LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN
NEWS
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Buildings rise, trees are trimmed, and other happenings Around Town.
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Why is there a disturbing divide among some Downtown neighborhoods?
W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
October 27, 2008
Volume 37, Number 43
INSIDE
Halloween In Downtown
Rebuilding the Roosevelt After Nearly Three Years of Construction, The $150 Million Condo Project Joins The Seventh Street Revival
A high rise hits a high point.
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A slightly smaller Fashion District.
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L.A. Live maintains momentum.
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by Ryan Vaillancourt staff writer
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hen Milbank Real Estate bought the 12-story Roosevelt building for $15 million in 1998, company officials had no plans to turn the historic property into residences. At the time the office market had better prospects than the residential sector, so the company poured $7 million into renovating the structure. In a matter of four years, occupancy increased from 25% to about 55%. It was only after four different developers approached Milbank with offers to buy the building at Seventh and Flower streets
for a residential conversion that the company’s chief executive, M. Aaron Yashouafar, changed his vision for the property. “As we went through the negotiation route with some of those interested buyers, I think in 2003, the idea came to our mind that why not do it ourselves?” Yashouafar said. Milbank is predominantly a real estate investment firm that manages an $800 million portfolio of residential and commercial projects — including the Figueroa Tower in Downtown — in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Oklahoma City and New York. In 2003 the company was involved in its see Roosevelt, page 10
Show Him The Money The Manner and the Message of Villaraigosa’s $2.3 Million War Chest by Jon Regardie executive editor
A special Healthcare section.
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Michelin stars and Restaurant Buzz.
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‘Spring Awakening’ comes Downtown.
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t is impossible these days to escape talk of the financial crisis. With downward-angling graphs the new national art obsession and
Economic Crunch Hits Downtown Nonprofits Skid Row Organizations See Donation Drops of Up to 25%; Some Events Are Canceled by Richard Guzmán city editor
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THE REGARDIE REPORT
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson getting more air time than Paris Hilton, it is clear that the boom is over for everyone. Well, almost everyone. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, gearing up for his next election, appears to be recession-proof. Consider recent weeks. At a time when the economy was trying to regain its footing like Apollo Creed after Rocky Balboa landed his first round haymaker, Villaraigosa was actually making money. On Thursday, Oct. 9, the same day the Dow dropped 678 points and Fortune 500 companies were shedding value like Sam Zell sheds reporters, Villaraigosa raised thousands at a Yom Kippur (the day, not the theme) fundraiser in San Antonio, Texas. This was amazing, in part because the last time I checked, San Antonio wasn’t part of Los Angeles, and San Antonionians don’t get to vote in our local elections. Thirteen percent of me believes AnVil made the trip simply because he already views himself as Saint Antonio, and thus thought he should travel to the motherland.
photo by Gary Leonard
M. Aaron Yashouafar, CEO of Milbank Real Estate, at the Roosevelt Lofts at Seventh and Flower streets. The company has converted the 83-year-old building into 222 condominiums.
photo by Gary Leonard
Why is this mayor smiling? Possibly because five months before his next election he has raised $2.15 million more than his closest competitor.
The other reason this is amazing is because Villaraigosa is building up a war chest for an election in which it’s virtually impossible for him to lose. Already backed by labor and business groups, and with no significant opponent signed on (the closest thing to a competitor, Walter Moore, finished sixth when he ran for mayor in 2005, which is about as ominous as a mommy-and-me showing of Beverly Hills Chihuahua), Villaraigosa would need a Herculean effort to snatch defeat from the jaws see Money, page 8
Others, including some nonprofits in the arts, are beginning to prepare for a tough road ahead. The URM is the clearest example of the trouble facing charities. The Skid Row-based nonprofit, located see Nonprofits, page 9
ndy Bales has seen a lot of hard times during his years as CEO of the Union Rescue Mission. But now, the organization that for more than a century has helped those down on their luck is in need of desperate help of its own. “We’re down about 25% over our normal donations, so we’re barely hanging in there,” Bales said. “I’ve never seen it this bad.” As the national economic crisis worsens, and as companies large and small lay off workers and individuals tighten their spending, a less obvious impact is that charitable donations are starting to slow. In Downtown Los Angeles some nonprofit agencies, and in particular organizaphoto by Gary Leonard tions that work with the Gregory C. Scott, president and CEO of Skid Row’s homeless, are already Weingart Center, which has had to cancel a major feeling a devastating November fundraiser because of a lack of corporate decrease in donations. support.
Since 1972, an independent, locally owned and edited newspaper, go figure.