03-19-12

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LOS ANGELES

DOWNTOWN

NEWS Major challenge for a mission leader.

9-24 W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M

March 19, 2012

Volume 41, Number 12

INSIDE

Downtown Living

Second Chance For a Second Street Project Arts District Development Creates 38 Three-Story Residences

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A route for the Downtown streetcar.

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More housing in the Arts District.

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photo by Gary Leonard

Mark Borman began working on the project that would become 940 East 2nd Street in 2006. The 38-condominium development opened late last year. by Richard Guzmán city editor

A ballet version of ‘Snow White.’

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S

ix years ago, when Mark Borman first saw the structure at 940 E. Second St., it would have been easy for him to fixate on everything that was wrong with the 100-year-old building in the Arts District. The former sugar beet warehouse that had once been home to the Spreckels Sugar Company was

falling apart. There had been shoddy repairs after a fire. It was covered in layers of old, peeling paint. Although it housed a clothing factory and about 10 residents, the long structure stretching between Second and Third streets had cracks in the masonry. Nevertheless, Borman saw potential. “I loved the orientation of the building. I loved the character of the building,” said Borman, cofounder of development firm the Borman Group.

So in 2006, he purchased the property for about $7.8 million and set off to create the Barn Lofts, a $26 million project to transform the property into condominiums. He was part of a high-flying trend. At the time, developers all across Downtown Los Angeles were purchasing properties and offering plans to create housing for the surging community. Then, as everyone knows, the recession hit. see Condos, page 26

Major Changes for Wilshire Grand Project Reviewing ‘American Idiot.’

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Two-Tower Development Now Envisioned as Single High-Rise With 900 Hotel Rooms by Ryan Vaillancourt staff writer

30 CALENDAR LISTINGS 33 MAP 34 CLASSIFIEDS

K

orean Air is considering major changes to its $1 billion plan to replace the aged Wilshire Grand Hotel. Instead of building a 45-story tower with 560 hotel rooms and a second-phase, 60-story office complex, the company is looking at erecting a single tower with 900 hotel rooms and a diminished office component. The pending changes come as Korean Air has parted ways with office giant Thomas Properties Group, which handled the project’s entitlements and was widely expected to serve as the project developer. Martin Project Management, a new venture by architect Chris Martin (whose firm AC Martin Partners is handling the project designs), has been appointed to manage the development.

Thomas Properties, which was presented in April 2009 as Korean Air’s development partner, had been negotiating to stay on the project. As developer, Thomas Properties would have shared the financial risk, but would also have maintained an ownership stake in the finished product. “We’re disappointed that we could not reach an agreement with [Korean Air] to proceed as developer of the project,” company Chairman and CEO Jim Thomas said. Chris Park, the hotel’s general manager and a member of a committee assembled by Korean Air to oversee the project, said Thomas Properties was contracted only to manage the land-use entitlements. While there were considerations to hire the firm as developer, an agreement was never in place, Park said. see Wilshire Grand, page 25

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