At the inaugural panel of Connect Conferences, which was Connect Los Angeles, the downtown area was the main topic.

Panelists spoke about the need to build more multifamily in the area. Tom Warren, the chief operating officer at Holland Partners, pointed out that though there are about 500,000 office workers downtown, there is a disparity because only 52,000 housing units are here.

Meanwhile, AEG is doing a $600-million expansion of the JW Marriott, and the firm wants to bring more retail downtown to attract shoppers and make it a more desirable place for people to live.

Look for more stories on other panels throughout the next few days!