EASTERN COLUMBIA

Today I was lucky enough to chat with Valerie Conway, a member of the Kor Group Residential Sales Team for the Eastern Columbia Lofts downtown. The turquoise, art deco Eastern Columbia building is one of the most easily recognizable landmarks in the Historic Core area and has emerged as a key player in the recent gentrification of downtown. The building's historic past and promising future make it one of downtown's hottest locations. If you're looking for a place to live, keep the Eastern Columbia on the radar.

KC: Thanks for being here, Valerie!
VC: My pleasure.

KC: For starters, tell me a little about the history of the building.
VC: Well, it was built in 1930 as a department store and stayed that way until the 1960's when it was turned into office space. Kor bought the building in 2004 when it was vacant and had been for years.

KC: So what's being done with the building now that the Kor Group owns it?
VC: The building is in the process of closing escrows now. We have 147 lofts and approximately 110 have closed escrow with buyers moving in. The majority of construction is done and now just finishing touches are happening.

KC: Sounds like the project is really taking off. As far as marketing and advertising goes, what steps has the Kor group taken to make the Eastern Columbia building known to people looking for a place to live downtown?
VC: We have not marketed the building in over a year and a half actually. We started pre-selling the building in July of 2005 and were sold out by our final phase in November of 2005. Since then we've just had occasional lofts fall out of escrow and have resold from that. Our biggest advertising is the building itself. We receive a lot of phone calls from people driving by the building or just hearing about it since it is just a predominate building in downtown. We mostly target young single people or couples and also empty nesters. The majority of our building is people who work in downtown or people who are using it as a second home and think downtown has great potential.

KC: That's impressive. What's the building like inside?
VC: The building has 147 lofts and has a roof top pool, spa, fireplace and fitness center. There is also a concierge during the week to help the homeowners. The Kor Group got started with hotels and really brought that feeling over to the building. It is very upscale and the lobby and roof decks are amazing. Buyers have said it is like living in a hotel then a condo several times.


KC: It seems like that kind of luxury was unknown in this part of downtown for a long time. How do you see the Eastern Columbia contributing the development of the surrounding area and the future of Downtown L.A. as a whole?
VC: I think the building has dramatically changed the surrounding area. I have noticed a significant change in the area since our barriers have come down and people have started to move it. Before I saw people just passing by the building and now people are making it more of a neighborhood. We have 147 lofts and on average there are 2 people per loft so there are 300 new residents to the area. I have great hopes for downtown and what it will bring. L.A. Live will start to come in towards the end of the year and downtown will become more of a destination for people. Also a lot of people other areas are not as scared of downtown as they once where and with new attractions coming they are more willing to come and take a look.

KC: Well things certainly do look promising...let's hope downtown really starts taking off again. Thanks again Valerie.
VC: Anytime.