Southern California’s wide open spaces, coupled with its love affair with cars, once made urban sprawl a given. But Los Angeles is embarking on what Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa calls a new trend: green residential high-rises in the core of the city.

The South Group’s South Park development includes the first new residential high-rises in downtown LA in more than 20 years. So much time had elapsed since the last project that new building codes were necessary. The first building, Elleven, earned a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification—the first gold certification that the U.S. Green Building Council has awarded to a California project. The two other high-rises are also expected to receive LEED honors.

Acknowledging Los Angeles’ notorious air quality and traffic congestion, Villaraigosa told a recent gathering celebrating the LEED award that the city has a responsibility to lead the way in sustainable building. And, he added, “We want to demonstrate that you can do this and actually make money. You can make a buck at the end of the rainbow.”

The South Group is a partnership between developers Gerding Edlen and Williams, Dame & Atkins, both based in Portland, Ore.