Beverly Hilton project rejected. Or was it?

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In Beverly Hills, a ballot initiative to allow the Beverly Hilton to build a 12-story Waldorf-Astoria hotel and two luxury condo towers at its site at Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards was voted down by the tiniest of margins in Tuesday’s balloting. But with just 68 votes separating the two sides, the Hilton’s owner says he is waiting until the last absentee ballot has been checked before throwing in the (luxury) towel.

‘We’re waiting for every vote to be counted,’ said Marie Garvey, a Hilton spokeswoman. She said some absentee and provisional ballots had yet to be processed. The Hilton and its owner, Beny Alagem, spent an estimated $3 million on a nearly yearlong campaign to win voter support. Los Angeles County results, with all 23 precincts reporting, showed a vote of 6,326 to 6,258.

-- Martha Groves