Ambassador Site School Predicted by ’92

Ebullient Los Angeles school officials, flush from winning $50 million in school funds from the state, predicted Thursday they could have the Ambassador Hotel site in their hands as early as this fall and open the doors to a new high school there in another two years.

Although Los Angeles Unified School District officials acknowledge they will likely be involved in a lengthy legal battle over the cost of the mid-Wilshire property, they said Wednesday’s decision by the state Allocation Board in Sacramento to give them money to buy the land has made the long-awaited school a virtual certainty.

“Having a court fight over the value of the land will not delay us in taking it and putting a school on it,” said school board President Jackie Goldberg. “We’ve had this problem in a number of situations and . . . sometimes we’ve had the school built and open before the litigation was resolved.”

However, others say the case is unusual because of the site’s high value and the disparity between what the school district and New York developer Donald Trump, who owns the land, claim it is worth.

“The court is not likely to turn over the land unless (the school district) has the funds to purchase it . . . and $50 million doesn’t appear to be a sufficient amount of money to make the school happen,” predicted Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, who represented Mayor Tom Bradley in speaking out against the project in Sacramento.

Like any public agency, the school district has a legal right to stake a claim to private property for public use. The district can take possession of the land 90 days after depositing its appraised value with the court, pending a trial to set the official price.

District officials believe they can purchase the 17 acres they need of the 23.5-acre site for less than the $50 million allocated by the state--although Trump contends the land is worth three times as much.

The district plans to borrow $50 million to deposit with the court to take immediate possession of the land. Even after the state money arrives, the borrowed funds could be used to pay additional costs should the courts rule the land is more valuable, said Bob Booker, the district’s chief financial officer.

The district is not expected to receive the state allocation until the end of this year, and then only if voters approve a school construction bond issue on the November ballot. The district also has promised not to return to the state board for more money for the land, no matter what its eventual cost.

Once the district takes possession, it will start planning construction, then get in line again in Sacramento to seek the $30 million or so the 2,500-student school is expected to cost.

Despite opposition to the school from several city officials--including Bradley and Councilman Nate Holden, who contend the site is better suited for commercial development--there is little the city can do to stop construction.

But, Fabiani said, the mayor still will try to interest the school district in alternate sites and to persuade Trump to provide replacement housing for low-income residents who might be displaced by construction at those sites.

But Goldberg, clearly confident that the school district has the upper hand, said she is no longer interested in alternate sites. “I’ve had it with (Trump) and his world of smoke and mirrors,” she said.