What is the Future of the City’s Industrial Land?

1. What is the Future of the City’s Industrial Land? A Dialogue About Industrial Land Use Policy for Greater Downtown Los Angeles • Alameda (including Artist in Residence District) • Chinatown • Boyle Heights • Downtown Core (including Fashion, Toy, Flower, Produce Districts) • Southeast Los Angeles (South of the 10 Freeway)

2. Tonight’s Workshop Presentation: Highlights from data collection Overview of Industrial Policy Issues and Options Overview of Downtown Industrial land profile Preliminary recommendations for each Downtown Industrial sub area (in break-out sessions)

3. Tonight’s Workshop Obtain feedback from participants: Breakout sessions General closing session Opportunity for written comments

4. Mayor’s Office Request • Requested departmental recommendations on future of industrial lands (Dec. 2005) • “think strategically and proceed with caution when evaluating various competing uses for our scarce industrial land.” • “…have to be sure that we preserve a healthy economy and provide jobs for the City’s future.”

5. Mayor’s Office Request(cont’d) • “It is critical that we plan wisely for a diversified economic base while simultaneously accommodating our need for additional housing and other uses.”

6. Mayor’s Office Request(cont’d) • Study being undertaken by City Planning, CRA and other Departments • Surveys and preliminary recommendations completed for • Hollywood, Westside, Greater Downtown areas • Recommendations will be forwarded to the City Planning Commission. Target: early 2007

7. City Policy • Preserve industrial land for industrial and job-related uses • Deviations considered on a case-by-case basis

8. City Policy (cont’d) • Housing is not allowed by right in industrial zones • Requires Zone Changes, Variances, General Plan Amendments • Live/work uses allowed conditionally • Requires discretionary actions and specific findings

9. Industrial Zones Only 8% of City of Los Angeles is zoned for industrial use • (19,000 acres, net of Port and LAX)

10. Key Facts • A critical component of City’s economy: • Industrial tax revenues total $219.4 million • 13% of City total tax revenue • Industrial employment in City represents 28.5% of City employment

11. Study Process • Parcel by parcel field survey of industrial: • Existing uses/businesses • Condition of structures • Surrounding uses and physical characteristics • Data Analysis: • Employment • Demographic • Economic

12. Key Policy Question To what extent should industrial land be used to accommodate housing demand, instead of retained for industrial-related, or other, jobs and services?

13. Major Issues • Substantial loss of industrial land to other uses • 27% of industrial zoning Downtown has non-industrial uses • Great demand for schools, institutions, big box commercial, and housing • Other uses can outbid industrial uses • Remaining industrial uses cannot pay inflated land costs • Land use conflicts occur when non-industrial uses are established in a haphazard manner

14. Major Issues • Vacancy rate for industrial land is very low • less than 2% • Current demand for 1.1 million sq ft of industrial expansion in the Downtown region

15. Major Issues • New Housing in Downtown Industrial Zones – Average unit price $598,000 • 4% (76 of 1,715) of new units built in past 5 years were affordable units

16. Greater Downtown Industrial Regions: • Chinatown • Downtown • Southeast LA • Alameda • Boyle Heights Districts of regional significance

17. Key Downtown Facts • 2,817 acres zoned for industrial uses • 8,745 existing businesses • 64,000 existing jobs • Support 124,000 persons in 42,500 households • 27% of industrial-zoned land is currently NOT used for industrial purposes

18. Key Downtown Facts Within one mile of Greater Downtown: • 28% of persons are employed in manufacturing jobs • 79% of persons over 25 have a high school diploma or less • 38% of population are living below poverty line • 39% of housing units do not have access to a private automobile

19. Key Downtown Facts

20. Factors to Consider A healthy city must maintain a balance of jobs and housing • Need for both is great and will continue as population grows • Each new housing unit creates need for 1.5 jobs • Many industrial jobs require skilled labor and offer higher wages than retail jobs • Average industrial wage $40,648; average retail wage $19,910

21. Factors to Consider Opportunity for future jobs • Expansion and growth of existing service industries • Jobs of the future (Biomed, Media, Publishing, Transportation & Logistics)

22. Factors to Consider • New housing in industrial zones increases land costs for new and expanding businesses • Many local entrepreneurs who start businesses in industrial areas are unable to stay as they grow. • Residential uses generate greater demand for city services (fire, police, etc.) • High current demand for industrial land • Small parcels - business incubators and start ups • Large parcels - specialty users, distribution/logistics and garment manufacturing

23. Factors to Consider • Industrial land also provides for many “Industrial Services” • many services needed by the community “fit best” in industrial zones, e.g., • Auto repair • Animal services • Public storage • Lumberyards • Equipment rentals

24. Factors to Consider • Conversion of industrial land in the past has resulted in long-standing: • Incompatible adjacent uses • Inconsistent land use patterns • Inconsistent investment in industrial districts

25. Major Policy Implementation Issues Where the City preserves the existing industrial zoning… • What infrastructure improvements can be planned to improve function and appearance of district?  • What design standards and guidelines can be added to Community Plans to improve the appearance of district? • What business attraction strategies can be implemented?

26. Major Policy Implementation Issues If the City is to change the existing zoning for a current industrially-zoned district… • What public benefit should be required as a condition of changing the existing zoning to a higher economic value use? • In special districts, could residential uses co-exist with certain “industrial” uses, thus retaining some aspect of job-producing uses? • To what extent should the loss of current jobs and businesses be mitigated?

27. Next Steps • Staff will consider all recommendations from public workshops and any written materials submitted by February 15, 2007 • Staff will prepare final recommendations for transmission to City Planning Commission • Target: Early 2007

28. For Information Website http://cityplanning.lacity.org/under “New Features” Email Conni.Pallini-Tipton@lacity.org