Yo, welcome to another episode of In a Minute with Evan Lovett coming to you live from

the IM studios in the heart of Los Angeles.

I'm flying solo today because there's an issue that I've been one to talk about for a while

and it was exacerbated this week when I had to cover the pending closing of Cole's French dip,

also known as Coles Pacific Electric Buffet.

And what I'm talking about is the imminent demise, the consistent demise of downtown Los Angeles,

the deterioration of the historic core, what once was poised to be a downtown L.A. Renaissance

that I was championing, that I was really out here,

pounding the table, trying to say, a strong L.A. requires a strong downtown. And up until

COVID, it looked like that was happening. But since COVID, you guys know the story.

You guys know the narrative.

It's been terrible.

And the heart has not going to say been ripped out, but it's definitely been put on life support.

So I want to get into that today.

And first, I got to thank our awesome, incredible sponsor, Arto Brick.

My man, Armin, out Gardena, running a factory, running a warehouse right here in Los Angeles,

supplying jobs, much-needed jobs, and supplying some great bricks, tile, fabricating all this stuff right here in Los Angeles,

historic renovations and restorations of places like Alvara Street, places like Mariachi

Plaza, USC, Ohio, Viata. The list goes on and on. Ardo brick really doing a fantastic job.

So support them for any tile brick needs you have.

And if you are one of the government employees that's looking to refurbish or renovate a historic building, Ardo's your man.

Ormond's your man at Ardo because they always get it done.

...