The conversion
- A 1910s–1930s office, bank or warehouse floor
- Concrete, tall steel windows, irregular shapes
- Often no interior bedroom walls
- Historic Core, Broadway, Spring Street
D.T.L.A. Group at Coldwell Banker Envision · CA DRE #01163184
Mario Cabello, a Downtown Los Angeles REALTOR® since 1993. Loft, condo and home.
He sells the part of the city most agents drive past: the converted office towers of the Historic Core, the high-rises of South Park, the brick of the Arts District, and the neighborhoods wrapped around them. Downtown is bought one building at a time, and knowing the buildings is the job.
Call Mario directly at (323) 362-7427
Market Leading Stats
Experience Matters
- 33 Years licensed in California
- 16–30 Homes closed in the last twelve months
Meet your agent
More about Mario
Mario Cabello
I have been licensed in California since 1993 and I sell Downtown Los Angeles and the neighborhoods around it — loft, condo and home. Down here the building matters as much as the unit, and most of the questions worth asking are about the building: what the dues really cover, how the reserves look, whether a lender will write a loan in it, whether you can lease it out later. I would rather answer those first and look at floor plans second. If you are buying, selling, or just working out whether downtown is the right move at all, call me. There is nothing attached to it.
For sellers
How much is your home worth?
- Priced on what actually closed near you
- Expert advice
- Sell for more
Downtown Housing
Two Kinds of Loft
The tower
- A high-rise condominium, mostly 2004 onward
- Amenity decks, concierge, structured parking
- Higher dues, and more of them included
- South Park, Bunker Hill, the Wilshire corridor
Where I work
Where I Work
Tap any of them and tell me what you are after there.
- Downtown L.A. The Historic Core, South Park, the Arts District, Bunker Hill, Little Tokyo and the Fashion District. Converted towers and new high-rises, on the same blocks. Ask about this area →
- Chinatown Directly north of the Civic Center. Small lots, low-rise, and among the shortest walks into Downtown of anywhere in the city. Ask about this area →
- Echo Park Hillside streets, stairs, and pre-war bungalows and duplexes. The nearest thing to a house that is still five minutes from the Core. Ask about this area →
- Westlake MacArthur Park and Alvarado. Dense, transit-rich, and full of 1920s apartment buildings that predate almost everything Downtown. Ask about this area →
- Boyle Heights East across the river, over the bridges. Craftsman housing stock, deep history, and its own relationship with Downtown. Ask about this area →
- Lincoln Heights The oldest neighborhood outside the original pueblo. Hills, old industrial edges along the river, and small-lot houses. Ask about this area →
- Silver Lake The reservoir, the hills and the architecture. Further out than the rest of this list, and a completely different kind of purchase. Ask about this area →
- Koreatown West along Wilshire. High-rise condominiums, pre-war courtyard buildings, and the densest square miles in the county. Ask about this area →
Why Mario
Downtown is not one market. It is a few hundred buildings, and the building decides nearly everything — what the dues are, what they actually cover, whether a lender will write a loan in it at all, whether the parking space is yours or the building's, whether the "loft" is a 1920s office floor with twelve-foot windows or a 2008 tower with a pool deck. Two units a block apart with the same square footage and the same price can be completely different purchases. I would rather spend the first conversation on the building than on the tour.
Licensed in California since 1993, in a market that has to be read one building at a time.
Mario Cabello, REALTOR® · CA DRE #01163184
For sellers
Selling Your Home
Downtown comparables are vertical. The unit that sold last month in the tower across the street tells you far less than the one that sold on your own floor plan four floors up, and an automated estimate cannot tell the two apart. Line, floor, exposure, whether it has parking, what the dues are and what the reserves look like — those are the things a downtown buyer prices, and they are the things worth having straight before it goes live.
Get a valuation
For buyers
Buying Downtown
Dues and what they actually include. The reserve study and whether there is special assessment history. Rental caps, if you ever want to lease it out. Whether the building is approved for FHA or VA lending, which decides who can buy it from you later as much as it decides what you can borrow now. Parking — deeded, assigned, or a monthly bill. All of that is knowable before you fall for a floor plan.
How buying works