They're tearing down the Ambassador hotel for a #$&%@! mall!
Herc Wad
land is to develop a big box mall. I've known about all the proposals for the
land (high school, new hotel, the mall, preserve the original hotel).
The high school would have been useful. Currently, there is no high school in
Koreatown. The students need to go to L.A. High, Fairfax, or Belmont High
Schools. All three of them are overcrowded. Some students are even bused out to
schools in the Valley. The land is large enough to hold a large amount of
students, and have amenities like a football field.
Reopening the Ambassador as a hotel would keep history intact and serve a
useful function, but Koreatown hotels aren't doing too well right now. Most of
the guests are tourists or businessmen from Japan and South Korea, and the
economic problems have slowed down tourism. The hotels in the area perform
rather modestly. Many of them are luxury hotels, like the Radisson and the
various Korean hotels. The mid-priced and economy hotels, like Best Western and
Ramada, perform better.
Preservation would be expensive and produce very little. I think keeping an
important piece of L.A. history would be a good idea, but the financial
commitment would be tremendous. The building is decaying, and earthquakes have
weakened the structure. It would probably cost millions of dollars to bring it
up to code, but what then? After millions of dollars, should the Ambassador
have some kind of productive use? Other L.A. buildings, like the Frank Lloyd
Wright-designed buildings in Barnsdall Park, have tours given of the area.
Barnsdall Park is also rented out for various functions, like art shows. I'm
pretty sure something similar can be done with the Ambassador, giving tours and
renting out parts of the property for things like high school proms.
The mall can gain some money, but Koreatown is not the homogeneous suburb. For
one thing, Wilshire Bl. is pedestrian friendly, and has land uses to encourage
pedestrian activity. Big box stores usually do not offer this. Most of them
sweep the parking lot way out in front, or all around the building, making it
hard for people to walk in. This probably wouldn't apply here, though. The big
box approach has been tried in the Miracle Mile, much to the disdain of the
residents there. Yet stores like Rong Aid and Smart & Final have little to do
with the Miracle Mile's once again thriving area along Wilshire Bl. Much of the
credit would go to bringing nightlife in the area (Conga Room and El Rey
Theater), the entertainment industry renting out office spaces, and the museum
developments.
Koreatown is also unique in that the residents here don't have to go far to buy
goods like in the suburbs. Most of the retail activity to Koreatown residents
is just a 10 minute walk in many cases, provided by mom-and-pop shops or some
current big box stores in the area like Ralphs and Rong Aid.
No matter what style this mall is supposed to be developed in, what will make
it stand out from the big box stores available throughout much of L.A.? You've
seen one, you've seen them all. Besides, Wal Mart almost never opens a store
near where people live and never comes without a lot of government cooperation.
"They're not so bad. They named a street after me in San Francisco."-Fidel
Castro (talking about Americans), "The Simpsons"
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