The old strip that has been mainly run by Korean immigrants’ furniture stores is now seeing a big change. Western Avenue, where a strip of furniture stores are located in LA Koreatown, is transforming into the capital of art galleries.
In recent years, from the David Zwirner Gallery, one of New York’s top three art galleries, to emerging local ones, art spaces are taking center stage on Western and Melrose Avenues.
The Korea Daily counted galleries along Western Avenue from 1st Street to Santa Monica Boulevard as of April 2. In total, there were 10, including David Zwirner, Unrepd, a contemporary art gallery and furniture showroom; Manhattan-based Sargent’s Daughters, Shrine, and Moran Moran, a contemporary art gallery that relocated from West Hollywood. Additionally, within a two-mile radius, there were about 20 galleries.
It wasn’t until 2019 that Western Avenue began to change in earnest. An up-and-coming real estate developer named Zach Lasry bought at least 15 properties on Western Avenue, including buildings and warehouses, and began renting them out to galleries in 2019.
His father is billionaire hedge fund manager and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry. “I didn’t start out with galleries specifically in mind, but they were the type of tenants I wanted,” Lasry, who is also an actor, told the Financial Times in February. “It can be deflating when areas get overtaken by corporations or turned into a mall.”
“Western Avenue is at the center of LA and it’s also close to Hollywood, Downtown, and other art towns,” Mullen Renouvel, an associate at Moran Moran, told the Korea Daily.
“Galleries from New York and Europe are moving or expanding to LA, and Western Avenue is part of it,” he said.
Lasry’s reasonable rent prices are also helping to attract galleries. While exact rents were not disclosed, they are said to be relatively low compared to the Larchmont neighborhood, which is less than two miles away. “Attractive levels of rents are helpful to LA’s emerging millennial-run art scene,” he said.
The increasing number of galleries is also expected to bring in more people to revitalize Koreatown. Unrepd, which opened in September 2021, counts Hollywood star Vanessa Hudgens and sports agent Rich Paul among its clients.
“The gallery is a destination business,” says Unrepd co-founder Tricia Beanum, “and people come from all over, not just LA, but Irvine, Sherman Oaks, and many other places. They come around and explore the neighborhood,” she said.
New businesses are opening along Western Avenue in addition to the galleries. Last year, CO, an LA-based women’s high-end clothing brand, opened, and in 2021, Ggiata, a celebrity sandwich shop specializing in to-go, opened.
“We’ve been seeing an influx of people recently, which is great to see,” said Chef Josh Shampao of Kuya Lord, a popular Filipino restaurant that opened in 2022 and was named one of the LA Times’ 101 Best Restaurants in LA, “and I look forward to seeing the neighborhood become more vibrant.”
BY SUAH JANG, KYEONGJUN KIM, HOONSIK WOO
[jang.suah@koreadaily.com, kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]
