Block Party

LA gets its Chelsea moment.

IN 2019, Zach Lasry dreamed of turning Melrose Hill— an LA neighborhood with Craftsman homes and prop warehouses—into a walkable gallery hub, accessible to Echo Park artists and Beverly Hills collectors. When a space went up for sale, 32-yearold Lasry says, "I went to my dad and aunt and I was like, 'I think we should buy one of these buildings.' "

Lasry's dad and aunt are the private-equity billionaire Marc Lasry, former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Marc's sister, Sonia Gardner, his cofounder at Avenue Capital Group. They bought more than 20 buildings. Four years later, it has paid off: David Zwirner just opened its first LA space (designed by Annabelle Selldorf and launched with solo shows by Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Stan Douglas) smack in the middle of Melrose Hill.

Others have followed. NYC transplants Emma Fernberger, Sargent's Daughters, and Shrine have leased Lasry buildings; their neighbors will include James Fuentes, Clearing, Moran Moran, and the nonprofit Laxart—not to mention the Filipino eatery Kuya Lord and the first nonGotham iteration of Scarr's Pizza. Lasry's hope for the last empty spots: a hotel. "You're like, Wow, I can stay there and use my legs to get to interesting things?" he says. "I don't have to become a bionic person in my car?"

NATE FREEMAN