Inside City Hall with Councilwoman Jan Perry: Part 1 of 2

I had a nice sit down with Councilwoman Jan Perry, who is currently running for Mayor of Los Angeles. We discussed many issues about Downtown, and if she can win the Mayoral election, Los Angeles is in for a great future!

Q: Under your tenure on the City Council we have seen Downtown Los Angeles flourish and develop into a city center with 40,000 residents. In fact, over the past decade alone, the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID) has reported that Downtown has seen over $9 billion in private investment, 90,000 new jobs, and $40 million in new tax revenue for the city.

What do you believe was the catalyst for this tremendous growth?

A: The faith of our business, development community and private sector, along with the support of government agencies like the Community Redevelopment Agency, helped spur the renaissance that we have enjoyed in Downtown Los Angeles. The catalytic development of the Staples Center in the 1990’s replaced parking lots and paved the way for LA Live and now the new Farmers Field stadium and Convention Center expansion.

The city adopted the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance allowing for the conversion of underutilized industrial and office buildings into mixed use housing and retail development. We have fostered public/private partnerships that have resulted in tremendous projects that include housing for people living at all income levels. This development activity continues to act as a catalyst for more investment and growth that extends beyond Downtown Los Angeles and into neighboring communities.

Downtown Los Angeles offers higher density development for people that want to live in the urban core. New housing has led to greater investment and brought new restaurants and neighborhood retail like full service stores and a new Target for Downtown workers and residents. Downtown Los Angeles is a major employment center. I worked hard to provide as many opportunities for people to live close to their work place and establish a jobs/housing balance. 

I am proud of the role I played in the development of LA Live and the Convention Center Hotels which helped establish the Sports and Entertainment District to attract larger conventions. This project demonstrated the potential of downtown and with the addition of a new football stadium and expanded exhibition space it is estimated that we will need five more hotels to accommodate a far greater level of activity. Downtown has transformed into a 24 hour city and a place where people come to work, live and be entertained.

The past decade has brought a renewed faith in the capacity of Downtown as the economic engine for the region. I believe my vision for Downtown as a center for our tourism, entertainment, cultural events, civic engagement, job creation and residential living has been realized through my effort to ensure that development and development partners were given realistic guidelines and expectations in which to navigate the city. I have been a person of action and someone with a record of getting things done. I believe that what we have been able to accomplish Downtown is remarkable.

Q: You have long been a champion of creating a true cultural corridor to highlight the wealth of cultural opportunities in Downtown. In fact, you served for eight years on the Grand Avenue Joint Powers Authority as Vice Chair. While this project has changed since it was first envisioned, what can you tell us about its future?

A: The Grand Avenue Project began under Mayor Hahn and continues today, despite the many hurdles that we have faced along the way. From the downturn in the economy to the dissolution of the CRA, this project has had its ups and downs. Through it all, however, I remained confident that we would bring quality development to our cultural corridor. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish. The results speak for themselves: a new 12-acre civic park, the development of the Broad Museum, and a future mixed-income housing tower with space for restaurant and retail operations, and a central plaza that will serve as a gateway to the Downtown Regional Connector. The Regional Connector will connect light rail and subway services from Long Beach, Hollywood, the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, the West Side and South Los Angeles and make coming to Downtown far easier by way of public transit. The ongoing development of our public transportation infrastructure is a key component to the future of our region. We will not get people out of their cars unless we offer them a variety of affordable living situations close to where they work.

Q: Hotel development Downtown has been an important issue. You have been at the forefront of many of these large-scale developments, highlighting the need for more hotel rooms for conventions and tourism. Can you tell me about some of these projects?

A: For many years, our Convention Center and LA Inc. (our Convention and Visitor’s Bureau), have told the City that we need more hotel rooms in order to truly compete for large conventions. We responded with the development of the JW Marriot, adjacent to the Convention Center. I worked closely with the developer and the city staff to structure a financial incentive package to help the development pencil out. The hotel created new jobs for the region, met our need for a convention center hotel, and contributes new tax revenue for city services like fire and police.

This, however, was just the beginning. I chaired the City’s Ad Hoc Stadium and Convention Center Modernization Committee and, after over a year of negotiations and public input, we were able to draft a development agreement with AEG to build an Events Center /NFL Stadium and modernize the West Hall of our current Convention Center. With this new space, we will move from 15^th to 5^th in convention exhibition space. This is good news for the entire region as large conventions utilize hotel space throughout the region.  

I am excited that I was able to work with the Wilshire Grand Hotel on their redevelopment efforts, supporting upgrades that will accommodate more room nights and visitors within walking distance of the Convention Center. I also worked closely with Marriott to help structure a similar deal with them on the development of two new hotels on Olympic Blvd across from LA Live. Both will be major boon for the Downtown area, creating thousands of construction and permanent jobs and support tourism in the region.