L.A. Planning Broadway Entertainment District
If the city of Los Angeles has its way, downtown’s Broadway Avenue will soon become a jumping nightspot full of clubs, restaurants and shops, similar to San Diego’s Gaslamp district and Pine Avenue in nearby Long Beach.
The city’s Historic Core Business Improvement District (BID) recently won conceptual approvals for its Broadway plan from a city planning committee, which sent the item to the planning commission for consideration. The plan calls for a portion of Broadway adjacent to the fashion district to be closed to traffic in the evening. The section of Broadway between Third and Ninth streets would be designated as a special zone called “Nighttime Broadway” and employ the city’s adaptive reuse ordinance to expedite growth of residential, retail and commercial uses, said Kenneth Aslan, executive director of the BID.
Broadway is home to numerous 100-year-old buildings and theaters such as the Orpheum, many of which have already been targeted for loft renovations and new retail uses. Aslan noted that the BID is looking to use the upper floors and basements of those buildings, and he added, “We don’t plan to interfere with existing retail businesses.”
Los Angeles is modeling its plan after San Diego’s Gaslamp district, a four-block area in that city’s downtown area that contains more than 80 clubs and restaurants, which have been strong revenue generators for the local economy.
Plans are to have the Broadway project approved and operational within a year, said Aslan. —Robert McAllister
