The October 20th LA Headquarters Association's "Real Estate Connections 2005" alluded to some potential problems on the horizon for a booming downtown. With 70,000 new housing units being planned for Downtown Los Angeles, and residents flooding into an area largely absent of people, the potential for the "not in my back yard" crowd to arise grows daily.
"It is pro-growth down here because there are not as many residents, not a lot of NIMBY-ness," said Colin Shepherd, senior vice president of Hines. "But we are building community opposition now."Signs of the burgeoning downtown activist crowd have already appeared in the general opposition to the new, hideously designed Parker Center (under construction), and the proposed placement of a police parking garage adjacent to St. Vibiana's Cathedral. Days of building whatever, wherever downtown may be numbered as the residential community gets a louder voice. That's when developers will actually have to pay attention when we tell them their project sucks.
· Could Downtown L.A.'s Success Be Its Undoing? [California Real Estate Journal]
· New Parker Center Gets No Love [Curbed LA]