Last quarter, the sidewalk maintenance team collected 3,110 bags of trash (71,530 lbs.), dispensed approximately 4,000 doggie bags, picked up 9 bulk items, and removed 225 graffiti tags on sidewalk pots, poles, and news racks. The crew is out every Monday and Thursday sweeping the sidewalks, picking up trash, clearing gutters and painting out graffiti from street poles, news racks, and flower planters. The team empties 59 trash cans throughout the District due to the City's reduced efforts which had led to an overflowing of the cans.

The landscape crew for the District's Wilshire streetscape continues to maintain all 15 medians and about 160 flower pots along Wilshire Blvd. The work consists of removal of trash, trimming of plants, watering of plants, repairing the sprinkler system, and replacing damaged plants.

Last quarter, the security team assisted the City in getting over 503 bulky items picked up, made 12 calls to the City for street services, assisted in getting 347 graffiti tags cleaned up, and 6 potholes were reported and fixed. The team responded to 67 calls for assists to the LAPD and others. They issued 28 illegal vendor warnings and assisted 41 homeless individuals; 566 illegal signs were removed. The team addressed the subject of 12 individuals drinking in public and 19 belligerent transients.

The team captain attended 5 LAPD crime control meetings and attended the quarterly Wilshire Center/Ktown Business Watch meeting. The team also hosted a special meeting with the new LAPD Olympic Division Captain, Vito Palazzolo to discuss crime prevention stratagies for the District.

The quarterly report has been sent to City Clerk's office along with the annual financial report. The City has approved our 2015 contract of services. We are currently working with the City Clerk and DWP to secure a $5,000 grant. The WCBIC has been working with Ron Olive, Assistant Director of Street Services on the resurfacing of Normandie. As of today the Normandie resurfacing project has been completed.

The next Wilshire Center/Ktown Business Watch meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 20, 2015 at 12:00 noon, at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, located at 3424 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, La Purisima Conference Room (5th floor).

People requesting city services (pothole repair, pickup of bulky items, graffiti removal, etc.) can call 311 or access the free smart phone application, MyLA311. With MyLA311 people can take a picture of the problem and send it with the application for service.

Wilshire Center BID & the LINE Hotel - K-Town Familiarization Tour 2015

The LINE Hotel and the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District (WCBID) organized the K-Town Crawl, a Familiarization (FAM) tour on Thursday, May 7th in partnership with the Los Angeles Concierge Association, a network of hotel concierges in the Greater Los Angeles area, which represents 15,000 hotel rooms. At these hotels, the concierges recommend places to go, sights to see and must do activities.

The K-Town FAM tour event highlighted a few of the unique and influential venues molding the future of our District. The FAM tour exposed attendees, media professionals, and concierge to local businesses, restaurants, and bars while raising awareness of the K-Town neighborhood of Los Angeles as the place to visit, entertain and explore. It was organized in part by the LINE Hotel, which is a collaboration by the Sydell Group (the Nomad Hotel New York, Freehand Miami) with Roy Choi, the Houston Brothers, Sean Knibb, and Poketo. The Mid-Century building, originally built in 1964, has been transformed into a 383 room hotel that draws inspiration from the distinct LA culture of its surrounding neighborhood.

At the same time that office building workers, hotel guests, and neighborhood hipsters began to descend upon the POT Lobby Bar, a large 50 person bus pulled into the driveway of the LINE Hotel. Guests, who included media professionals, concierge, local government officials, and hotel staff were loaded onto the bus. With only a few empty seats left on the bus, we departed shortly before 7PM, out the driveway and down Wilshire Blvd. for what would soon become a very memorable night.

Once on our way, the WCBID and LINE Hotel staff welcomed everyone on board and proceeded to provide the guests with a brief history and overview of Wilshire Center/K-Town. The story began with Gaylord Wilshire in the early 1900's, covered many of the key points of the District since then, and ended with highlights of the current businesses and developments that are shaping and redefining the K-Town that we know and love today.

Our first stop was Lock & Key, a neighborhood speakeasy specializing in mixology and a unique signature cocktail menu. Established in 2013, Lock & Key is a gorgeous environment and has the ability to set the mood for a wide variety of situations. It's romantic; it can be casual, good for groups, etc. The décor is very swanky, especially out on the patio with walls covered in greenery and string lights overhead.

As the rain began to fall, guests were directed inside where they were treated to some mouthwatering Ramen Burgers and delicious signature cocktails that were served out of punch bowls with large blocks of ice in each. This unique blend of eats and drinks was an instant ice breaker as guests began to mix and mingle to some very cool hip-hop music that was playing in the background. The staff at Lock & Key even gave out custom gift cards to each of the attendees.

Ramen Burger, located at 3rd and Vermont, was voted one of "The 17 Most Influential Burgers of All Time" by Time Magazine. The Ramen Burger is a fresh USDA Prime ground beef chuck patty sandwiched between a bun made from freshly cut ramen noodles, accompanied by choice market fresh vegetables and a special shoyu glaze created by Keizo Shimamoto himself.

After all the food and drinks had been consumed it was back on the bus and off to our next stop, The Normandie Hotel. It was a short 5 minute drive back down 6th street, past the famous Chapman Plaza which opened in 1929 as a drive-in and was one of the first markets in the western U.S. designed for the automobile. By the time we arrived at Normandie & 6th the guests on board knew they were participating in a K-Town experience unlike any other.

