LA's Hope for Lively Downtown May Rest With Office-building Owners

LOS ANGELES-A special business-building team formed by Mayor Richard Riordan is close to approving a deal that calls for Downtown high-rises to encourage more retailers to take ground-floor space, a key move that would help create a “24-hour” atmosphere in LA’s much-maligned central business district.

Officials inside the Mayor’s office tell GlobeSt.com that the most likely plan would prompt owners to accept a four-to-one commercial-to-retail ratio. Under it, the owner or builder of a typical 400,000-sf building would dedicate at least 100,000 sf for retail purposes.

Although details of the plan still need to be fleshed-out, “it will involve restricting first-floor use of these buildings and reserving them for retail space,” says Jeff Walden, a spokesman for the Mayor’s Business Team.