Norwalk

The sale of a Norwalk school site that eventually will contain a 260-room hotel, a six-story office building, a health spa, a shopping mall, a 194-unit apartment complex and an 11-story senior citizen tower has been approved by Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District board members.

After reviewing written proposals in August, the district selected developer London Pacific Investments in the belief it would bring the highest return for the district, said Bruce Butler, associate superintendent of business services. The district negotiated a purchase agreement with the developer that calls for selling the former Wright School site, closed in 1979, for $9.1 million.

The agreement caps a five-year search by the district for a developer to buy and develop the property at 12250 Civic Center Drive. This is the fourth time the district has entered into escrow with a developer, Butler said. The other developers pulled out before escrow closed.

London Pacific still has to file various documents before the project can be approved by the Norwalk Planning Commission and City Council, said Don Rouly, city director of planning and development.

The school district also approved a 75-year lease of the former Hoxie Elementary School site to the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency for $78,879 a year, effective July 1, 1986. The Los Angeles County Office of Education and the private Barbara Dawson Adult School are currently leasing the site. Mike Wagner, director of the redevelopment agency, said the lease should come up for approval by the agency in the next two months.