Ambassador Owners to Fight School Plan
The new owners of the historic Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles vowed Thursday to fight any attempt by the Los Angeles Unified School District to put a new high school on the Mid-Wilshire District property.
On Thursday, Wilshire Center Partners, originally known as Anglo-Wilshire Partners, completed the purchase of the 23.5-acre property for $64 million from the J. Myer Schine family.
The sale went through despite city plans to build a 2,000-student high school on the site. The district has said it will buy the property or, if necessary, begin legal proceedings to claim it under its power of eminent domain.
Wilshire area community groups have objected to the school plan.
“We agree with the Los Angeles Mid-Wilshire community that the best use of that site is not a high school,” said New York developer Scott Malkin, one of four partners in Wilshire Center. “We will fight any attempt to put a high school on the site. The fact we closed the transaction demonstrates our commitment to the property.”
School board President Jackie Goldbert said: “I’m sorry to hear that, but I am not surprised. . . . The school district is very committed to putting a school on the property.”
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