Bringing Back Broadway

Broadway Critique Lacks Big Picture View

By Eric Richardson — December 05, 2008 — 7 Comments

Eric Richardson

Running today on New Geography is a Broadway critique by the Garment and Citizen's Jerry Sullivan, who scolds the Bringing Back Broadway effort for announcing redevelopment funds and not working to fix the street's increasing vacancy for ground floor retail.

Yet the Broadway effort has put a focus on exactly that, in both programs announced and those in the works. Sullivan's criticism attempts to indict one program for not addressing all of the street's needs, but fails to recognize many parts of the effort that speak directly to his concerns. — Continued Inside...

Broadway Effort Announces New Financing

By Eric Richardson — November 10, 2008 — 4 Comments

Eric Richardson

It's tough to get financing in today's market, but the city doesn't want to see that put a squeeze on Broadway redevelopment. While details are yet to be finalized, Bringing Back Broadway Executive Director Jessica Wethington McLean today announced that the effort had secured a line of credit that will make $150 million annually available for projects on the corridor. — Continued Inside...

Broadway's Upper Floors Targeted With New Reuse Rules

By Eric Richardson — October 22, 2008 — 30 Comments

Eric Richardson

Councilman Jose Huizar today took aim at the million square feet of vacant upper floors lining Broadway, introducing a motion intended to remove the red tape involved in converting that vacancy into uses such as creative office space.

Huizar wants to see an ordinance that would do for these buildings what the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance did for residential conversions. His motion calls for an inter-departmental task force to be put together to craft such language. — Continued Inside...

Trip to San Diego Shows the Value of Planning

By Eric Richardson — August 25, 2008 — 15 Comments

Eric Richardson

|Photo Gallery| What can the redevelopment of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter teach us about how to foster Broadway redevelopment? That was the question that a group of more than fifty stakeholders from Downtown Los Angeles set out to answer last week, taking part in a two-day trip organized by the Bringing Back Broadway effort.

While there were plenty of options for good conclusions to take away, perhaps the most important theme was the value of a strong planning process. — Continued Inside...

Broadway Project Announces Charrette, New Director

By Ed Fuentes — July 06, 2008 — 4 Comments

Ed Fuentes

Last week, Councilman José Huizar led a panel discussion on “Bringing Back Broadway” that served as primer, but made a clear connection with the role the return of street cars will have in successfully revitalizing the Broadway corridor.

The panel, held at the Orpheum, was sponsored by The Heritage Committee of City Club on Bunker Hill. While many in the audience were aware of the two initiatives, they were new to the details and were quietly enthusiastic to see the depth of planning, the field trips to other cities made by locals, and the progress made in earmarking grants. — Continued Inside...