More than 50 residential developments are remaking Koreatown's commercial corridors, displacing the Korean-owned restaurants, markets and offices that anchored the neighborhood for decades.

Since 2013, 38 multi-family projects totaling 7,083 units have launched or been completed across the greater Koreatown area, according to a Korea Daily analysis of Jamison Services data. Of those, 33 projects with 5,874 units sit within Koreatown and adjacent Westlake. The pipeline keeps growing: the total count of completed, active or planned projects now exceeds 50.

The casualties are specific. Dong Il Jang, Chunju Han-Il Kwan, Beverly Soon Tofu and Nak Won Restaurant have all permanently closed, pushed out by steep rent increases, shifting demographics and aging proprietors who could not compete with the financial logic of residential conversion. The former Assi Market site is now "The Rise Koreatown," a seven-story mixed-use complex. Jeong's Department Store was demolished for a 228-unit apartment building. The Western Department Store and Dong Il Jang sites are both under active residential redevelopment.

"For property owners, redeveloping commercial parcels into residential units or selling land to housing developers yields far higher financial returns than maintaining traditional retail storefronts or restaurant leases," Ryan Oh, president of Coldwell Banker Commercial Wilshire Properties, told Korea Daily.

Jamison leads the conversion wave

Jamison Services, Koreatown's largest commercial landlord, is the driving force. The company is converting the 20-story tower at 3550 Wilshire Blvd. into 495 apartments, a 13-story building at 3325 Wilshire into 236 units, and an 18-story building at 695 Vermont Ave. into 255 apartments. In July, The Real Deal reported Jamison is preparing to convert the 11-story Wilshire Park Plaza at 3700 Wilshire into 370 more units.

All told, Jamison aims to transform empty offices in Koreatown and Westlake into roughly 3,600 apartments, according to The LA Local.

"Ground-up construction just isn't penciling because of a myriad of factors, but the conversion still works really well," Jamison CEO Jaime Lee said in a June 2025 interview published by The Real Deal that November.

Policy tailwinds

The city's December 2025 expansion of its adaptive reuse ordinance lowered the eligible building age to 15 years and opened all areas to conversion projects. As of late 2025, Los Angeles ranked second nationally in adaptive reuse apartments in the pipeline, with 5,640 units trailing only Manhattan's 11,000. The state requires LA to plan for 456,643 new housing units by 2029.

Transit access amplifies the pressure. The Metro D Line between downtown and Koreatown averages about 65,000 daily boardings, and the May 8, 2026, extension toward Beverly Hills further boosted the corridor's appeal to residential developers.

California law prohibits commercial rent control statewide, leaving small business owners with no legal shield against rent hikes or lease non-renewals.

No protections in sight

No citywide commercial tenant protection ordinance currently covers Koreatown businesses. Small business owners in Northeast LA have begun organizing for an anti-harassment ordinance, but no equivalent effort has surfaced in Koreatown's Korean-American business community.

The state's mandate that LA plan for 456,643 new housing units by 2029 ensures the conversion pipeline will keep growing. No hearing on commercial tenant protections for Koreatown is currently scheduled.