However, it is a place with a very irregular heartbeat. In the early 1900's, the business and entertainment center of Los Angeles was between Third and Seventh Streets on Broadway and Spring. To the north are city, state and federal buildings. Broadway, which slices from north to south, is now a thriving Hispanic shopping street. There are vibrant produce, jewelry, toy and garment districts.
Downtown is alive by day but dead at night.
Mr. Gilmore is not the first to try to put new housing Downtown. Last year, a developer, Geoffrey Palmer, built an Italianate- themed block of corporate apartments near the financial district in Bunker Hill and surprised naysayers by filling it. Nor is Mr. Gilmore the first developer to convert historic buildings Downtown. In the late 80's and early 90's, Ira Yellin blazed the trail by creating 120 apartments in the Homer Laughlin and Million Dollar Theater Building on Broadway. Also in the works is the El Dorado Hotel a project in development with Cedd Moses and Mark Smith, the owners of several trendy bars and restaurants in Los Angeles and roof gardens, coffee bars and shops.