natural Born Killers. She also fronts a high-energy rock band that channels Iggy Pop and the Talking Heads. This week, Juliette and the Licks return to the stage, with a performance at the Teragram Ballroom on Friday, July 20. Expect to hear tracks from their 2016 EP FUTURE DEEP, which features collaborations with Cage the Elephant’s Brad Shultz and Isabella Summers of Florence and the Machine. The show begins at 9 p.m. with local duo Sumo Princess opening up. At 1234 W. Seventh St., (213) 6899100 or teragramballroom.com.

2. Pancho Villa is a lot of things: a cultural hero, a bandit, a symbol. Villa’s almost mythic life story is detailed in the chamber rock opera Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance, which comes to the Grand Performances stage on Friday-Saturday, July 20-21, at 8 p.m. The closing chapter of composer Graham Reynolds’ three-installment The Marfa Triptych, the opera explores the shared history of Mexico and the United States through the experiences of one of the most important figures of the Mexican Revolution. Performed by the Mexican theater collective Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol, expect to hear plenty of music, and of course, see an ample amount of bandoliers. What could be better? The performance are free. At 350 S. Grand Ave., (213) 687-2190 or grandperformances.org.

3. Well into its 14th year, the Dance DTLA program at Grand Park continues to provide a fun and al fresco venue where you can either get up and dance, or listen to a DJ spin their craft, every Friday evening during the summer. The participatory element is known as Dance Downtown, and is best described as part dance festival, part dance class, and all free fun. This week, it’s all about the intimate and sultry Latin American dance style that is salsa. From 7-11 p.m. on July 20, professional salseros will offer lessons on how to move those hips and work on your basic, hopefully on beat. There is no judgment here, and beginners are encouraged. Parking is $5 after 8 p.m. At 200 N. Grand Ave., (213) 971-8080 or grandparkla.org.

4. More than 10,000 vocalists, some professional and the vast majority amateur — including you! — will come together for Big Sing California, which aims to be the largest choral event in California history. It is built around Walt Disney Concert Hall, where the members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale will take the stage and handle songs including “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers and The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Meanwhile, people can reserve free seats in the audience and sing along. It expands from there, as 8,000 people in five locations across the state will join in via online stream. Composer and LAMC Artist-in-Residence Eric Whitacre will host the event and Grant Gershon will direct. At 111 S. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7282 or lamasterchorale.org/big-sing-california.

5. Known by many for penning the song that powered John Hughes’ 1986 teen romance comedy Pretty in Pink, English rockers The Psychedelic Furs have been packing houses since the late ’70s. A huge hit in their home country and the United States, the Furs have clung strong to their post-punk, new wave sound, and this week head to Downtown Los Angeles. So expect a huge crowd when they show up at Pershing Square on Saturday, July 21. Doors open at 7 p.m., and Los Angeles’ own She Wants Revenge will open. Note: Free tickets available at eventbrite.com were completely reserved at press time, but those who arrive early could get in if there are no-shows. At 532 S. Olive St. or laparks.org/pershingsquare.

Send information and possible Don’t Miss List submissions to calendar@downtownnews.com.

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18 DOWNTOWN NEWS

Downtown L.A. Auto Group LEASE A 2018 PORSCHE

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MORE THAN 2,000 PRE-OWNED CARS!

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JULY 16, 2018

LISTINGS, 17 July 22: If you’re looking for a sign as whether or not to go to the Grace VanderWaal show, know that she was on “America’s Got Talent.”

Grand Performances Two California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave. or grandperformances.org.

July 20-21: “Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance” dives into the revolutionary’s life through chamber rock opera.

July 22: DJ Lance Rock of Nick Jr.’s almost legendary “Yo Gabba Gabba!” fame conducts 3 and 4:30 p.m. family shows dubbed “Music and Story Time With DJ Lance Rock.”

Ham and Eggs Tavern 433 W. Eighth St. or hamandeggstavern.com.

July 17: Mad Hawkes, Kermit Obert, Saint Sinner, Billy Uomo.

July 22: T.W.I.G., Jon Alomia, Pander Sera.

Moroccan Lounge 901 E. First St., (213) 395-0610 or themoroccan.com.

