While the pace of development in downtown Los Angeles is generating excitement and momentum, the fortunes of two stately early 20th century hotels symbolize the political challenges of melding the old and the new.
The renovated St. George Hotel, with its ocher and beige modernist exterior, could pass as a smart new hostelry catering to the trendy and the famous. That it sits at the edge of skid row and houses formerly homeless people augurs well for those who believe such low-rent single-room-occupancy hotels are essential to stem the tide of homelessness.
A few blocks away at the Bristol Hotel, formerly homeless residents were evicted so it could be converted into a luxury boutique hotel.
The area is undergoing a makeover with new cultural institutions, an influx of residents and demand for residential lofts and swanky visitor accommodations. At the same time, it hosts one of the nation's largest concentrations of homeless people and services that aid them.
The city's policymakers are trying to navigate a path that meets the needs of downtown's most vulnerable residents without blunting a renaissance that could reshape the skyline and add billions to the area's value.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last week said he would work to put a $1-billion bond measure to support affordable housing before voters, and he proposed using $50 million in city funds to develop low-income housing, including the rehabilitation of low-rent residential hotels.
Meanwhile, the City Council is considering a one-year citywide moratorium on the demolition of single-room-occupancy hotels -- often the housing of last resort -- until it can develop a preservation strategy.
"We've never gone through such a sustained recovery period, with projects in the pipeline that will bring jobs to this area," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the moratorium.
Perry represents part of downtown's financial district as well as the poor neighborhoods of skid row and south Los Angeles. "But we have a window of opportunity, and I didn't want to waste that. It's entirely possible to create projects with mixedincome [residents] living side by side."
The building industry is viewing the proposed moratorium cautiously.
"We always want public officials to recognize we're in a housing deficit and, as they're making policies, to think about the impact on the entire range of housing," said Holly Schroeder, chief executive officer of the Building Industry Assn. of Greater Los Angeles and Ventura.
