Thanksgiving
LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN
NEWS Volume 39, Number 46
13
2
Mayoral moves, a big club bust, and other happenings Around Town.
5
Downtown gets Lucky, as jeans maker trades Vernon for the Arts District.
W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
November 15, 2010
INSIDE
Nelson Rising leaves MPG Office Trust.
2
PICK THE
PROS Pick football games, win prizes.
6
photo by Gary Leonard
The backbone of the jewelry biz.
7
Return of the L.A. Auto Show.
12
On Wednesday, Nov. 10, civic leaders and YWCA of Greater Los Angeles officials celebrated the “topping out” of the organization’s $73 million Job Corps Urban Campus at 1020 S. Olive St. The ceremony, which marked the end of vertical construction, involved officials signing a beam that will be placed at the high point of the seven-story edifice slated to open in 2012. The tree is meant to symbolize growth and bring life to the building.
Fiat-Chrysler to Put Its Flag on Figueroa
The Fifth and Flower Fumble
Carmaker to Open Dealership in Early 2010
Loss of Key Regional Connector Station Raises Worries in Downtown by Ryan VaillancouRt staff wRiteR
T
he Downtown Regional Connector, a two-mile underground track that transit experts say is the lynchpin to a betterperforming regional light-rail system, took a big step forward last month. Metro’s board of directors on Oct. 28 approved one of four potential routes for final study, initiating the last major planning phase
Downtown is full of new classical music.
16
needed before the $1.36 billion project can be built. While the move earned praise from mass transit advocates, another vote that day sparked concern among some key Downtown stakeholders. In a cost-cutting measure, the board also nixed a proposed station at Fifth and Flower streets. In doing so, they likely killed the chance of building a new node to see Fifth and Flower, page 8
photo by Gary Leonard
Chrysler plans to open a West Coast flagship dealership on Figueroa Street early next year. The company built the structure in 2004, then shelved it amid a sour economy.
Reviewing ‘Crimes of the Heart.’
17
18 CALENDAR LISTINGS 21 MAP 22 CLASSIFIEDS
by Ryan VaillancouRt staff wRiteR
D
etroit carmaker Chrysler and its Italian partner Fiat are set to open a new fivebrand dealership early next year, activating a Figueroa Street structure that Chrysler built, and then abandoned, six years ago. The opening of the three-story glass and stone edifice that Chrysler built in 2004 comes as the company strives to rebound from a tumultuous bankruptcy turn last year. Part
of that turnaround involves Chrysler and its partner setting their sights on the Downtown market. “We will be putting a dealership there with all our brands, opening some time in the first quarter next year,” said Ralph Kisiel, a spokesman for the Chrysler Group. Kisiel declined to provide details about the dealership in advance of a Nov. 16 announcement, planned for two days before the start of the L.A. Auto Show. Fiat, which is set see Dealership, page 10
rendering courtesy of Metro
The $1.36 billion Regional Connector is moving forward, but likely without a station at Fifth and Flower streets. The Metro board said it could still be studied, but only if the private sector comes up with $2 million.
The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles