Council District 14 1st Quarter Report (DTLA)

7/29/2019 Council District 14 1st Quarter Report (DTLA)

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First Quarter Report Council District 14

Dear Friends:

Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is a uniquely dynamic, exciting and thriving area of the City and Iam honored to represent Downtown as a Los Angeles City Councilmember.

It is amazing to think that just two decades ago, DTLA was in a steady state of decline. Buildingswere vacant. Jobs were leaving the urban center. Very few people called DTLA home and thefuture vitality of our City center was in serious doubt. Today, DTLA’s outlook as a viable, vibrantand growing community has improved dramatically.

The Downtown News recently referred to DTLA as a “boomtown.” This apt description would havebeen unthinkable 20 years ago and is due to the tireless work of residents, developers, investors,

business groups, civic leaders and concerned citizens.

These early DTLA boosters sowed the seeds of growth, and today, despite the lingering effects ofa national recession, those efforts are bearing fruit.

Today, DTLA is not only the center hub of our City’s hospitality, entertainment and culturalactivities, it is also home to some of the most interesting, vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods in thecountry. DTLA simultaneously supports tens of thousands of residents, hundreds of thousands ofdaily workers and millions of annual tourists.

While the DTLA improvements in recent years are profound, there is still much work to be

done. As Councilmember for the 14th

Council District, I have represented about 40 percent ofDowntown since my 2005 election. The 2012 redistricting changed this. Now, all of DTLA, with theexception of the L.A. Live campus, is within Council District 14.

The responsibility of representing the near-entirety of DTLA is a great responsibility, but one I takeseriously. I believe a united DTLA is a stronger DTLA. Cohesive communities and consistency inrepresentation improves prospects for continued growth, better connects our neighborhoods, andallows more thoughtful planning now and in the future.




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Photo by Carla Paola

As we outline in this report, my priorities for DTLA build off of three main tenets:

1. Improving Downtown’s Livability and Planning Its Future2. Supporting Economic Development and Tourism3. Connecting Downtown’s Neighborhoods

As Downtown’s Councilmember, I am committed to working alongside DTLA residents, businessmembers, civic organizations and citywide leaders to build on the foundation of incredible progresswe have already experienced. I look forward to helping put plans, policies, programs andpartnerships in place to ensure Downtown’s future as a world-class urban core.

As I reflect on my first months representing all of DTLA, I thought it important and useful for us allto survey the current landscape, acknowledge the work that has already been done and set a clearpath and vision for what we want to achieve in the future. This report covers my office’s threeDTLA platform tenets. I hope it serves as a blueprint that can be used as we collaborate to ensurethat Downtown Los Angeles grows stronger, more vibrant and is poised for a bright and

prosperous future.

Sincerely,

José HuizarCouncilmember, 14th District




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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Livability and Planning for the Future

Parklets 4Spring St. Park 4

Arts District Park 5Pershing Square Improvements 5Grand Park Opening 5City Hall Park Opening 6Planning Grants & Policies 6Changes in Funding Structures 6For ParksPermanent Supportive Housing 6Operation Healthy Streets 7Homelessness Funding 7

New Schools 8Smart Development 8

Economic Development & Tourism

Bringing Back Broadway 9Substantial Economic Investment on Broadway 10Hotels and Tourism 10Recruiting Business Downtown 11

Business Tax Holiday Extension 11Supporting Film Incentives 11New Helipad Guidelines 11Freight Transportation 12Supporting the Fashion Industry 12

Connecting Downtown Neighborhoods

More Bikeable Downtown 13More Walkable Downtown 14Neighborhood Identification 14Honoring Community Leaders 14Downtown Streetcar 14Regional Connector 15Union Station Master Plan 156th St. Bridge Redesign Competition 167th St. Bridge Accessibility Project 16




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The rapid growth of theresidential population inDowntown during the last

decade is impressive and on therise with the area expected tosoon hit the 50,000 residentsmark. That’s a 158 percentincrease from 1999 according todata from the Downtown CenterBusiness Improvement District.

While a steady increase in thenumber of people callingDowntown home is great news,

Councilmember Huizar believesthat improving livability is keyto keeping them here so ourresidential boom is not short-lived.

Downtown needs progressive,forward-thinking developmentand smart plans to achieve thisgoal. Like any other community,

DTLA deserves clean and safeneighborhoods with parks,public spaces, schools and

services. We also need to addressblight, as well as activelysupport compassionate solutionsto homelessness. As Downtowngrows, services and amenitiesneed to keep pace. Our streetsneed to be safe day and night,and we need to provideresidents and businesses withsupport services, amenities andimprovements that keep them in

Downtown well into the future.To this end, CouncilmemberHuizar has implemented anumber of programs and effortsand supported others already inplace in order to supportlivability and smart planning forDowntown’s future.

I. Livability and Planning for the Future

“Like any other community, DTLA

deserves clean and safe

neighborhoods with parks, public spaces,schools and services.”

-Councilmember Jose Huizar

Parklets

Councilmember Huizar is one of the City Council’s biggest proponents of the Living Streets model,promoting greater pedestrian use throughout Council District 14 in order to create more dynamic andinterconnected neighborhoods. In DTLA, land is scarce, but the need for open space is great. Utilizingalready public areas – such as parking spaces or red zones – to create mini-areas of refuge can providecreative and cost-effective solutions.

Our office worked with the Downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council, UCLA and City departments onlaunching the City’s first pilot parklets in Downtown. You’ll soon see two parklets on Spring Street inDTLA. Parklets are often called outdoor living rooms or mini-plazas and have been fully embraced in othercities like San Francisco and New York City. In an ever-bustling area like DTLA, parklets will offer an

opportunity to reclaim urban space for better livability.As part of the pilot project, two additional parklets are being constructed in El Sereno and Highland Park inCD 14, with plans to eventually bring parklets to neighborhoods throughout the City.

Spring Street Park

Spring Street Park is well on its way. Through the advocacy and hard work of the local community, alongwith the assistance of Councilmember Jan Perry, this nearly one-acre park was purchased in 2009 and brokeground in August 2012. Spring Street Park was initiated by the DTLA community for the DTLA




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community. Councilmember Huizar is committed to ensuring that the community continues to be thefocus.

CD 14 staff has met with park stakeholders to ensure the features of the park reflect the needs of thecommunity. Recognizing that local demographics have shifted since the park’s inception, CD14 has workedwith the Department of Recreation and Parks to add playground equipment for Downtown families toenjoy. The Spring Street Park is scheduled to be completed by summer 2013.

Arts District Park & LaKretz Innovative Campus

Councilmember Huizar recently identified funds for construction of the Arts District Park at the LaKretzInnovation Campus. The entire campus will house the L.A. Clean Tech Incubator, an innovative DWP cleanenergy project, and a half-acre park in the current parking lot at 5th & Hewitt.

This important economic development project will help local, start-up green tech industries, provide astate-of-the-art clean energy lab for DWP, and provide much needed open-space for Arts District residents.Public outreach and design workshops for the park will begin in early 2013.

Pershing Square Improvements

In the few months that Pershing Square has been part of CD14, Councilmember Huizar’s office respondedto the need to address on-going security and maintenance issues at the park, as well as the undergroundgarage. While the park now includes year-long programming and a weekly farmers’ market, PershingSquare struggled with a large encampment, which heightened sanitation and public safety concerns.

Councilmember Huizar met with community stakeholders and created a Pershing Square Task Forcecomprised of LAPD, Department of Recreation and Parks, the City’s General Service Division and the CityAttorney’s Office. Through this collaborative work we have seen some positive results. There is lessdisruptive and illegal activity, fewer drug and vagrancy issues, more police and public safety patrols and a

cleaner, safer urban park for people to enjoy.

However, there is more work to be done. The Councilmember is working with stakeholders on a multi-pronged plan for Pershing Square that will provide long-term solutions to improve and maintain thisimportant open space in DTLA, as well as improve usability of its underground public parking facility.

Councilmember Huizar recently negotiated a $700,000 improvement fund for a re-envisioning process andother improvements for Pershing Square as part of the Farmers Field community benefits package. Even ifFarmers Field is not built, the Councilmember is committed to finding the necessary funds to create a futureenvisioning plan worthy of a historic park in the heart of a much-improved Downtown.

Grand Park Opens

The newly unveiled Grand Park, run by L.A. County and theMusic Center, is a four-block-long park that stretches fromGrand Avenue and The Music Center on the west to City Hallon the east. It opened with great fanfare on October 6th afternearly a decade of planning and $56 million in funding.

As the Downtown Council representative, Councilmember




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Huizar now serves on the Grand Avenue Joint Powers Authority and is represented by his staff on theGrand Avenue Advisory Board. Council District 14 is committed to being a collaborative partner with theMusic Center, which oversees Grand Park. We look forward to working, with your input, to ensure that thisopen space is as functional, enjoyable and welcoming for DTLA as it possibly can be.

City Hall Park Opens

The grounds around City Hall have been beautifully rehabilitated following the deterioration that occurredas a result of the Occupy L.A. events.

CD14 pressed for the removal of the concrete barriers and consistent park hours so that City Hall Parkcould be fully enjoyed by those visiting City Hall Park and the newly opened Grand Park.

Planning Grants & Policies

The Southern California Association of Governments recently awarded the Downtown L.A. NeighborhoodCouncil with a planning visioning grant, the first award of its kind to a neighborhood council. The

Department of Recreation and Parks is managing a Proposition 84 funded Downtown Open Space PlanningGrant, which was awarded to the former CRA. These two grant opportunities will provide the DowntownCommunity the chance to develop a cohesive vision and plan for realizing even more innovative ways tocreate parks and open spaces in DTLA.

Changes in Fund Structures to Realize More Parks in DTLA

Our office has begun discussions with Recreation and Parks and the Department of City Planning aboutrevising the City’s Quimby ordinances. The goal is to update decades-old impediments in the MunicipalCode that limit the effective deployment of these funds, which are collected from developers to help createparks and open spaces near their projects. The system needs an overhaul in order to ensure funds collected

more directly serve the residents they are collected to benefit.

Permanent Supportive Housing In Skid Row

As we work to improve Downtown’s livability, it isalso important that we directly address the issuesthat affect some of our neediest and mostvulnerable Downtown residents.

In most cases, providing full-time medical andmental health staff to our chronically homelesspopulation would cost less than the dollars wespend on incarceration and emergency services forthese individuals. Councilmember Huizar supportspermanent supportive housing, but also thinks weneed more services available citywide, not just inthe concentrated area around Skid Row.

This is why the Councilmember supports The SkidRow Housing Trust and projects like the New The Skid Row Housing Trust’s new permanent supportive

housing project on Main St. opened this fall.




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Genesis and the Downtown Women’s Center. Our office has been working closely with them to ensureplans that have been in the pipeline for some time are completed and that they will be open soon.

Operation Healthy Streets

Operation Healthy Streets is a collaboration amongvarious city entities and departments to clean upthe Skid Row area and protect public health.Councilmember Huizar pushed for this effort whenlitigation put street cleaning on hold and the healthand safety of Skid Row’s residents was in jeopardy.

The Councilmember supports continued cleaningsof the Skid Row area and his office will continue tofight for resources to allow spot cleanings andcomprehensive clean-ups – all in conjunction with

efforts to direct homeless individuals into availableshelters and services.

Encouraged by CD14, the City has deployed trashreceptacles in Skid Row where previously there were none. Our staff is fully engaged in the OperationHealthy Streets Task Force and is working with various city departments, as well as community groups, onensuring that we continue to focus on improving the cleanliness of Skid Row.

Supporting Other DTLA Cleanups

CD 14 staff has also worked with Sanitation, Street Services and LAPD to conduct cleanups on Spring Street

near El Pueblo (Olvera Street), in coordination with the office of County Supervisor Gloria Molina and otherCounty departments.

Homelessness Funding

Homelessness is one of the biggest issues that DTLA faces. In order to work toward effective solutions, it isimperative that our community receives the adequate resources we need. Research shows thathomelessness rates are most influenced by poverty, lack of affordable housing and overcrowding.However, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development does not consider these factors whendetermining homelessness funding for the Downtown community. HUD utilizes two outdated formulasthat were created for community development grants in the 1970s.

In a time of limited resources, we must ensure that future funding be directed in the most effective waypossible and distributed in a manner that has the greatest impact. Councilmember Huizar garnered CityCouncil support on a resolution seeking a change to the McKinney-Vento formula that determines federalhomelessness dollars. Los Angeles does not get its fair share of these scarce funds and as the Downtowncity representative for Skid Row, Councilmember Huizar is committed to advocating for homeless-fundingreform.

LA Department of Public Works employees during OperationHealthy Streets on Skid Row




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New Schools

As the former President of the LAUSD School Board, Councilmember Huizarunderstands that an important key to keeping young urban families in the city’score is to ensure that they have high-quality educational options for their children.Without a quality elementary school in the Downtown area, many young families

face the difficult decision of leaving our community in search of better schools fortheir kids.

Our office has been working closely with a group of South Park parents dedicatedto bringing a public charter school to the Downtown area. Councilmember Huizar

fully supports these efforts and is committed to pushing for their petition approvalat LAUSD. If all goes as planned, we could see a school serving kindergarten and1st grade students open in Downtown by fall 2013.

Smart Development

While Downtown’s economy is on the upswing again, we want to make sure we support smartdevelopment that makes good, long-term sense for Downtown.

We are at a critical juncture in building the housing we need for a sustainable Downtowncommunity. Currently, smaller units appealing to single individuals dominate the local market. Ashousing is developed in the coming years, we need to work with developers to build more family-sizeunits, with family recreation space, so Downtown residents can find ample housing options to suit themthrough all the phases of their lives.

Our office is working with the Planning Department on developing the new Downtown Zoning Code, thefirst phase of the City’s Comprehensive Zoning Code Revision. Downtown is also a focal point of

community planning through funding negotiated as part of the Farmer’s Field community benefitspackage should that proposal come to fruition.

Metro CharterElementary hopes toopen in fall of 2013

“My goal for Downtowndevelopment and revitalizationis to take the blueprint we’ve

used through our BringingBack Broadway initiative andapply that successful formulato other areas of Downtown”

- Councilmember Jose Huizar




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Councilmember Huizar is nostranger to the economic issuesfacing DTLA and has worked

through the Bringing BackBroadway initiative and otherefforts to support DTLAinvestment, helping bringhundreds of jobs that offer newand creative services toDowntown.

While we have investors whobelieve in Downtown, some citypolicies and procedures are

simply not business-friendly. Inthese first few months, a large

part of CD 14 efforts inDowntown have focused onhelping business owners and

developers wade through theCity’s bureaucratic red tape.

Irrespective of challenges, DTLAcontinues to be a center for majorinvestment and excitingdevelopments. AndCouncilmember Huizar isdedicated to bringing the sameeffort and focus that has led tothe success of the Bringing Back

Broadway initiative to otherareas of Downtown.

II. Supporting Economic Development & Tourism

“DTLA is home to billion-dollar industries- we need

to protect and build on thatinvestment to ensure that

it remains here.”


Bringing Back Broadway

Broadway is the birthplace of Los Angeles’ world-renowned entertainment industry. It is home to 12historic theaters and movie palaces, with an array of historic buildings dating back to the early part of the20th century. For years, historic Broadway was the “hole in the donut” with revitalization happening allaround it, while it continued to decline. When Councilmember Huizar kicked off the Bringing BackBroadway initiative in 2008, there was more than one million square feet of vacant commercial space in the

upper floors and an 18-20 percent vacancy rate on the ground floor.

In the fourth year of a 10-year plan, Bringing Back Broadway has made great progress. The BroadwayEntertainment Community Design Overlay is in place to guide development in the historic district.

The Broadway Streetscape Master Plan iscompleted. The environmental document wascirculated earlier this year and the implementationordinance is expected to go to commission soon.The plan will reduced lanes of traffic to vastlyincrease sidewalks, improving the pedestrian

experience for the 25 million people walk whowalk on Broadway annually.

Through a Commercial Reuse Initiative, we are

crafting policies for re-activating the underutilizedcommercial space in Broadway’s upper floors.

In the coming months, we will be releasing $800,000 for a Facade Lighting Program for Broadwaybuildings, which will help make the street safer, more welcoming and pedestrian-friendly at night.

Rendering of proposed streetscaping for Broadway




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A Sign District for Broadway will encourage the restoration and re-creation of historic signs, blade signsand painted wall signs. Additionally, after years of discussion and planning, the Downtown LA Streetcarwill connect Downtown’s neighborhood destinations with historic Broadway as it serves as the spine of theproposed route. (details on page 14)

Substantial Economic Investment on Broadway

The kind of business activity occurring now on Broadway would have been unthinkable just a few yearsago. Some highlights include:

• Ace Hotel under construction in the United Artist Theatre Building

• Renovation of Clifton’s Cafeteria, including addition of a full-service restaurant & lounge

• Umamicatessen at 9th & Broadway

• L.A. Brewing Company at 8th & Broadway

• Ari Taymor’s “Alma” opened on Broadway this summer

• Fashion designer Tarina Tarantino world headquarters coming to Broadway

• Ross Dress for Less first national retailer to come to Broadway in decades

• Guisados and Royal Claytons have signed leases in Broadway Spring Arcade

• Figaro Bistro coming to the historic Schaber Cafeteria building

• Rocket Dog activating upper floors of building at 9th & Broadway

• Plans underway for the renovation of numerous historic Broadway theaters

Unique retailers are announcing plans on Broadway all the time and a number of buildings have recentlybeen purchased for redevelopment as creative office uses, which Councilmember Huizar thinks is a strongmarket for Broadway. Broadway is open for business, and the transformation of the street is evident moreand more each day.

Hotels and Tourism

Los Angeles is at a distinct disadvantage when itcomes to hotels. The area around the ConventionCenter needs 5,000 peak-night hotel rooms in order forus to be competitive with other major cities to attractconventions and tourism. Thanks to several new hotelprojects Downtown, we’re getting closer, but we havea long way to go to reach that goal. We need to domore to incentivize hotels in Downtown- both in termsof new construction and the adaptive reuse of

buildings that can be converted into hotels- like theAce Hotel, which is coming to Broadway.

Los Angeles welcomes more than 12,000 tourists ayear, which is a big driver for the region’s economy.Supporting tourism takes the whole City focusing onthe fact that a better Downtown makes a better LosAngeles, and that’s what Councilmember Huizarintends to make happen.

Councilmember Huizar touring construction at theAce Hotel on Broadway




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Recruiting Businesses Downtown

A number of major corporations have staked a claim in Downtown in recent years. Price WaterhouseCooper recently announced a 15-year lease renewal with Brookfield, just days before Brookfield’s Fig at 7thCity Target opened.

These are the fruits of labor that came before Councilmember Huizar began to serve a majority ofDowntown as councilmember. Our office is committed to building on these early successes. Our goal is tosupport existing businesses as we assist entrepreneurs and developers in bringing new business, jobs andservices throughout Downtown.

Business Tax Holiday Extension Benefits Downtown

The City Council recently approved extending a program that provides a three-year exemption on the grossreceipts tax for new businesses.

Councilmember Huizar voted in favor of the extension, which over the previous three years that it has beenin place has assisted thousands of businesses to open up in the City, with 1,159 entrepreneurs takingadvantage of the incentive in Downtown alone. The City Council recently approved extending a programthat provides a three-year exemption on the gross receipts tax for new businesses.

Support Film Incentives

Los Angeles is the epicenter of the film industry, andDowntown has long been a favorite filming location,bringing in millions of dollars of revenue to the City.

Councilmember Huizar has called for policy revisions to an

archaic code that limits hours for moving film cranes inDowntown, which severely impacts production schedulesand budgets. He fully supports incentives for the filmindustry and is working with Film L.A. to keep our primaryindustry here at home while also respecting Downtown’sgrowing community of residents and businesses in order tostrike a balance among all the competing interests.

New Helipad Guidelines Would Dramatically Change Skyline

While standards, technology and best practices in engineering, fire-life safety and design have modernizedsignificantly over the past half-century, the City’s helipad/heliport flat-rooftop requirements for high-risesin place since the 1960s has not evolved.

