Reader Dando Guerra sends us this photo of the Downtown LA skyline, doctored up to remove all of the skyscrapers that wouldn't have been built without a little help from the Community Redevelopment Agency of LA. As you're probably sick of hearing by now, the state Supreme Court essentially killed all local redevelopment agencies in December, upholding a state law passed last summer that nabs their funding for education and other uses. The agencies, which partner with private developers to build in designated blighted areas, are supposed to shut down on February 1, although there is a state bill in the works that could extend their lives by a few months. Los Angeles could've become a successor agency to the CRA/LA, finishing up some of its projects and taking on its employees, but has decided not to. The CRA/LA was a big player in the Hollywood renaissance of the last decade, and it orchestrated the still-maligned redevelopment of Bunker Hill that began in 1959 and created a good chunk of the DTLA skyline (incidentally, KCET ran a story yesterday on the weird legal loophole that allowed residential Victorians to be razed for office towers).
Guerra writes that, "At the last CRA/LA board meeting in its 64-year history on Thursday [it looks like a special meeting has been added since then], several senior staff talked about CRA's role in creating the current skyline of Los Angeles-- Bunker Hill, LA Live, JW Mariott, and so forth. So here's a rendering of LA's skyline if none of the CRA-assisted projects had ever happened." He removed any visible project in which the CRA had a hand, including "direct financial assistance, land write-downs, transfer of floor area, and/or density allowances." Here's a list of the buildings that were included:
- Manulife Building
- Ernst & Young Plaza
- 777 S Figueroa St
- 800 S Figueroa St
- R&T (801 S Figueroa St)
- 888 S Figueroa St
- 865 S Figueroa St
- 601 S. Figueroa St
- Gas Company
- Market Lofts (condos and Ralphs)
- Skyline
- Metropolitan
- Library Tower (US Bank Tower)
- Gas Co Building (550 S. Hope St)
- Evo/Luma/Elleven
- Bonaventure Hotel
- Every office building and apartment building on Bunker Hill
- JW Marriott/Ritz Carlton
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