The Region : L.A. Votes Pact for Westchester Center

Final approval of a 20-year contract for construction of a 3.1 million-square-foot development in Westchester’s Howard Hughes Center was given by the Los Angeles City Council. The contract agreement governing the 69-acre development was seen as an effort to shield the center from a November voter initiative to limit the city’s growth. Without the agreement, the initiative--if passed--could limit the center’s growth by more than a third of its planned size. The initiative, Proposition U, would slash the allowable size of new buildings on about 85% of the city’s commercial and industrial property, including the Westchester-Airport area. The only exemptions would be in downtown, the Wilshire corridor and other small areas targeted for intense development.