July 12, 2008

Downtown Breakdown

This month’s Los Angeles magazine devotes it’s cover story to what’s happening downtown. It has a great round-up, including a map of “Downtown’s Best Drinking Holes.” Many of the top spots are in loft buildings or new hotels. Bluevelvet, for example, is in the Flat Apartments, on the edge of downtown near Good Sam hospital. The map works east from there, listing hip spots like the Golden Gopher and Seven Grand Whiskey Bar, dives like Hank’s, and business-friendly spots like Kendall’s Brasserie.

The issue also has a great article on Santee Alley by Dave Gardetta - truly a fascinating piece on the history of the counterfeit-goods shopping mecca that traces the origins of the retail district back to one enterprising shop keeper.

Later on in the magazine, two downtown bloggers (Stephen Friday from angelenic.com and Shannon Simonds of shainla.typepad.com) weigh in on favorite downtown haunts, like the new O Bar & Kitchen in the Orchid Hotel and Colori Kitchen. For anyone considering a move downtown—or questioning how anyone can live downtown in LA–it’s a must-read piece. They go through a bunch of the lofts giving their opinion on the pros and cons, and the best rooftops.

If reading the piece makes you curious about making the move to the urban core, here are a few below $400,000 places currently on the market:

• In the Toy Factory lofts, you could pick up this 831-square-foot spot that has been on the market for 104 days. The listing says it sold for $525,000 in 2005. Ouch. Now on the market for $369,000.
• This arts-district spot is also about 800 square feet, with the requisite rooftop spa (no pool!) and gym—listed for $389,000.
• In the Market Lofts, you can have Ralph’s grocery store right below you, along with a view of the courtyard pool for $399,000.