Koreatown vs... Little Bangladesh?

Yesterday the New York Times shed light on a heated but little-known controversy at the heart of the city - the fight for name recognition between LA's Koreans and Bangladeshis. The six-square mile area that is home to the largest Korean population outside of Korea is apparently not recognized as a neighborhood on the city's official maps. So in October, many were surprised to learn that an application had been filed with a city to name a small area within Koreatown - Little Bangladesh.

The application comes at a time when there are believed to be some 15,000 Bangladeshis living in the city. It is an attempt to recognize the fast-growing and underappreciated Bangladeshi population here. But the move has been met with stringent opposition by area Korean groups who point to the jungle of Korean restaurants, businesses, and signage, in lieu of an official designation. But to the average Angeleno who references Thomas Bros. or drives past scenes like the one above, Koreatown is very much a reality. Little Bangladesh, frankly, is not.

Even city councilman Tom LaBonge, whose district includes parts of Koreatown, is fighting fiercely for Korean civic groups, saying that he has doubts about the level of commitment on the part of the Bangladeshis. Ethnic enclaves are certainly not new to Los Angeles (Byzantine-Latino Quarter, Chinatown, Filipinotown, Little Armenia, Little Ethiopia, Little Tokyo, Thaitown) but this conflict is different for two reasons. First is the sheer size and weight of Koreatown. Its influence is unquantifiable city- and even region-wide. Secondly, it represents one ethnic minority attempting to supplant another. Historically, tension has been primarily between existing whites and incoming immigrants. A neighborhood council boardmember put it nicely: "it's nice to embrace other communities, as long as it's not in our backyard. Or in our front yard." Ahh, good ol' LA cohesion. Have we learned nothing from the riots?

Korean Air Unleashes Plans for Downtown Megatower

The LA Times reported today that Korean Air, the South Korean transport conglomerate, plans to demo the existing Wilshire Grand hotel and replace it with a pair of sleek office/hotel skyscrapers. The company, which bought the 57-year old property in 1989, claims it has accumulated a special reserve of cash in anticipation of the economic downturn and argues that with sinking construction costs, there is no better time to build. The development will be the latest and greatest of a long string of Korean investment in Los Angeles. If granted approval from the city, groundbreaking could commence in 2011 with completion set for 2014.

The existing Wilshire Grand, while underused and aging, is located on a prime piece of downtown real estate - the corner of Figueroa St and Wilshire Blvd. The location, which is convenient to Korean Air's current LA headquarters, is significant because it is outside of the large and dense Koreatown neighborhood. The $1 billion 1.8 million sf center, built by influential LA developer Thomas Properties, will be an important testament to the growing clout of Koreans and Korean Americans in this city.

Plans call for a 40-story luxury hotel/condo tower connected to a 60-story office building by groundlevel retail and a public plaza. The property is located across the street from the 7th St Metro station. David Martin of endeared downtown architecture firm AC Martin will be the design architect. Rendering shows a sun-friendly north-south orientation and energy-generating photovoltaic panels. It will be the first new office tower built in Downtown since 1992. It may also mean hungry downtowners will no longer have to venture past Vermont Ave for their bulgogi fix.