Population: 4,000,000
Type of Requirement: Ordinance

Physical Address:
Department of Cultural Affairs
2021 North Figueroa Street Suite 1400
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Main Contact:
Felicia Filer, Public Art Division Director
Email Felicia | 213.202.5547

Art Development Fee, Los Angeles, California, Municipal Code, Chapter IX, Article I, Section 91.107.4.6 (2018).

The Code establishes that all projects for a commercial or industrial building with a construction value of more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) are subject to a mandatory public art requirement, subject to exceptions found in the code referenced above.

Projects may satisfy the requirement by paying an Arts Development Fee into a Cultural Affairs Department Fund before obtaining the building permit. Alternatively, developers may enter into an agreement with the Department of Cultural Affairs for an art program or project with a value equal to that of the Fee obligation.

Fees are calculated according to the following schedule:

• Office or research and development buildings: one dollar and fifty-seven cents ($1.57) per square foot;
• Retail establishments: one dollar and thirty-one cents ($1.31) per square foot;
• Manufacturing buildings: fifty-one cents ($ 0.51) per square foot;
• Warehouse buildings: thirty-nine cents ($0.39) per square foot; and
• Hotel buildings: fifty-two cents ($0.52) per square foot.

Administrative Code §22.118 allows for a developer to credit, dollar-for-dollar, services and community amenities for cultural and artistic purposes in a development against the Fee requirement, subject to approval by the Cultural Affairs Department.