Of the 1,700 high-rises in the State of California, approximately 745 are located in Los Angeles. In otherworld-class cities, the most exciting and iconic buildings – such as the Chrysler Center, the Sears Tower, theEmpire State Building and the Coit Tower – share a common aesthetic, existing not simply as rectangularboxes built to soaring heights, but instead as monumental symbols of their cities, visions representative ofprogress, creativity and community.

Film crew cranes wait for their cue in DTLA




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For decades, the world's visionary architects have lamented that the City of Los Angeles’ codes inhibitability to create high rises befitting Los Angeles’ style and importance on the world architecture scale.While an iconic skyline is something Councilmember Huizar wants to see Downtown, the firstconsideration must be for fire life safety and the protection of our citizens and firefighters.

In consideration of new advancements in technology of constructing and providing fire life safety in new

high-rise today, Councilmember Huizar has called on the Los Angeles Fire Department to reexamine itspolicy for helipads while maintaining the utmost modern fire-life safety standards. As we develop ourskyline even further with increasing development Downtown, it can be with iconic, world-classarchitecture, instead of all flat roofs.

Freight Transportation

In 2012, $3.8 million in Metro funding was secured to improve Alameda Street in DTLA, which is a keycorridor for freight transportation that is vitally important to our local manufacturing and retail economies.With the funding, Alameda will be repaired and repaved, with the long-term improvement goal ofremoving the decades-old and unused rail line embedded in the pavement.

Fashion for the Future of Downtown

Downtown is the epicenter for the Los Angeles fashion industry. Like entertainment, fashion is animportant part of our City’s economy. About 40 percent of all Los Angeles County fashion wholesalers arelocated right here in the Downtown Fashion District, which produces $4 billion in business revenueannually, and supports more than 50,000 jobs. Thousands of students attend classes at the Fashion Instituteof Design and Merchandise, and other fashion design schools located in the district, which helps ensure thecreative talent that drives the fashion industry is L.A. based.

Councilmember Huizar has worked closely with Mayor Villaraigosa, Fashion District leadership andnumerous manufacturers in helping foster a partnership between the Fashion District and the Los Angeles

Tourism and Convention Board to promote the Fashion District and the “Made in L.A.” brand throughoutthe world.

Winning design that will be the officialhang-tag for made in L.A. clothes

“Designed and Made inLos Angeles is more thana logo, it’s a testament to

DTLA’s growinginfluence in the fashionindustry worldwide. “





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III. Connecting Downtown Neighborhoods

DTLA is a regional

transportation hub and thedestination for hundreds ofthousands of workers andvisitors every day. Since thepassage of Measure R,investment in transportationsolutions has grown. As aMetro board member and amember of the City Council’sTransportation Committee,Councilmember Huizar hasbeen engaged in essential local

and regional transportation

planning that affects DTLAand the entire SouthernCalifornia region. Lookingforward, the Councilmembersupports transportationsolutions for DTLA’sneighborhoods, includinginvestments in our streets sothey better serve pedestriansand multi-modal options likebicycles, and not just cars.

“With an emphasis on multi-modal transportation options,

DTLA is poised to have themost forward-thinking publictransportation system in the

City”

A More Bikeable Downtown

Adopted in 2010, the Los Angeles Bicycle Plan will create a 1,684 mile bikeway system. Many of the crucialconnections will come into and through Downtown Los Angeles. The first DTLA bike lane was installed onSpring Street in November 2011. Since then, the Department of Transportation has created bike lanes onMain St., Los Angeles St., 1st St., Grand Ave., and Olive St., with more expected in coming months.

As Vice-Chair of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, Councilmember Huizar has workedclosely with the Departments of Planning and Transportation to adopt the Bike Plan. That work continueswith the goal to implement additional bike lanes and bike paths as soon as possible.

Year 1 of the Bike Plan will add bike lanes on 2 nd St., 7th St., and Cesar Chavez Ave. through El Pueblo (OlveraStreet) and Chinatown. Many of these connections willcomplete bike lanes that currently run through BoyleHeights and Westlake, integrating DTLA into a inter-connected bikeway system.

