Major Breakthrough in Downtown Los Angeles Revitalization.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2002

The Downtown Center Business Improvement District

- Commercial Building Transactions Near $2 Billion Mark So Far This Year

- Nearly 5,000 Residential Units Under Construction or Planned

Real estate

giant John C. Cushman III, chairman of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., and major philanthropist Eli Broad, the chairman of AIG SunAmerica, Inc., told New York financiers and real estate developers today that the Downtown Los Angeles area, long considered forgotten real estate in that city, is now perhaps the best investment left in any major US city.

So far this year, major commercial office building transactions have accounted for nearly $2 billion.

The investors heard Cushman, Broad and Timothy Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), and also president of the Staples Center, a $300 million complex which, since opening in 1999, has served as a tremendous catalyst to the resurgence of Downtown LA, nurturing some $1.43 billion in commercial and cultural development there.

The three pointed out that residential investment is also booming. Currently, there are 1,400 units under construction, with 2,000 units in the pipeline between 2003 and 2004, and another 3,500 units either planned or proposed for 2005 and beyond. The monthly rental rates run from $1,000 to $8,500. Condos will be selling for $300,000 to $500,000.

Cushman, Broad and Leiweke addressed an investment summit with key members of the real estate, investment banking and real estate lending industries assembled in the Rose Room of the Plaza Hotel this morning. The session was chaired by the Los Angeles Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID), which has worked the past five years to augment a renaissance, making it an around-the-clock environment in the central part of Los Angeles, the city's major commercial center. The three described how in five years or so of quiet investment, the area has finally taken off and is now creating one of the most vibrant work and residential communities in the country.

Cushman described Downtown Los Angeles, roughly a 65-block area at the center of LA, as a place that resists parallels to, say, Century City or Westwood. " It's a story," Cushman said, "that's maybe a well-kept secret, the investment and development opportunities, offices, hospitality and residential opportunities in Downtown LA."

Broad, a renowned business leader who built two Fortune 500 companies from the ground up, described his effort to turn LA's Grand Avenue, that borders Downtown's major cultural venues, into a truly "grand avenue," to rival the main boulevards of the world's great cities.

Leiweke, who directed development and construction of the Staples Center, told of his newest focus -- building LA Live, a sports and entertainment district adjacent to the Staples Center, featuring a state of the art theater, a 1,200 room convention hotel, residential housing, parking, retail and office space.

Besides the Staples Center, home of the Champion LA Lakers, and also host to big name concerts, most recently the Rolling Stones, Downtown is now a hub of culture and innovative architecture. Also recently opened is the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, the new home of the Los Angeles" Catholic Archdiocese, the largest archdiocese in the nation, designed by the world-renowned Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo. Next year, the Walt Disney Concert Hall will open as the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, designed by world-class architect, Frank Gehry.

"Every day we are moving closer to our goal of creating a true `world-class downtown', " said Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Los Angeles DCBID.

She said the boom has been spawned residentially by the Central City Association's Adaptive Resume initiative, which spearheaded a City ordinance that facilitates the conversion of old office buildings into New York-like loft style spaces which provide modern comforts while remaining faithful to a building's historic architecture.

Among the other major civic and business leaders from Los Angeles also attending the event, entitled "Downtown Los Angeles -- An Urban Renaissance in Progress," included: Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents the Downtown LA area, the Honorable Jonathan Kevles, Deputy Mayor of Economic Development for the City of Los Angeles; Bob Graziano, president & COO of the Los Angeles Dodgers; David Damus, vice president and general counsel, System Property Development and chairman of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Downtown Center Business Improvement District; and Barry Sedlik, COO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

About the Downtown Center Business Improvement District

The DCBID is a coalition of property owners united in their commitment to enhance the quality of life in Downtown Los Angeles. The organization helps the 65-block central business district achieve its full potential as a great place to live, work, and play. Nearly 480 property owners provide funds to the district via a special voluntary tax assessment, which finances this outreach program.