hygge bakery: South Park on the rise

hygge bakery-Rasmus and Henrik would not give up

Rasmus Lee, Senior VP of PRE Brokerage and Co-Owner of Hygge, and Henrik Snook, Hygge’s master-baker, wanted to accomplish one thing: To build an authentic Danish Bakery serving fresh, crisp, layered goodies for the residents of South Park L.A and strong, rich, flavorful coffee.

One road  block after another:  city departments wrapped deeply in their own excess power and lack of accountability (ex. being forced to build an enormous grease pit when the kitchen does not produce any grease).

Through out it all Henrik continued to be Henrik: Affable, brilliant, all-smiles, and my source of morning inspiration.

And Rasmus-up to his ears in multiple business dealings: Real Estate, the bakery, and helping to evolve South Park into a more family freindly community-staying ahead of the demographic facts that face us: 30-35% families in the next three-five years, continued to seek solution, bounded by endless changes demanded of hygge by capricious city officials.

Then change: Jorge Corallejo (Chairman of the Greater Chamber) and Bob Holguin (Deputy Chairman) unwilling to allow a member to stand alone against the tide of being against business for the sake of being against business (hello-there’s a recession) called upon a different force within city hall: the small business development department, and in so doing, created a better picture: Solution.

Now? Now let’s enjoy the pastry, the bread, the crusty, flaky croissants, and the coffee-nothing like it.

Thanks Rasmus, Henrik, for staying the course-tough,and  perservering.

South Park L.A: Ground Zero for true, zero-emission vehicle production and sales: from South Park’s innovation, a world can be transformed

The South Park Development Group and S Gail Goldberg, Los Angeles City Planner

She lives in Hancock Park and often takes the bus: Gail Goldberg is our chief city planner and she is a tremendous asset for Los Angeles: bringing a powerful advocacy to reducing congestion and getting people out of their cars and onto cycles (please see http://www.wabicycles.com/) and walking again: seeing Los Angeles in all it’s grit and grandeur.

She has an agenda that the Downtown L.A’s Business Blog supports: the 12-2 initiative: allowing developers to only deal with two city offices- the Planning, and Building and Safety departments, instead of the 12 they normally visit for approval.

We’d like her to look at what the South Park Development Group is doing in tandem with E L V Motors and Wabi Cycles: Developing a powerful inner-city zero-emission alternative to polluting cars and cycles. It’s called the South Park Sustainability Shop and it is selling, servicing, and customizing absolutely zero-emission cycles,all electric delivery vans, scooters, and cars, and motorcycles. Vans and cars you literally plug into a wall socket and recharge. Imagine, Gail, just imagine, a whole city department running off of fully electric fleet vans, and police on bicycles with an extra range of power and range due to electric powered engines?

Alternatives must be sought and the South Park Development Group, working with E L V Motors is developing these alternatives. In the days and weeks ahead the South Park Development Group and E L V Motors will be talking to Gail and to Robert Ovrum, L.A’s Deputy Mayor of Economic Development about transforming our city core into a best-practice, ground-zero zone that supports through advocacy and economic grants, their efforts to make Los Angeles truly green. from → Zero-Emission Vehicles: Bicycles, Zero-Emission Vehicles: Electric Cars, branding innovation and entrepreneurship by martin cavanaugh porter

Flash Post: Tomorrow South Park LA will be doing it’s first pod cast. Subject? Hygge Bakery.

-by mcp

South Park L.A will be posting a live pod cast of an interview between Rasmus Lee and Henrik, the master chef-baker of Hygge, South Park’s newest cafe, full-fledged bakery.

the south park development group in partnership with elvmotors brings you: The South Park Sustainability Shop

Coming to South Park: The South Park Sustainability Shop

-posted by MCP

FLV-LLC/SPDG is pleased to announce that we will be opening The South Park Sustainability Shop (SPSS) in partnership with ELV Motors: bringing zero-emission, high powered, reliable, safe, and fun vehicles to Los Angeles. Good for the environment, good for Los Angeles, and good for you.

There will be a full service center and custom-graphic department dedicated to SPSS opening in tandem with the bricks-and-mortar space and the whole community will be able to witness this project from inception to completion in person and on live-video/pod-casts.

FLV-LLC/SPDG will undertake limited financing of the vehicles in order to get these terrific machines on the roads and in the hands of our beloved Angelenos. Much more to come on this subject as we are able to disclose information.

