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LA Banks on CleanTech Center
By Mark Edward Nero
California has a well-deserved reputation as a trendsetter
when it comes to embracing methods that help the environment, like alternative fuels and green technology.
But up until now, it’s mostly been Northern California that’s
led the way along the path that could lead to a greener, more
sustainable future.
That could change in the next several years, however, if a
major initiative by the Community Redevelopment Agency of
the City of Los Angeles is successful. The CRA/LA is in the
process of developing the Clean Tech Manufacturing Center, a
The CRA/LA is in the process of developing the Clean Tech Manufacturing
Center, a technology hub situated on 20 acres in Downtown Los Angeles.
technology hub situated on 20 acres in Downtown Los Angeles.
The city is banking on the Clean Tech Center to become, over
time, Southern California’s focal point of clean, environmentally friendly technology.
Bryan Jackson, a partner with the Allen Matkins Leck Gamble
& Mallory LLP law firm and chair of its green building and
sustainable construction group, calls the Clean Tech Center a
smart move. “It’s the best thing that [Mayor Antonio] Villaraigosa and the city could have done,” says Jackson, who’s also
the editor of the Green Building Update, a weekly publication
covering sustainable and green building issues. Jackson says
that the goal, which Villaraigosa has said is to build Los Angeles
into the world’s clean technology capital, is plausible thanks
to several advantages LA has over other areas: sunny weather,
an asset to photovoltaic projects; proximity to education and
research institutions like USC, UCLA and Caltech; as well as the
entertainment industry, which Jackson notes, is keen on using
green technology. “I’m just so proud that LA’s putting money
into this,” he says. “It’ll bring jobs and technology to the area.
The sky’s the limit,” he says.
Alex Paxton, CRA/LA’s manager of policy analysis, says
the goal of Los Angeles becoming a clean technology hub
isn’t mere political posturing. “We all think it’s possible,”
she says. “Clean technology is a developing technology—it
hasn’t really landed in one place. I think there will be a few
clean technology capitals in the US and Los Angeles will be
one of them.”
The city’s been recruiting businesses to occupy the center,
scheduled to open as early as 2011, with the primary focus on
firms with space requirements from 40,000 to 400,000 square
feet. There is no particular industry the CRA/LA is focusing on,
but there are certain criteria, including space needs, company
stability and whether the industry makes sense for LA. Among
the other incentives being used to lure prospective businesses
are city energy programs and rebates, tax credits, permit expediting and workforce recruitment and training.
The city is also banking on the location as being a lure for
businesses that ship goods out of the area; the Clean Tech Center site is 18 miles from the Port of Los Angeles, 12 miles from
Los Angeles International Airport and just two-and-a-half miles
from the Los Angeles Union Station railway.
The site, at Santa Fe Avenue and 15th Street, spent decades as
an unusable brownfield, while community groups fought plans
to put a prison and, later, an incinerator plant, there. “Twenty
acres in an industrial area in Los Angeles is pretty rare,” Paxton
says. “It’s not something that comes along every day.”—SOCAL
