This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
The steady 'revitalization' of downtown Los Angeles into a wonderland array of consumer choice, not unlike Westwood, will probably only continue to accelerate. As the Los Angeles Business Journal reports, large cellphone retailer Apple Inc. is close to signing a lease for retail space in downtown's historic Tower Theater, located on the southeast corner of 8th and Broadway.
Rumors about Apple's downtown plans have been floating around for a while. Last February, we heard that Apple was interested in space at 5th and Broadway. Downtown Realtor Brigham Yen also hinted last November that Apple might end up in the Tower Theater..
But the reporting from the Business Journal makes it sound like Apple's signing a commercial lease in the Tower is a done deal. Assuming the lease will be signed, Apple will join a downtown block also populated by an Urban Outfitters, an Acne Studios clothing retailer, and several prime brunch joints.
"If Apple were to go in, I think you would see it start to take shape similar to other strong retail corridors like the Third Street Promenade (in Santa Monica), and Colorado (Boulevard) in Pasadena," said real estate broker Derrick Moore, to the Business Journal.
Moore was one of the folks who worked to bring a Whole Foods location to downtown L.A., just a few blocks away from Apple's future home, on Grand Avenue. Given that Whole Foods, Urban Outfitters, Apple, and even Petco all believe that opening stores in the southern parts of downtown L.A. are good business decisions, they signal a dramatic uptick of affluent residents moving into the neighborhood.
Downtown L.A. rents are among the highest in the city—residents pay about $2,500 monthly for 1 bedroom apartments—and an incredible construction boom is continuing to transform parking lots into luxury condominiums almost in the blink of an eye.
Of course, Skid Row also sits just a few blocks away. If we want to get technical, the area where eight people overdosed on a synthetic marijuana just a couple weeks ago is just about 2,000 feet away from the Apple-store-to-be.