In an effort to promote a bike-sharing program similar to

those in other big cities throughout the world,Councilmember Huizar introduced a motion instructingCity Departments to work with Bike Nation, a nationalnon-profit company that will add bike-sharing kiosks

throughout DTLA.Bike Nation to debut bike-sharing kiosks in DTLA soon




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More Walkable Downtown: Complete Streets Working Group

In 2011, the Downtown Neighborhood Council created a Complete Streets Working Group to engage withCity’s Bicycle Master Plan implementation and generate ideas for initiatives to promote holistic, multi-modal, "complete" streets in DTLA. Our office had already been working with Shared Spaces and localcommunity partners on parklet prototypes for York and Huntington Boulevards. Before long, DLANC’s

Working Group had brought together a talented group of planners, architects and designers, whovolunteered their labor to create parklet designs.

Beyond the pilot parklets, which will greatly affect the pedestrian experience on Spring St., the Departmentof Transportation will soon begin a series of pedestrian improvements on Main St., including curbextensions at several intersections, as well as installing new bicycle lanes. Councilmember Huizar’s office isengaged with Neighborhood Councils, BIDs, and City Departments to explore ideas to support theincreasing number of pedestrians and bicyclists sharing the streets of DTLA.

Neighborhood Identification

With the Bringing Back Broadway initiative, Councilmember Huizar has focused on a number of efforts toemphasize the historic character of this important corridor. Similarly, throughout DTLA, CouncilmemberHuizar is proud to support a number of community place-making efforts, such as the Arts District andLittle Tokyo Streetlight Medallion programs, which help identify these two distinct communities.

Honoring Ray Bradbury and Frances Hashimoto

Councilmember Huizar has supported community efforts to dedicate a square and plaza in honor of twoamazing Angelenos with special connections to Downtown, namely: Ray Bradbury Square next to theCentral Library and Frances K. Hashimoto Plaza in Little Tokyo. Councimember Huizar is pleased to honorthe memory of these two great individuals and their contributions to the cultural, civic, and business life ofDTLA.

Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar

One of the transportation challenges inDTLA is the lack of a last-mile solution.People can get Downtown in a number ofways, but once they arrive, getting aroundDTLA remains difficult.

Councilmember Huizar has partneredwith business and community leaders and

organizations, Metro, and the City of LosAngeles to implement a plan to bring thebeloved streetcar back to DTLA. The planis for a modern, fixed-rail streetcar systemto link with regional transit and useBroadway, 11th, Figueroa, 7th and Hillstreets to serve the Civic Center,Broadway and the Historic Core, theFashion District, South Park, L.A. Live, the

Proposed Streetcar route along Hill St. by Pershing Square




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Convention Center, the Financial District, 7th Street Restaurant Row, the Jewelry District and GrandAvenue. The streetcar would run seven-days a week, approximately 18 hours a day.

Much like other cities that have invested in modern streetcar systems, the Downtown L.A. Streetcar willhave a transformational effect on DTLA and its continued revitalization. It will link our neighborhoods andmake Downtown more pedestrian-friendly. An AECOM study projects that the streetcar will generate $1.1

billion in development, create more than 9,000 jobs, more than $24.5 million in annual tourism spending,and create additional revenue for the city.

Councilmember Huizar is honored to champion the streetcar, which along with City departments, Metroand the non-profit Streetcar Inc., is a true example of a public-private partnership with significant benefitsfor the community. After several years of dedicated planning and robust community input, a route hasbeen selected and the environmental studies are getting underway.

Registered voters in DTLA recently voted in favor of the streetcar in a special mail-only streetcar election.Their support provides half of the $125-million in capital needed for streetcar construction through a not-to-exceed $85 million bond, which includes $62.5-million in streetcar capital for construction, bond issuance

costs, two years of capitalized interest, and other related costs. With voters 73% in support, these importantlocal funds will now be leveraged to secure federal funding for the remainder of construction costs. If allgoes well, we hope to be under construction by 2014, and riding the Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar by2016.

Regional Connector

The Regional Connector is arguably one of themost important transit projects in the City. It willallow someone to ride from Pasadena to LongBeach, or Boyle Heights to the Westside withoutever getting off the train. That is huge progress

for Downtown and the entire Los Angelesregion.