July 16: Low Anthem is back after their tour van crashed a few years ago.

And that’s pretty great.

July 17: Sizzy Rocket involves glitter and pop.

July 18: Jazz-tinged songs from singer-songwriter S. Carey.

July 19: Cobi.

July 20: Dark sounds, metal influence and poor motivational speaking from Dispirit.

July 21: David Ramirez is recording every show on his “Bootleg Tour.” So be careful what you say.

July 22: “A Terribly Intimate Evening With Jack Ladder” has us intrigued.

Pershing Square 532 S. Olive St., (213) 847-4970 or laparks.org/pershingsquare.

July 18: Nick Kello.

July 21: Post-punk purveyors, rejoice. It’s The Psychedelic Furs. Fans of late2000s dance rock, rejoice! She Wants Revenge opens for them.

Resident 428 S. Hewitt St. or (323) 316-5311 or residentdtla.com.

July 16: Heseriarch, Impure Consecration, and Meth Goat. No goats will be given methamphetamine during this performance.

July 17: L.A.’s best local rappers step up to the mic for this month’s “Don’t Come to L.A.” night.

July 21: Genocide Organ, Hive Mind, Liebestod.

July 22: Anenzephalia, Puce Mary, Oil Thief. One of these does not sound like the others.

Seven Grand 515 W. Seventh St., (213) 614-0737 or sevengrand.la.

July 16: Hey kids! It’s Michael Starr.

July 17: The Makers had an idea to help the kids trapped in the cave in Thailand, but Elon Musk beat them to it.

July 18: Rick Taub’s Midnight Blues Review plays for you.

July 19: The Curtis Perry Jazz Cartel.

July 21: Wes @ The Iconic Smith.

July 22: The Sheriffs of Schroedingham are not official officers of the law.

Spring St. Park 428 S. Spring St., (213) 847-4970 or laparks.org/pershingsquare.

June 19: The Happiness Band.

The Redwood 316 W. Second St., (213) 680-2600 or theredwoodbar.com.

July 16: Snail Bones, Cruz Somers, Slaughterhouse.

July 18: Blk 7nch, Black Market Drugs, Delete Insert.

July 19: Friendly Bear, Outside Animals, Dirty Cakes. Again, one of these things is not like the others.

July 20: Mr. Atomic, Killer Wolves, Tijuana Stranglers, Shadowgraphs. You know, fun, cheery, upbeat stuff.

July 21: The Pyronauts, The Hurricanes, Blackball Bandits, Los Fauna.

The Regent 448 S. Main St., (323) 284-5727, or theregenttheater.com.

July 19: TRAP Karaoke.

July 20: Have good times with Buster Bloodvessel’s Bad Manners.

July 21: Boy Pablo has no ties to Escobar.

The Smell 247 S. Main St. in the alley between Spring and Main or thesmell.org.

July 17: Continues, The Warhorse, Killer Couture.

July 21: CHUD, Birote the Musical, Different Plans, Rise & Repeat.

July 22: CAUSA, La Sangronas, y El Cabron, The Groans, Girl Anachronism.

Teragram Ballroom 1234 W. Seventh St. or teragramballroom.com.

July 20: See Juliette Lewis rock out with Juliette & the Licks.

July 21: DJ and cumbia performer El Dusty has a new album out.

Continued on page 20

JULY 16, 2018

DT

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

DOWNTOWN NEWS 19

CLASSIFIEDS

To place a classified ad in the Downtown News please call 213-481-1448 Deadline for classified display and line ads are Thursday at 12pm.

FOR RENT

All submissions are subject to federal and California fair housing laws, which make it illegal to indicate in any advertisement any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income or physical or mental disability. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

FOR RENT

ROOMS

ROOM FOR RENT

Daily and weekly excellent location.

Furnished. Daily from $45, weekly from $250. 1214 W. 8th Street.

Call Sal at 323-875-6767

LEGAL FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018151068 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business as: (1) ONLINE SCHOOL OF EARTHQUAKE RESILIENT DESIGN, 1111 S Grand Ave Apt 907, Los Angeles, CA 90015 LA COUNTY, are hereby registered by the following registrants: (1) MARIOS PANAGIOTOU, 1111 S Grand Ave Apt 907, Los Angeles, CA 90015. This business is conducted by an Individual.

Registrant(s) began to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A This statement was filed with DEAN C. LOGAN, Los Angeles County Clerk on June 20, 2018.

NOTICE—This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name

statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et. seq. Business and Professions Code).

Pub. 7/9, 7/16, 7/23 and 7/30.

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018158322 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business as: (1) RAVENPINK, 257 S. SPRING ST. SUITE PHP, Los Angeles, CA 90012 LA COUNTY (2) RAVEN PINK, 257 S. SPRING ST. SUITE PHP, Los Angeles, CA 90012 LA COUNTY are hereby registered by the following registrants: (1) RAVENPINK LLC, 257 S. SPRING ST PHP, Los Angeles, CA 90012. This business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company.

Registrant(s) began to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 05/2018.

This statement was filed with DEAN C. LOGAN, Los Angeles County Clerk on June 27, 2018.

NOTICE—This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et. seq. Business and Professions Code).

Pub. 7/16, 7/23, 7/30 and 8/6.

CREATIVE OFFICE SPACE IN VARIOUS SIZES AVAILABLE From $600-$1000 per Month

Terms are Flexible. 747.333.5511

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (METRO) REVISED AND RECIRCULATED NOTICE OF PREPARATION (NOP) OF A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT/ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT TO: AGENCIES, ORGANIZATIONS & INTERESTED PARTIES PROJECT TITLE: WEST SANTA ANA BRANCH TRANSIT CORRIDOR PROJECT PROJECT LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING: The West Santa Ana Branch (WSAB) Transit Corridor (Project) is a proposed light rail transit (LRT) line that would extend approximately 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles in the north toward the Los Angeles/Orange County line on the south, in or near the City of Cerritos. The proposed LRT line would connect downtown Los Angeles to southeast Los Angeles County, serving the cities and communities of Arts District, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, unincorporated Florence-Graham community of Los Angeles County, Vernon, Huntington Park, Bell, Cudahy, South Gate, Downey, Paramount, Bellflower, Cerritos and Artesia (Figure 1). The Study Area includes some of Los Angeles County’s most densely-developed and low-income residential neighborhoods and encompasses major regional employment centers, including significant industrial and manufacturing clusters in the County.

The Study Area is primarily urbanized, with a wide-range of existing and planned land uses.

PROJECT INITIATION: The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has initiated a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the WSAB Transit Corridor Project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Metro is the lead agency for the Project. The Draft EIS/EIR will be prepared in accordance with Section 15170 of the CEQA Guidelines. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is the lead agency for the EIS. The purpose of this revised NOP is to notify interested agencies and parties, local jurisdictions, community organizations, and interested residents (collectively, interested parties) to the preparation of the Draft EIS/EIR for the Project. This revised NOP is to solicit comments as to the scope and content of the Draft EIS/EIR and potential environmental effects from the Project; invite public participation in the Draft EIS/EIR scoping process; and announce the public scoping meetings.

At the April 2017 Board meeting, four northern alignment options (Figure 2) were carried into the environmental analysis. On May 25, 2017, a NOP was publicly released, informing interested parties of Metro’s plans to prepare a Draft EIS/EIR and request input about the Project. A revised NOP was released on June 14, 2017 informing the public of the extension to the comment period end date from July 7, 2017 to August 4, 2017.

In response to scoping comments and other input received during and after the NOP comment period, and further technical study of the Project, four (4) additional northern alignment concepts were conceived for screening: Concepts E through H (Figure 3). On May 24, 2018, the Metro Board determined to eliminate the four (4) original northern alignment Alternatives A through D, and Concepts F and H from further consideration and analysis in the environmental process. The Metro Board decided to carry Concepts E and G (Figure 4) forward into the EIS/EIR process as the new northern alignment alternatives; additional description of the Project is provided below. The Board’s reasoning for doing so is described in the Board’s May 24, 2018 agenda report and public hearing, available online or via the address provided in this NOP (https://metro-pdf-merger.datamade.us/document/ocdbill-f9a0b9a6-0aca-402a-8963-15a6b3595a0f and http://metro. granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=868).

