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Date: 2024-08-16 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00018955

Critical Connections
Gilmore Associates

LOS ANGELES DEVELOPMENT / LOS ANGELES GENTRIFICATION ... Developer who launched Downtown loft bonanza now buying in Chinatown

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess
Gilmore Associates HOME ABOUT US BIOS MEDIA PROJECTS AND VENUES RESIDENTIAL CONTACT TOM GILMORE Tom Gilmore is a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of residential and commercial properties whose early projects in the city's historic core led to the largest resurgence of real estate investment and development the city has experienced in nearly a century. Gilmore began his career by building a small architectural firm in New York and eventually relocated to Los Angeles, leading to his partnership with Jerri Perrone. In 1998, Gilmore and Perrone formed an independent development firm, Gilmore Associates, to embark upon the redevelopment of the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles. His vision for Downtown Los Angeles as a thriving, self-sustaining urban community led him to purchase four abandoned historic buildings: the Continental, the Hellman, the San Fernando, and the Farmers and Merchants National Bank—all of which are located in Downtown Los Angeles and collectively renamed by Gilmore and Perrone as the “Old Bank District.” Gilmore was the first developer to utilize the newly minted Adaptive Reuse Ordinance of 1999, which enabled him to convert historic commercial buildings into mixed- use residences, ultimately catalyzing the widespread redevelopment and revival of Downtown. His ingenuity and tenacity has been recognized through major projects he has spearheaded— notably— Vibiana, a development of the former St. Vibiana’s Cathedral as a performing arts center and event facility that also houses the renowned restaurant, Redbird. Gilmore’s most recent ongoing projects include mixed-use redevelopment in Los Angeles' Chinatown and the transformation of the historic spaces within the Hellman Building and the former Farmers and Merchants National Bank into a contemporary museum showcasing Los Angeles based art on S Main St in Downtown, aptly named the Main Museum. Since Gilmore's first historic building opened to residents in 2000, more than 60,000 new residents now call downtown Los Angeles home and more than $5 billion in residential, business, entertainment and arts projects have been introduced to the city center. Tom Gilmore's commitment to the civic identity of Los Angeles is evident in his roles as the former Commissioner Chair for the LA Homeless Services Authority, Chairman of Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Mayoral- appointee as Chairman of Sister Cities of Los Angeles, Executive Committee member of Central City Association, Executive Committee member of Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Bureau, and Board member of Los Angeles Parks Foundation. PRESS  AWARDS
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https://la.curbed.com/2019/6/13/18661440/chinatown-development-tom-gilmore Skip to main content Curbed LA homepage LOS ANGELES Follow Curbed LA online: SUBSCRIBE Log in or sign up Site searchSearch Curbed LA main menu CITIES HOMES MORE Search FILED UNDER: DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES DEVELOPMENT LOS ANGELES GENTRIFICATION Developer who launched Downtown loft bonanza now buying in Chinatown 9 Tom Gilmore has spent nearly $30 million scooping up properties in the neighborhood By Bianca Barragan Jun 13, 2019, 3:09pm PDT Share this story Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter SHARE All sharing options Shutterstock In the early days of Downtown LA’s rebirth as a place where well-off people lived in lofts and hip restaurants and bars flourished, Tom Gilmore was heralded as a developer who could kick start the changes. In 2000, he bought four historic, decrepit buildings at the edge of Skid Row and created the Old Bank District, which became a trendy high-rent pocket in the hard-luck neighborhood. He was not the only developer that boosted Downtown’s reputation—but he was among the most lauded. Now it seems he’s turning his attention to Chinatown. In 2016 and 2017, LLCs connected to Gilmore have snatched up two properties on Jung Jing Road in the Chinatown Central Plaza. Then, last year, property records show a Gilmore-connected LLC paid $15.375 million for a corner property at Hill and College streets that houses a number of small businesses, including the Ai Hoa Market. Ai Hoa has been in operation in Chinatown since the late 1970s and outlasted a controversial Walmart grocery store up the street. But the market is slated to relocate to El Monte at the end of the year, architect Daveed Kapoor tweeted last week. In addition to being a longtime neighborhood fixture, the market is also important to the history of Vietnamese Americans in LA. The Ai Hoa was one of the first in LA’s Chinatown founded by Vietnamese war refugees, according to Phuong Nguyen, assistant professor of U.S. history at Cal State University, Monterey Bay. An employee at the market confirmed to Curbed last week that the Ai Hoa Market was moving, and indicated that it was because of an issue between the management and the building’s new owner. A photo of a row of commercial buildings of various heights, painted bright pink and navy blue. A man with an umbrella walks by. The building that holds the Ai Hoa (background) and 838 Hill Street (foreground), both owned by LLCs connected to Gilmore, recently received a bold paint job. Photo by Bianca Barragan It’s unclear what the future holds for the market’s corner parcel. City records do not indicate that there are any immediate plans for development at the site, and Gilmore was unable to provide comment in time for publication. In 2013, Gilmore purchased four properties along College and Broadway, paying $10 million. Now, with his purchase of the Ai Hoa, Gilmore effectively owns half of that block bounded by Hill, College, Broadway, and Alpine. The Ai Hoa building and an adjacent Gilmore-owned office structure have been given a Pepto Bismol-pink paint job reminiscent of a fancy makeover on another Gilmore-owned building on Jung Jing Way in the old Chinatown Plaza area, which he purchased for $1 million in 2017. Gilmore is hardly the only developer interested in Chinatown. Interest in the neighborhood’s properties has surged recently. Downtown developer Izek Shomof is planning a seven-story mixed-user near Spring and Alpine. Atlas Capital is planning 725 market-rate units near the Chinatown Gold Line Station (though residents are suing to stop it). A high-end French developer has teamed up with architecture firm Studio Gang to pitch a 26-story hotel and apartment tower on a site now occupied by a former movie theater turned event venue. In November 2018, an LLC controlled by Jim Jacobsen of the Santa Monica-based firm Redcar Properties, bought the large swap meet building at 861 North Spring Street for $15 million. It’s a pattern that is repeating in Chinatowns across the country as wealthier people seek downtown homes, the Atlantic reported in February. These neighborhoods, often located in the heart of cities’ urban centers, were inexpensive and undesirable for decades. They experienced long periods of disinvestment in the wake of white flight from cities and suburbanization, and that’s made them very attractive to developers. But as Chinatowns and other ethnic enclaves have become prime properties, that has meant in many instances that longterm residents are getting pushed out. 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