Bottom-Line: Fantastic, net-gain for South Park Los Angeles and Downtown. Much more in the days ahead: but, for all Los Angeles, and for the sustainability movement, this is an important advance.

Questions? Ideas? Please feel free to email us at: mcporter@flvllc.com.

hygee bakery-part 2 of 5

Rasmus Lee  and his partners  are  so close to opening a true, Danish bakery-Cafe serving fresh, just out of the oven, light,  flaky, pastry and breakfast fare for the residents of South Park Los Angeles and the greater Downtown  Los Angeles community, providing a needed service for South Park-in essence an alternative to Starbucks and providing 25-35 new full time and part time jobs to the under-employed.

He and his partners have brought on board a dynamic, professional expert from Denmark to assure quality and standards.

You can just imagine the aroma  of fresh baked goods wafting from the  greasless-kitchen, the scene of a busy, kitchen which can be viewed from the large windows. Hope Street, South Park Los Angeles, all the residents, and all the stake holders will benefit from Hygee Bakery: In a recession and Rasmus took financial and professional risks to open and he has had to go through significant difficulties to realize his goal.

This blog, and this author truly salute the perserverance of Rasmus and Co., 

Bottom-Line: If you knew the full-story, the drama behind the scenes of what it will take to finally open, you  would agree, that at the end of the day, Rasmus, Premiere Real Estate (www.premiererealestatebroker.com), and all his partners have undergone a trial by fire in order to provide our South Park L.A residents an added value: A full-service, specialized, gourmet Danish bakery.

My team at The South Park Development Group (www.flvllc.com) is their neighbor and we can’t wait to walk two doors down for a light breakfast and some coffee. To all South Park residents- let’s support local innovation, let’s all become more than customers of Hygee Bakery and Rasmus’ efforts-let’s become members, regulars, and help turn the tide.

Soon to come: Part Three, Opening Day-which we will upload onto this site via live video-cast and flash around the world on You Tube and via a twitter-campaign.

will there be an artisan South Park L.A Workshop of woodworkers, built-in cabinetry makers, upholsterers, and other hand-crafted, skilled trades?

south park workshop

-posted by martin cavanaugh porter

We believe there will be.

The South Park Development Group has been working assiduously with local stake-holders and city wide players, with chambers, and our out-reach has only just begun.

Yesterday we had a promising meeting (for more info on that please see www.flvllc.com) and through out this week we will be putting out more feelers to gain both local, community support, as well as institutional support.

A South Park Workshop would bring flair and verve to our community and also play a part in employing the under-employed and saving vanishing skill-sets. Further, it would provide important services to our residents, and lift the positive profile of South Park Los Angeles.

This project is in it’s beginning stages from the perspective of time-lines but not from the perspective of planning or comitment and any number of elements could accelerate the process.

We will keep you posted and continue to be grateful for the phone calls and emails.

An early morning ride and coffee

-posted by martin cavanaugh porter and biljana lovrino

This morning, Biljana (The South Park Development Group’s head of Business Development) and I took an early morning ride with Richard Snook, the founder of Wabi Cycles,(www.wabicycles.com),  a local cycle workshop in South Park Los Angeles.

We forged into Griffitth Park and it is quite amazing how different the city looks on a cycle than driving-you get a clearer, more picturesque view of Los Angeles: You appreciate this city more.

When Richard, Biljana, Stef (The South Park Development Group’s head of Graphics and Chief Creative), and I were at the L.A River Ride (their 9th annual), milleu, we met up with  Andrew from Cafecito Organico (www.coffeecellar.com). He was manning their booth, serving fresh, strong, black as night coffee that really had a sharp, tangy bite to it:  We chatted very briefly about the possibility of him opening up a saturday booth at the south park cooperative when it opens in August and mutual interest was noted.

What would be great is, if in the near-mid term future, an organic alternative to Starbucks set up shop in South Park Los Angeles-providing our residents with more options. Starbucks has been a great neighbor: The community just deserves more alternatives.

Later today we will post pics of the ride and the event.

Back at the office with Biljana and we are mapping out which farmer’s markets we will visit today (Larchmont?) in our pursuit of potential vendors and ideas for South Park.

We will keep you posted.

the tyranny of steel

-posted by martin cavanaugh porter

It is not enough to live in towers of steel: we need streets full of residents in a neighborhood that evokes and resonates care. South Park L.A  needs flower shops, organic grocery stores, fun, family filled eateries, work-shops, stores that raise the value quotient of the neighborhood, the kindness quotient.

