Beverly Hills : Hearings on Land Report

The Board of Education has scheduled five public hearings on the district’s controversial real estate committee report, which includes a proposal to tear down the historic Beverly Hills High School and replace it with a Century City-styled high-rise.

The 26-page report explores ways to use the school’s surplus and under-utilized properties to improve school finances.

Public hearings will begin at 7:30 p.m. at:

Beverly Hills High School, 241 Moreno Drive, April 10.

El Rodeo School, 605 Whittier Drive, April 18.

Beverly Vista School, 200 S. Elm Drive, April 26.

Horace Mann School, 8701 Charleville Blvd., May 4.

Hawthorne School, 624 Rexford Drive, May 10.

Under the proposal to redevelop the site, the district would raze the school and construct a high school on the northern 19 acres. It would lease the remaining eight acres at Olympic Boulevard and Spalding Drive to a developer to build an office complex. Depending on the size of the development, the district could earn as much as $18 million a year from the development.

The committee’s other recommendations include proposals to develop the district’s headquarters on Lasky and Moreno drives; a high school parking lot next to Jimmy’s Restaurant, and another parking lot on Elm Drive across the street from Beverly Vista Elementary School.

The committee also suggested that the district consider leasing a portion of the Horace Mann School playground on Robertson Boulevard to a developer for the construction of retail stores. “The portion of Horace Mann playground that would be used for development could be replaced by a rooftop playing field on top of the retail structures,” the report said.