Tom Gilmore walks fast, with a big man’s stride. “A developer is like a shark,” he says. “He has to keep moving.” Gilmore is moving west along Sixth Street at more than 4 mph. He’s heading toward lunch at one of Los Angeles’ fanciest downtown restaurants, Cicada, of which he owns a big hunk, from the central-city area of which he owns a bigger chunk. He’s wearing a well-cut dark-olive suit, which he says cost $179.95 at a Hollywood discounter. Much investor capital has passed through his hands in recent years, but he appears to have been very careful about where money goes. He’s carrying on two conversations, one with a reporter he’s just met, and the other with a homeless man he seems to know well.For a transplanted New Yorker who first saw L.A.’s downtown 10 years ago, he’s done well. He’s the man who bought St. Vibiana’s from the cardinal who wanted to tear it down. How many people own a cathedral? Then again, how many people would want to?
Source: Two Toms | L.A. Weekly