This recession has killed yesterday’s values and will strike down in full-force main line thinkers who live and breath clauses and contracts.

Interesting, encouragingly, the majorstake holders of South Park Los Angeles seem to be moving beyond the restrictive norms of the past.

Large developers, majorbrokers, investors, and foreign multi-national companies are engaging with the South Park Development Group on the basis of trust, confidence, and the power of ideas-and this is really an exciting moment for my team and the community.

All the trends pointed toward this new, better way, and now, the new seeds of strategic-partnerships are bearing sweet fruit: electric vehicles, hybrids, and electric scooters, a new solar power  company (funded by Forbes Legacy Ventures LLC), an amalgamation of service providers being guided through full sustainable certification by an imminent French Leed Specialist which will be called the South Park TFS (total facility services) Group (also funded by Forbes Legacy Ventures LLC), and The South Park Workshop-a vision, being, surprisingly quickly turned into fact.

It is interesting: Looks and rhetoric are deceiving-I have so much to learn: the stakeholders I expected to be adversaries-the large brokers, developers, individuals with major name recognition and influence have been the most open to new modes of thinking. It’s the few clothed in the cloak of sustainable rhetoric and whose arms are over-full with plans and contracts and ‘points of clarification’ and youth but with very little life-business experience who have proved resistant to YES.  These few, will see the long tail of advancement…pass them by. All to the good. Progress must not be allowed a moment’s pause.

It’s fun to work, to build, to battle, and to face down every challenge to one’s vision. One feels that, at the end of the day, one has done everything that one can do to build a better future. The secret? Unbounded energy, vigor, and a laser focus on the end-game.

As CEO  of FLV LLC and The South Park Development Group, I am so pleased and proud to have a team and multiple strategic allies (the list happily grows) who share my vision and are guided by the same singular purpose. One must take a stand and hold the ground, until, unbounded by conventional thinking, victory is achieved.

The author of this post will accept nothing less assured that ideas combined with action are the currency of the future.

     “Every man is free to rise as far as he’s able or willing, but the degree to which he thinks determines the degree to which he’ll rise”

Snap Post: This is your South Park: info@southparkrevive.com

Every Saturday we will post our readership numbers. For South Park Los Angeles, our average readership grew from last week  average: 894 to this weeks: 1,344.  95% of the readers were from South Park L.A and the immediate outer-lying areas (areas, interestingly of influence and affluence). 5% were from across the country, and internationally-oddly, we have a follow in Italy and Greece. in Japan, and (not so oddly) in Korea.

This is your South Park-you are, our readership and to better serve you and the entire community  of merchants, developers, and business men and women struggling under the strain of conventionalism and our current economic travails, we have opened a new email account just for our readership: info@southparkrevive.com

You call us all the time, you email me and my staff-well, now, you have a direct email to use, where you can express your joys, frustrations, desires, and wants as residents and stakeholders of South Park Los Angeles-we are listening-intently and will do everything we can to assist you and to develop this neighborhood into a family-oriented, connected, un-conventional, paper-free, sustainable (truly sustainable-placks and plans are not enough) place to live, work, and recreate.

Again the email is: info@southparkrevive.com

We have heard you loud and clear: from all of you, our, neighbors, friends, clients, and allies: you can be assured we will do all that we can for you. It’s time for change.

the founder of wabi cycles taking me on a tour of the pershing square farmers market

discussing fixed gears and organic produce

-posted by martin cavanaugh porter

Yesterday I had the good fortune to spend some time with Richard Snook, the founder of Wabi Cycles, (www.wabicycles.com)  at the Pershing Square Farmer’s Market in Downtown Los Angeles.

We were there to get a ‘feel’ for the market. My organization, The South Park Development Group (www.flvllc.com), is developing an organic/flea market in South Park Los Angeles called the south park sustainability cooperative.

Further, Richard introduced me to Kirby, one of the vendors, a straight-shooter from Bakersfield, an organic farmer, who maybe working with The South Park Development Group in the days and weeks ahead to develop the cooperative.

Richard had just come from a one-man cycle tour through Los Feliz, Echo Park, and Silver Lake and, after meeting me at the market, would return to his local workshop, as I would return to my offices.

It was fun and I enjoyed spending a little time with him and with Kirby.