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10
New Plan to Turn Around Seventh Street
Spins OffEating Options
BY KATHRYN MAEsE
MANAGING EDITOR
hen most Angelenos hear the
term "Restaurant Row," they
think of LaCienega's collection
of eateries where diners can get a slab of
prime rib at Lawry's or spot celebrities at
the trendy Koiand Republic.
Now,Downtownis planningits ownver­
sion of Restaurant Row in the latest effort to
bring back the once thriving Seventh Street
corridor,which in itsheydaycounted copi­
ous restaurants, major department stores
and entertainment venues.
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Wit h nearly a dozen dea ls in th e
works, and some already inked, the con­
cept is gaining traction , perhaps giving
Seventh Street its best chance in decades
to stage a turnaround. The corridor is
the spine of an effort that would start by
filling about 100,000 square feet of emp ­
ty retail space on four blocks between
Olive and Figueroa streets. The eventual
aim is to spread activity to surro unding
streets such as Sixth and Grand, as more
eateries, bars and, ultimately, big retail
chains, catch on.
see Sevent h Stre et, page 14
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photo It}' GlIy Leonard
Ian Ellis, a partnerwith West Millennium Group, at the Brock1nan Building.
The structurewill open later thisyear wid, SOrondos.A 10,OOO-square1oot
restaurant and gourmet market willfill thegroundfloor.
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March 19,2007
-2 Downtown
- - -News- - - - ---,--- - - - - - -- - -- Downtownblews.com - - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - --­
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LAPD Busts Drug Gang
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he Los Angeles Police Departmenthas
dismantIed a gang responsible for supply­
ingthe majority of heroin to the Skid Row area,
officials announced March 14. Local narcotics
and gang officers arrested 31 alleged leaders of
the Fifth and Hill Streets gang,which has been
funneling heroin through the Downtown area
since the 1970s. The arrests, which took place
around LosAngelesCounty,werethe culmina­
tion of a lO-month effort that resulted in nar­
coticsand weapons-related charges against the
gang members, Police seized 85 pounds of tar
heroin, valued at $1.5 million, including 45,000
drug-filled balloons ready to sell. Capt. Andy
Smith of the Central Division said that one of
the gang's tactics wasto employyoung children
to come to Downtown, usually around Fifth
and Broadway, to sell drugs to people from all
overthe city. "We're hoping that heroin is now
getting harder to get, and that tile message will
get out that Downtown is no longer the place
to buy heroin,"Smith said.
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Produce Market
O\\7J1er Charged
ity Atto rney Rocky Delgadill o an­
nounced March 12that he is filingcharg­
es against the owner and facility manager of
the Seventh Street Produce Market for a va­
riety of health and safety violations. Richard
Memelo, president of Alameda Produce Inc.,
which owns the Downtown wholesale mar­
ket, was charged with eight criminal counts
including failure to maintain a building in safe
and sanitary condition, illegal construction
without a permit and the breeding and harbor­
ing of rodents. Facility manager John Hull
C
Durham n was also charged. The two could
face up to six months in prison or a fine of up
to $1,000for each charge if convicted, accord­
ing to Delgadillo's office. A spokesman for the
company told DowntownNews last month that
significant improvements had already been
made to the health code concerns uncovered
in Jan uary by a KNBC-TV news expose,
Downtown News
Restaurant Guide
Coming
T
he local food scene is proliferating with
hot new restaurant s, bars and even a
few hybrids, which means if you're hungry,
there's bound to be something for you. Next
week Los Angeles Downtown News will pub­
lish 80,000 copies of the 2007 Restaurant
Guide, with information on mor e than 90
eater ies covering everything from Haitian
rotisserie chicken to upscale American in a
trendy lounge setting. About 20,000 issues of
the 52-page full-color glossymagazine will be
included with the March 26 Downtown News
and 60,000 additional copies will be distrib­
uted to area hotels, restaurants and retailers.
The Restaurant Guide will also be available
online at downtownladining.com.
Opera Official
Baitzel Dies
dgar Baitzel, chief operating officer and
artistic visionary of LA. Opera, has died.
He passed away Sunday, March 11 at the ageof
51 after a short battle with cancer, announced
company General Director Placido Domingo.
Mourned by friends, family and opera lovers
E
photo by Car)'Leonard
Ninth District Cound lwoman Jail Perry (back row,[ourth from left) last weekpresidedover tile
swearillg ill of tile Ilew officers of tile Historic & CulturalNeighborhood Council. The evellt took
place Tuesday,March 13, at Reikai'sKitchen 0 11 Third Street ill Little Tokyo.
from as far as Koblenz, Germany, where he
was born, Baitzel leftan imprint on audiences
worldwide but most recently in Los Angeles,
where he worked for more than SLX years. "He
had the uncanny ability to pull rabbits out of
hats in order to achieve artistic success," Marc
Stem, chairman and CEO of L.A. Opera, said
in a statement. Baitzel joined L.A. Opera in
2000as artistic administrator under Domingo,
who wooed him to the compa ny, and was
promoted to artistic director in 2003. He be­
came chief operating officer last year. DUling
his time in LosAngeles, Baitzel helped the op­
era company grow, increasing tile number of
performances from 66 in a season to 77, and
presiding over four to five new productions
each season.
Boosters Honor Police,
Volunteers- ­
he Central -City Police Boosters hon­
ored several LAPD Central Division of­
ficers at a luncheon earliertI1is month that fea­
tured guest speaker LAPD Assistant Chief Earl
T
C. Paysinger. Deputy Mayor of Homeland
SecurityArifAlikhan wasthe keynote speaker.
The honorees included Sgt. Richard Stabile
as Supervisor of the Year, Senior Lead Officer
Michael Fernandez as Officer of the Year
and Dollie Swanson as Detective of the Year.
Celeste Garin, a Downtown resident, was
named Citizen of the Year, while Joel Bloom,
owner of Bloom's General Store in the Arts
District and a Downtown neighborhood advo­
cate,was honored asVolunteer of the Year.
Corrections
T
he "Project Updates" in the Downtown
Development issue on Feb. 26 incorrect­
ly identified Peklar Pilavjian as the owner of
the St. Vincent Jewelry Center. He is a mi­
nority co-owner of the property; Los Angeles
United Investment Company owns the build­
ing. Additionally, the upda te for the 10I0
Wilshire building should have said that Killefer
Flammang Architects is the lead architect on
the project. CNI, now with Perkins + Will, did
interior design of public spaces, and Biian and
Associatesdesigned the exterior skin.
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