Hotel Normandie has deep roots in LA's Wilshire District. The hotel was developed in 1926 by famed Los Angeles architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen and today is home to Cassell's Hamburgers, Le Comptoir, and the Normandie Club. The group stepped inside the beautifully restored Hotel Normandie for a short tour, and then split up to check out Cassell's and the Normandie Club.

Established in 1948, Cassell's Hamburgers now resides in Los Angeles's historic Hotel Normandie. They added to the original hamburger stand with a classic 50s breakfast menu, coffee bar, house made sodas, and a fully stocked bar. The soul of the restaurant stays true to founder Al Cassell's original principles of being a hamburger shop with a focus on premium beef, ground daily in house. All their burgers are still cooked on Al Cassell's famous original crossfire broiler, ground with the original grinder, and pattied with the original press.

One more important nightlife facet has been added to the District, a landmark cocktail den called The Normandie Club by Proprietors, LLC and 213 Hospitality. Resembling a speakeasy, dimly lit, intimate, with booth seating, it's the perfect spot to unwind or take a date after dinner. While on the tour, the group sampled their old fashioned with coconut bourbon, and seemed to appreciate the Normandie Club's "hidden gem" type of feel.

As we boarded the bus once again it was clear at this point that the group was enjoying themselves, to say the least. The head count on board appeared to be increasing as more friends joined us along the way. The group was getting larger after every stop and it was no surprise why; we were having a lot of fun and it was very apparent to anyone near by. As we drove west down Wilshire Blvd. towards Beer Belly, dance music played over the busses sound system, guest compared notes about the experience thus far, and the LINE Hotel announced a raffle for two free night stays at their fabulous lifestyle hotel.

As we pulled up to Beer Belly located at Western and 6th, there was a feeling of curiosity and excitement in the air as guests marveled at the incredible tapestry of aerosol artwork that covered the building. Owner Jimmy Han gave a warm and gracious welcome by discussing his introduction into the craft beer movement as his inspiration to create Beer Belly. Jimmy and his team are committed to cultivating an appreciation for the quality and creativity that is the foundation of the craft beer movement.

Established in 2011, Beer Belly has 2 rotating taps, changing daily, highlighting the freshest local craft breweries and they have a beer-inspired comfort food menu that changes often. Once inside, guests were treated to some craft beer samplings, along with their signature grilled cheese, duck fat fries, and pork belly chips, all of which were instant crowd pleasers. As the rain began to fall harder and all the food and drinks had been consumed it was time once again to board the bus and set off to our next destination, Haus by Coffee Hunter.

Haus was established as Haus Dessert Boutique in 2008. Since Chris Kim took over the restaurant in 2013, he brought his 15 years of experience as a coffee farmer in Hawaii and made it into Haus by Coffee Hunter. It's one of the very few places to serve the coffee harvested from his Kona farm, where it is roasted daily along with other varieties. Haus also serves breakfast, brunch and dinner along with a selection of beers, wines and popular desserts.

As guests escaped the rain inside Haus they were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful assortment of aromatic coffees and delectable deserts that had everyone coming back for seconds. The staff at Haus gave a detailed demonstration of their coffee brewing process which kept everyone captivated. Guests conversed over a variety of coffees and sat back to soak in the ambience of a cool Spring night in K-Town as the sounds of rain drops on the street outside provided background music for the night.

All aboard and just a quick jot down the block to our next stop the Wiltern. The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a blue-green glazed architectural terra-cotta tile and situated on a diagonal to the street corner, the complex is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. The Wiltern building is owned privately, and the Wiltern Theatre is operated by Live Nation's Los Angeles division.

The inside of the Wiltern is breathtaking, tasteful and elegant. The craftsmanship that went into creating the ceiling alone is mind-boggling. The acoustics are outstanding, and there is not a bad seat in the house. The Live Nation team treated the group to some mouth watering deserts and beverages, and showed a highlight reel video covering the last 80 years of life at the Wiltern. They even let the guests have a very special VIP tour of the backstage and allowed them to strut their stuff on the world famous stage, which has seen the likes of countless artists, actors, and performers.

As we approached 11PM is was time to say farewell to the Wiltern and board the bus one last time; down Wilshire Blvd and back to the LINE Hotel, where by now the scene was vibrant with people going in and out of the new Break Room 86 club, as well as the POT restaurant and the Lobby Bar. Guests were then given a special hotel tour and served refreshments in the POT Lobby Bar while a DJ kept it lively with some cool remixes of the classic hip-hop jams. Having grown up in K-Town in the 80s, brothers Mark and Jonnie Houston have created a time warp that takes guest back a few decades with Break Room 86.

Now close to midnight it was time to say goodbye to all the friends we had made over the course of the night. It felt as though we crammed a weeks worth of K-Town experiences into just 5 hours; all the while we never felt rushed or experienced even one single lull the entire time. As guest departed we received an outpouring of great feedback about how wonderful the night was. There is no doubt that we will be seeing many of our new friends back here very soon and you can bet that they will be spreading the word and letting visitors to Los Angeles know about the K-Town neighborhood of Los Angeles as THE place to visit, entertain and explore this summer.

For more info about what the Wilshire Center BID is up to please visit us at facebook.com/wilshirecenter.

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Video highlighting much of the work that the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District does on a daily basis was presented at the last Annual Membership Meeting.

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