PROJECT PURPOSE, NEED AND DESCRIPTION: The Project is a proposed LRT line that would extend approximately 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, through southeast Los Angeles County, to a terminus within or near the City of Cerritos, traversing densely populated, low-income and heavily transit-dependent communities. The Project would provide reliable, fixed guideway transit service that would increase mobility and connectivity for historically underserved, transit-dependent communities; improve travel times on local and regional transportation networks relative to not making this investment; and accommodate substantial future employment and population growth. The Project would provide reliable transit service to meet the future mobility needs of residents, employees, and visitors who travel within the Study Area.

The Project includes two (2) possible alignment alternatives in the north: Alternatives E and G; utilizes the San Pedro Branch Rightof-Way in the central section; and the Metro-Owned Right-of-Way in the southern section of the Study Area. The Project proposes to develop approximately 15 rail stations along the LRT line and identify transit oriented community land use concepts and first/ last mile pedestrian/bicycle connectivity opportunities associated with the proposed stations. The Project will also consider the development of ancillary facilities such as a maintenance and operations facility/job training center, traction power substations, and grade separation structures, as well as transit patron parking areas at selected locations along the Project alignment.

Additional, potential Project primary and ancillary features are described below.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: The purpose of the Draft EIS/ EIR is to disclose the impacts of the Project on the environment.

Key CEQA environmental factors to be addressed include: Aesthetics and Visual Quality; Air Quality; Biological Resources; Cultural Resources (Historic, Archeological, Paleontological, and Tribal Cultural Resources); Geology and Soils; Greenhouse Gas Emissions/Climate Change; Hazards and Hazardous Materials; Hydrology and Water Quality; Land Use and Planning; Noise and Vibration; Population and Housing; Public Services; Parks and Recreation; Transportation and Traffic; and Utilities and Services.

Project design features and mitigation measures to reduce potentially significant impacts during construction and operation will be identified in the Draft EIS/EIR. SCOPING MEETINGS: Public scoping meetings to accept both written and oral comments on the scope of the Draft EIS/EIR will be held on the following dates and times: • Tuesday, July 24, 2018, 4pm to 7pm, The Los Angeles Athletic Club, 431 W. 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90014 (Paid parking is also available) • Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 6pm to 8pm, Clara Park–Turner Hall, 4835 Clara St., Cudahy, CA 90201 • Tuesday, July 31, 2018, 6pm to 8pm, The Mayne Events Center, 16408 Bellflower Blvd., Bellflower, CA 90706 The scope of the Draft EIS/EIR, including the goals and objectives, project area, project description, and the environmental impacts to be evaluated will be presented at the public scoping meetings. All Metro meetings are held in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - compliant facilities. Spanish translation and Spanish-speaking staff will be provided at all scoping meetings. Japanese translation will be provided at Scoping Meeting #1. ADA accommodations and other translations are available by calling (323) 466-3876 or California Relay at 711 at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting.

For those unable to attend the meetings, a video recording of the formal presentation will be made available on the project website within one week of the conclusion of the meeting series. For more project information, please visit www.metro.net/wsab.

COMMENT DUE DATE: In addition to oral comments accepted at the scoping meetings, written comments on the scope of the Draft EIS/EIR, including the goals and objectives, project area and description, environmental impacts to be evaluated, and methodologies to be used in the evaluation, will be accepted Wednesday, July 11, 2018 through Friday, August 24, 2018.

Metro does not anticipate extending the scoping comment period.

Therefore, written comments should be sent to Metro on or before Friday, August 24, 2018 at the postal address or e-mail address below.

ADDRESS: Written and oral comments will be accepted at the public scoping meetings or they may be sent to Teresa Wong, Project Manager, Metro, One Gateway Plaza, Mail Stop: 99-22-4, Los Angeles, CA 90012, or via e-mail at WSAB@metro.net.

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TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

20 DOWNTOWN NEWS

JULY 16, 2018

LITTLE TOKYO, 16

TRILOGY

Downtown...It’s Not Just Big Business Anymore!

