Land for Courthouse Identified : West Valley: A developer says he is talking with the county. But Chatsworth neighbors oppose removing the land from industrial use.

Los Angeles County officials are negotiating with developer Alexander Haagen to buy a parcel of land at the southeast corner of Winnetka Avenue and Plummer Street in Chatsworth for a new courthouse, Haagen confirmed Tuesday.

Haagen, a prominent Southern California retail developer and one-time president of the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, said he has proposed selling the county the 9.3-acre parcel. County officials want to build a municipal courthouse to serve the west San Fernando Valley.

Robert Quist, deputy administrator for the Los Angeles Municipal Court, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But Quist on Monday refused to discuss specific sites or confirm that the county was looking at the Haagen property.

“We don’t have a plan, and we’re not prepared to go public until we have a plan that we’re ready to discuss with the court and the judges,” Quist said. Last week, Quist confirmed the county is negotiating with an owner of a site of about 10 acres in the Chatsworth industrial area.

Haagen, in an interview Tuesday, said he is seeking to sell his parcel in that area to the county.

“We understand the county is evaluating various proposals, hopefully including ours,” Haagen said.

Haagen said he responded last year to a county request for a “turnkey” courthouse project, or one in which the county would obtain the land along with the completed building.

He did not disclose an asking price for the project. County budget plans have estimated its total cost at $36.9 million.

Haagen bought the property last December from Santa Fe Pacific Realty Co. for about $9.5 million, according to Joe Kraus, an industrial real estate agent who handled the sale.

The county’s interest in Haagen’s Chatsworth property has been common knowledge among industrial realtors for months, said Tim Foutz, an industrial real estate analyst.

In the meantime, opposition from the residential area north of Plummer Street is beginning to surface. Harry Godley said he and his neighbors want the land used according to its industrial zoning. The land is currently zoned for manufacturing.

Court officials have said the new courthouse, no matter where it is, would handle misdemeanor and felony criminal cases and would have a modern detention area.

Among Godley’s neighbors, “We didn’t find one that voiced anything favorable towards it,” he said. “They thought it would be a detriment to the community. They felt that property values would drop in time.”

Godley said his group has voiced its opposition to Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area. A Bernson spokeswoman said the councilman has no comment because the county has not told him of any proposal.

Quist said he expects to meet with Bernson next week.

Haagen, a major contributor to city and county campaigns, has done business with the county before. In 1987, Haagen made a profit of at least $9 million when he sold the county the former Western headquarters of Sears in Alhambra. The county bought the 12-story building without having advertised its need for the space.

Quist has said the proposed new courthouse, which would be two to three stories high, would open sometime in the mid-1990s to serve the West Valley’s growing population.