Downtown L.A.'s Revitalization To Spread Southward

"City officials and developers are testing the reach of downtown L.A.'s development boom with a massive push to bring the mixed-use concept to Washington Boulevard - a good two miles south of downtown."

"With its sagging storefronts and low-slung buildings, the area feels a long way from the newly hip downtown. But on the other side of the 10 Freeway, Staples Center has become a catalyst for residential and commercial development that is within walking distance of Washington.

'It's where the aspirations of South Los Angeles meet the opportunity of downtown Los Angeles,' said Cecelia Estolano, chief executive of the CRA."

"But some business owners and community activists are wary. Although the corridor has relatively few residences, some activists worry that a southward gentrification from downtown would result in working-class residents being forced out. Some people who live off Figueroa Street between Staples Center and USC have already felt the pinch.

'These activities, which are so favoring the upper-income brackets, make the work of the affordable housing developer all the more difficult,' said Nancy Halperin Ibrahim, executive director of Esperanza Housing Corp., which has several buildings nearby. 'It could put the real estate market out of reach.' "