255 GRAND 255 South Grand Avenue 213-229-9777 www.255GRAND.com Community Amenities: Expansive Outdoor Terrace Heated Pool & Spa Custom-Designed Interiors 24 hr. Manned Lobby Resident Concierge Fitness Center / Yoga Studio Wi-Fi Lounge State-of-the-Art HD Theater Gourmet BBQ Areas / Gas Fire Pits Contemporary Lounge with Gourmet Kitchen

performances and tastings, and 11 artist installations will be displayed. It starts at 1 and is free.

Another tour, at 11 a.m., is led by the Little Tokyo Historical Society. It is $15 and visits a number of historic culinary locations related to fortune cookies, ramen and more.

It meets at the cube in front of the Japanese American National Museum.

Apartment Amenities: Breathtaking Views Spacious Floorplans Central Air & Heating Balconies / Urban Patios (Most Units) Deep Soaking Tubs Luxury Stainless Appliances & Finishes Sky Level 27th Floor Penthouse Units: Complimentary Wi-Fi & Basic Cable Waterfall Countertops Bosch Appliances Nest 3rd Generation Thermostats Up to 2 Parking Spaces Included On-Site: Dry Cleaners / Dental Office / Restaurants

photo courtesy Go Little Toyko

The festival kicks off Friday night with a sake tasting. More than 50 kinds of sake will be available.

PROMENADE TOWERS 123 South Figueroa Street 213-617-3777 www.THEPROMENADETOWERS.com

Community Amenities: Expansive Outdoor Patio with BBQ Grills Heated Pool & Spa 24 hr. Manned Lobby Fitness Center Parking Garage

On-Site: Convenience Store / Café / Beauty Salon / Private Fitness Training Apartment Amenities: Floor-to-Ceiling Windows City Skyline Views Solarium and/or Balconies

Other events are in different parts of Little Tokyo. A live calligraphy performance takes place at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at the JANM plaza. Various workshops including Camera Eats First, a food photography workshop, is planned at the Little Tokyo cafe BAE. In addition, culinary demonstrations throughout the day are scheduled at Japanese Village Plaza, the open-air mall running between First and Second streets. Saturday’s festivities begin at 10 a.m. A full schedule is on the website.

Delicious Little Tokyo runs July 20-21 at 244 S. San Pedro St. or golittletokyo.com/delicious. sean@downtownnews.com

LISTINGS, 18

FILM

MUSEUM TOWER 225 South Olive Street 213-626-1500 www.THEMUSEUMTOWERAPTS.com

Community Amenities: 24 hr. Manned Lobby Resident Concierge Heated Pool & Spa Fitness Center / Yoga Studio Outdoor Patio Gas BBQ Grills Recreation Room State-of-the-Art HD Theater Rooftop Patio with Views

Apartment Amenities: City and Mountain Views Luxury Appliances & Finishes Central Air & Heating Balconies (Most Units) Basic Cable *All Amenities Under Renovation

RESIDENCES STUDIO • ONE BEDROOM • TWO BEDROOMS PENTHOUSE UNITS • CORPORATE HOUSING

Downtown Independent 251 S. Main St., (213) 617-1033 or downtownindependent.com.

July 9-12: Araby follows one young Brazilian man’s adventures, mishaps and romances.

IMAX California Science Center, 700 State Drive, (213) 744-2019 or californiasciencecenter.org.

It’s a throwback trip to a bio-diverse land in Amazon Adventure 3D. The film follows the journey that naturalist and explorer Henry Walter Yates undertook through the Amazon rainforest in the 1850s.

Who doesn’t love pandas? The adorable bears take center stage in the appropriately titled Pandas 3D. Kristen Bell narrates the film about the efforts to reintroduced captive-born pandas into the wild.

It’s all about space in Hubble 3D, which carries audiences on a celestial journey, touching on everything from spacewalking astronauts to distant galaxies.

Dive into the history of Egypt and the impact of the Nile River as Omar Sharif hosts Mysteries of Egypt.

MORE LISTINGS @ DOWNTOWNEWS.COM/CALENDAR

TO SUBMIT EMAIL:

A LISTING: Calendar@DowntownNews.com

Email: Send a brief description, street address and public phone number. Submissions must be received 10 days prior to publication date to be considered for print.