During the mid-1970s, artists from Santa Monica, Venice and elsewhere took interest in the expansive, inexpensive, abandoned warehouse and industrial spaces available in downtown Los Angeles. Using them as studios and as living quarters, these artists ran afoul of city ordinances; Los Angeles zoning has historically frowned on those who live and work in the same space. Artists were sometimes given a few hours' notice of a Fire Department inspection, and found themselves hurriedly trying to hide all traces of living space within their studios.

Legalized art sparks a fire. This running battle continued between the artists and City Hall until 1981, when the Los Angeles City Council passed the Artists-In-Residence Ordinance. This law allowed artists to legally live and work in industrial areas of downtown for the first time, providing the buildings were up to city code. This change helped spark an explosion of studios and galleries in the area.

But legalization also created a run on available properties, which prompted increases in rent costs, moving from $0.30/sf or less, to $1.00 or more. While some artists undoubtedly could not afford the increases and were forced to find space elsewhere, the area survived as a viable live/work district for artists.

The Downtown Artists District — stretching from 1st street south to 7th, and from Alameda east to the LA River — is now home to some 1,200 live-work artists' lofts.

History repeats itself. The passage of twenty years has brought the entrance of urban renewal/Adaptive Reuse... and the seemingly inevitable gentrification that follows. While the Artist's District was once reserved for those with no need for upscale homes or services — and a taste for an "edgey" lifestyle — the neighborhood is now attractive to those who find it "hip" to live in "an artist's loft"... and it's attractive to the developers who court them.

Companies like the Kor Group have paid high prices for warehouse buildings in the area, planning to develop the spaces into condos and mixed retail. This is having a contagious effect on sale and lease prices.

For some artists in the District, this was brought into stark relief when in early 2005, 900 east first was bought by a company from Hermosa Beach. In May, the building's management company began informing residents whose leases were expiring that the owners had decreed rents would be increased dramatically.

While the company eventually moderated the increases after protests from a quickly-formed tenants' association, even that sudden rise compelled a few residents to move out.

UPDATE 8/20/2009 - Management informed residents some time ago that the owners planned to convert the building to condos. At that time, management agreed to hold rents at their current levels until the conversion takes place... and they've kept that promise.

More than a year ago, longer-term residents were sent a letter explaining their eligibility for a moving assistant payment when and if mandatory move-outs were required. The earliest possible move-outs would have been earlier in 2009.

But with the economy in its current state, it looks like financing may be hard to come by, so the process is in limbo.

On July 30, management told this reporter that "The likelihood of the conversion happening within a year are nil. … Odds are it will be 3 years."

Until the housing market begins to heal itself, it looks like many residents will be sticking around.

Blood, sweat and trees. Some of the tenant-stakeholders who live and work at 900 east first street have been here for 10 to 15 years or more, and have invested their energy and money in the neighborhood. The trees that line the sidewalks were planted by tenants, and some are named in memory of friends.

Many artists in this building and others have made substantial physical improvements to the loft spaces themselves, raising the value of the properties, benefitting building owners without costing them a cent.

Rome, for the hoards. There would obviously be no Artists District without these people and others like them... and yet some developers seem to think that their new tenants and their profits will get along just fine without them.

There is no question that the gentrification of the Artists District has brought about the exile of many artists from the area, turning the blue-and-white "Downtown Artist District" into mere vestiges of a historical period. But by exiling the artists and sapping the District's core energy, are developers setting up the demise of their own developments?

If the pattern of gentrification in other cities is duplicated here, the energy of the artists may simply be replaced by the energy of consumers with disposable income.

Time will tell whether that's a good thing, a bad thing... or just change.

Related links:
+ Article: Inevitably, renewal leads to gentrification (Los Angeles Business Journal, Mar. 28, 2005; via FindArticles.com. Also available here at the Journal, but requires registration)
+ Article: Fighting Higher Rents: In L.A.? Good Luck. (LAWeekly)