After decades of predicting that downtown LA is "coming back," many think it is finally turning a corner. Flying in from SF this week, our plane passed surprisingly close as we circled around to LAX.
Although downtown is known for its older architecture from the '20s, like the red brick Biltmore hotel in the foreground, it's got some great buildings from the late '80s and early '90s—its tallest, US Bank Tower, in the distance on the left; and the Gas Company Tower where we held a big event yesterday, center distance, recently purchased by Brookfield, now downtown's largest owner.
Networking was on an outdoor terrace, this being LA.
Our panel was a Who's Who of LA owners—Tishman Speyer, Brookfield, Hudson Pacific, Rising Reality, Watt Companies, and OUE, who agreed downtown is a good long-term bet, though where rents are going in the near future isn't so clear. They do think tech companies are willing to go "vertical" if there is a critical mass of their tech community around them—though the jury is still out on whether they have to be able to bring their dogs, or even lizards, to work.
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