Metro has been planning for this project foryears and CD 14 has been involved every step ofthe way. All three Regional Connector stations(2nd and Hope, 2nd and Broadway, and 1st andCentral) are within the new boundaries of CD 14.As the project moves forward, CouncilmemberHuizar will continue to advocate for a successfulproject that is built respectful of community

needs and desires.

Union Station Master Plan

This plan is another exciting project with the potential to increase public transportation in Los Angeles, aswell as connect different parts of DTLA in a significant way.

As the Downtown Councilmember and a Metro Board Director, Councilmember Huizar and his staff are

Regional Connector marked by the blue and yellow dottedlines




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actively involved in the Master Plan, which includes internal design elements as well as development onadjacent properties. Councilmember Huizar wants to ensure that the Union Station Master Plan is designedto maximize the iconic station’s transportation potential, as well as better connect and compliment theiconic station and its properties to the surrounding areas, such as El Pueblo, Little Tokyo, the Arts District,and Chinatown.

6th Street Bridge – A Destination and a Community Connector

Through the 6th Street Viaduct replacement designcompetition, Angelenos got a look at three amazingdesigns to replace the 6th Street Bridge, which spansthe Los Angeles River between DTLA’s Arts Districtand Boyle Heights.

In April, the Mayor and Councilmember Huizarannounced an international design competition forthe redesign and replacement of the 80-year-old 6 th Street Bridge and appointed a citizens’ advisory

panel.

HTNC garnered support from a citizens’ panel, aswell as the Bureau of Engineering with its winningdesign. Councilmember Huizar believes the designhonors the history of the original iconic bridge whilelooking solidly toward the future.

This $401 million project will provide an opportunity to reconnect the communities of DTLA and BoyleHeights while also making the bridge a destination point with arts and cultural programming around thebridge.

With one percent of the budget for the bridge replacement project mandated to be spent on art,Councilmember Huizar has introduced a motion to establish an Arts Advisory Committee of stakeholderson both sides of the river to work with the Department of Cultural Affairs and make recommendations onart and cultural programming on and around the bridge.

7th Street Bridge – A Vision for Public Access

Councilmember Huizar recently introduced a motion to develop public-private coordination with the LARiver Revitalization Corporation to further develop a visionary concept for bridge enhancements thatwould make publicly accessible the lower deck of the early-20th Century 7 th Street bridge. A new roadwaywas added to the bridge in 1927, built over the original 1910 bridge to bypass trains that were previously at

grade level.

The redesign plan, which is the brainchild of LA River supporter and architect Arthur Golding, calls forlooking at ways to develop the original bridge space as a public gathering area. Councilmember Huizarthinks this is an idea worth looking at, particularly with the added focus on the new 6th Street Bridge as adestination point.

Winning 6th St. Bridge design by HNTB




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Council District 14 Downtown Contacts

Councilmember Jose Huizar, [email protected]

Paul Habib, Chief of Staff, [email protected]

Sara Hernandez, Downtown Area Director, [email protected]

Miguel Vargas, Downtown Field Deputy, [email protected]

Tanner Blackman, Planning Director, [email protected]

Jessica Wethington McLean, Executive Director of Bringing Back Broadway, Director ofDowntown Economic Development, [email protected]

Martin Schlageter, Policy Director, [email protected]

Rick Coca, Communications Director, [email protected]

Final words from Councilmember Jose Huizar

As we look to the future of Downtown, as its success depends on good policies, solid investment, and theability to link and connect Downtown’s distinct neighborhoods, it’s ultimately about serving the peoplewho live, work and play Downtown.

Fortunately, Downtown has an amazing and talented array of residents, property owners, businesses andboosters who love DTLA, want to make it better and know how to create opportunities while collaboratingwith others.

As we move past our first few months representing a majority of Downtown, you have my commitmentthat my office, the CD 14 Downtown team and I stand with you to help realize Downtown’s next stage ofsuccess and long-term prosperity.

From the large-scale projects throughout Downtown, to the ongoing vibrant and flourishing residential,restaurant, and entertainment districts, it’s a dynamic and important time to represent Downtown.

I look forward to partnering with you in the coming years as we work together on a better future forDowntown.

Please contact our Downtown team if you have specific questions, or call our City Hall office at (213) 473-7014.

Council District 14 1st Quarter Report (DTLA)

Documents