Residents of Miracle Mile, Concerned Angelenos & Citizens of The World,

Currently, a large developer is proposing to build a forty-two story skyscraper on Wilshire Boulevard between Cochran Avenue and Cloverdale Avenue. It is the unanimous and resounding consensus among renters, homeowners, mom and pop landlords and businesses that such a structure would, in a word, destroy Miracle Mile. 

A forty-two story skyscraper would cleave this culturally significant middle class neighborhood in half and would menacingly dwarf the human stature of the residents. It would be an affront to the historical significance of Miracle Mile as an enclave for immigrants who fled racial and religious oppression in other countries, came to Los Angeles, and with sweat and tears built modest but successful businesses as well as a thriving inclusive community that has withstood the trials of time to this day, but is now under threat by large developers who plan to push out the middle class who live here, and attempt to pull in wealthier people.

“We need more housing,” most of the City Council and Mayor say.

And, “We need affordable housing,” they say.

And then they say, “Well, large developments will allot a certain amount of units to low income people” 

A study showed that throughout Los Angeles, 112,295 empty housing units in large developments sit empty as reported by the 2017 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census. (https://bit.ly/39d3Sa2). Since the time of this survey, numerous new large developments have been built, so economists estimate that the amount of units that sit empty have now doubled. 

We can all agree that we do need affordable housing, but large developments such as the proposed forty-two story skyscraper are far from the solution to that problem, rather, they are a contributing factor. They sit empty because no one can afford to pay the rents that they and this proposed skyscraper would charge, which would be upwards of what the most recent new developments in the immediate area at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Crescent Heights, Fairfax/San Vicente and various in Mid-Wilshire are currently charging, which is $3,000 for a single and $6,000-$12,000 a month for anything larger. A 2019 LA Times article (https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-miracle-mile-luxury-residential-skyscraper-20190529-story.html) supports this, stating that the rents in this proposed skyscraper, "Can be expected to be at the high end of the market." We all know the state of our economy now and in the foreseeable future. The rare few people who can possibly afford such astronomical rents will not live in a crowded apartment filled area with homeless people strewn out along their front doorsteps, and so this proposed skyscraper would sit empty.

The mayor and the city council allow these large developers to build what they want and charge exorbitant rents because they provide them with a free pass to do so; developments built within fifteen years are not subject to rent caps - a limit on what a landlord can charge tenants, (https://bit.ly/3hk8bTN). So, only small older property owners are held to these rent caps. Most small buildings are mom and pop owned, by second and third generation Miracle Mile founders, reasonable people who are glad to make rents affordable because they have a symbiotic relationship with their tenants. But, you will not hear this from our city politicians, who, at this very moment have sent out mailers conning voters into voting for them and their current Propositions, posturing that they want to help renters, while with their other hand they are granting permits to big rich developers such as the one proposing to build this forty-two story skyscraper. They use renters and small mom and pop businesses as pawns to accomplish that aim. 

As for low income unit allotment, which is another bone that the mayor and city council throw to our economically challenged public to manipulate us into believing that we should keep voting for their developer biased Propositions, in hearings at City Hall, the city council has said that this allotment, “Is not a law, and so is ultimately up to the developer's discretion.” 

These tactics, including recent grim TV commercials, are a bait and switch that prey upon our compassion, which if we do not read the fine print we will vote for, and thus hand over our rights to the large developers, giving them permission to push us out of our own neighborhood. These gross loopholes between the city hall politicians and the large developers create, as we already see, a city with more homeless people than any other comparable city in the world. 

To build the proposed forty-two story skyscraper would require tearing down not only commercial structures where its developer wants it to stand, but worse, residential apartments that people live in could be torn down, and so people would be displaced, thus adding to the vast homeless community that stretches out along Wilshire Boulevard in Miracle Mile and throughout LA. 

These large developers' long term agenda to transform Miracle Mile into something kindred to Downtown LA is being hastened by their apparent shorter term goals, one of which may be to house people during the upcoming Olympics. Whatever the reasons, we must question why the mayor, the city council city and city planners are accommodating the urgency of this developer by streamlining the permit process for them. Recent events involving the city council naturally lead us to question other possible incentives (https://la.curbed.com/2020/6/18/21279345/los-angeles-corruption-jose-huizar-fbi) and we find it improbable that the mayor and at least some other city council members were unaware of such occurrences transpiring on their watch. For these possible temporary gains, they are willing to sell out the majority of their own voters and the historic Miracle Mile by bypassing or rushing extensive environmental impact studies, public disclosure of these studies, public environmental impact studies and public input, as well as common sense, because most alarming is that structurally, in addition to the Metro, methane gas and tar pits beneath the area, there is a seismic fault underneath the Wilshire Corridor (https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/06/us/2-big-faults-found-deep-under-los-angeles.html), which all add up to the ground beneath the proposed site being severely compromised. So, if they build this monolith, they may put the surrounding residents, businesses and all of Miracle Mile in peril.

We must demand that extensive environmental impact reports are done and broadcast to the citizens, as well as allow we citizens' voices to be heard. These impact reports will corroborate what we have already been told by independent structural engineers, which is that the ground on which they propose to build their forty-two story skyscraper will probably not hold. If these permit investigations are done with integrity, the results will show that a forty-two story skyscraper in the heart of Miracle Mile will be a heinous mistake in every regard, a proverbial white elephant that would stand empty and gaping, or worse, a Titanic, and those who have condoned it would go down in history as fools.

History is precisely what makes Miracle Mile so special, from its Art Deco and Moderne architecture to the indelible imprint of compassion and connection that its modest founding immigrants have impressed upon every facet of this community's culture. To this day it attracts inhabitants possessing the same modest financial capacity but rich cultural contribution in the way of art, activism, raising children of constructive character and just plain working at the local grocery store. Tearing down historical structures to build a forty-two story skyscraper here would betray that rich history and humility, and it would never reap a wealthier clientele. 

The solution for all of this potential hazard, heartache and destruction is not to build this skyscraper or any others like it in Miracle Mile, but to preserve, repurpose and respect what already exists here, as well as to utilize the numerous developments that stand empty throughout Downtown LA up through Mid-Wilshire. Those monolithic failures stand as proof that our city should not allow more large scale over priced developments to be built. LA is not New York, nor was it ever intended to be. Angelenos do not like to live in high-rise crypts, but modest-sized homes where they can look out of their windows and actually see the sky. 

Please sign our petition and let City Hall know that we oppose the building of a forty-two story skyscraper on Wilshire and Cochran Avenue or anywhere in Miracle Mile. Please share this petition and take an additional minute to tweet, email and call the people we vote for to let them know we are opposed to this project. We thank you for uniting our voices.  

Mayor Eric Garcetti at: mayor.helpdesk@lacity.org  or Twitter: @mayorofla or (213) 978-1028  

City Councilman David Ryu at: cd4.issues@lacity.org  or Twitter: @davideryu or (213) 473-7004  

City Council Senior Planning Deputy Emma Howard at: emma.howard@lacity.org or Twitter:@emmaehoward or (213) 473-7004