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Los Angeles has always had a complicated relationship with its architectural history. The city seems to romanticize its golden eras, yet balks at the responsibility of preserving what’s left of them. This year alone, institutions like Cole’s French Dip, Taix, and The Original Pantry Café have shuttered, leaving many Angelenos questioning the city’s current preservation efforts as more strip malls and “four-over-five” apartment complexes continue to rise.
However, there is at least one developer in the city who may serve as an example of what our city could look like if we kept our history in mind, and if you live in DTLA, you probably have heard his name before.
Tom Gilmore arrived in Los Angeles with a mission. Partnering with Jerri Perrone in 1998, the two founded Tom Gilmore Associates Inc., a development firm which focuses on revitalizing downtown’s forgotten historic buildings.
The firm is perhaps best known for its redevelopment of the Old Bank District, but its reach has been far broader—in large part thanks to the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance, which allowed Los Angeles’ aging commercial buildings to be converted into housing.
What sets Gilmore apart from most developers is his investment in the city’s culture. Tom, in particular, has been largely credited as instrumental in the establishing of DTLA’s Gallery Row, which paved the way for the original Downtown Art Walk and his work with other creative institutions.
Of note, ArtCenter DTLA is his newest gallery venture.
“I think it’s incredibly important, particularly in our present time, to support the creative community here in DTLA and Greater Los Angeles. Our culture and community rely on and define each other,” Gilmore said of his involvement in DTLA’s creative scene.
Art/Space 114 opened its doors just over a year ago and has showcased an impressive breadth of contemporary artists. The programming is exciting, new, and only possible through a new kind of market disruption.
Art/Space is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, meaning artists, who usually have to deal with high commission cuts from galleries, pocket 100% of the revenue made from their sales. While not unheard of, the model is most definitely rare and only part of what Art/Space 114 is doing to set itself apart.
Instead of relying on juries or in-house curators, exhibitions and selection are completely artist-led, allowing the gallery to be one of the few in the city that takes open calls.
If the first chapter of Gilmore’s downtown story was about saving buildings, the second appears to be about sustaining the people who animate them.
Gilmore’s work in both art and real estate offers a compelling case study for what Los Angeles can become when we bet on our existing history and culture. This hopeful sort of synergy is a trademark of Tom’s, and fingers crossed, a future blueprint for developers across the city as well.
