Channel Gateway Courts L.A. Gear Lease : Development: Deal would allow shoe firm to occupy most of office tower. Lease is seen as critical to financing for tower at disputed complex.

As the massive Channel Gateway development near Marina del Rey moves toward final approval, sneaker maker L.A. Gear is negotiating a $150-million deal to occupy most of the project’s office tower.

Los Angeles developer Jerome Snyder said in an interview Tuesday that there is an excellent chance the long-term lease with L.A. Gear will be concluded soon. “It’s not a signed lease, but we’re very close,” he said.

Officials at L.A. Gear were not immediately available for comment. The company’s stock price has dropped sharply in recent weeks in response to disappointing second quarter earnings.

L.A. Gear--the nation’s third-largest athletic shoe company--reported that profits fell 36% in the period despite a 33% increase in sales. The company said profit margins were squeezed because a bigger share of its sales came from overseas and from lower-priced sneakers.

Snyder said the 15-year lease would involve the entire 314,000-square-foot office tower, although L.A. Gear would sublet some of the space. L.A. Gear would also receive an equity interest in the office building.

The deal, which Snyder said is worth approximately $150 million, would allow the Venice-based company to consolidate operations that are now scattered at more than half a dozen locations on the Westside.

Snyder said that, with tight credit conditions, a long-term lease is critical to obtain financing for the office tower. “Without it, you’re not going to build the building,” he said.

The office building is one part of the $400-million Channel Gateway complex planned for 16 acres on Lincoln Boulevard at the western end of the Marina Expressway.

The project, which won unanimous approval from the Los Angeles City Council earlier this month, also includes 512 luxury condominiums in two 16-story towers and 544 apartment units in clusters of four-story buildings. The California Coastal Commission will consider the development next month.

Although the project has been moving on a fast track through the planning process, Channel Gateway could be held hostage in a legal battle between Culver City and Los Angeles over massive developments in the Lincoln corridor.

Warning of massive traffic tie-ups that will restrict access to the coast, Los Angeles and a group of Venice-area community activists have filed suit to block construction of the $160-million Marina Place shopping mall in Culver City, three blocks from Channel Gateway.

In retaliation, Culver City is laying the groundwork for legal action against Channel Gateway, arguing that Los Angeles failed to follow proper procedures and adequately consider environmental impacts.

Although caught in the middle, Snyder is not deterred by the legal battle. “Culver City and the city of Los Angeles are having this fight,’ he said. “We’re moving ahead as if this is going to be resolved.”