New Use OKd for May Co. Building : Economy: Another garment district would be created downtown, with 600 businesses and 7,000 employees. Critics say it would hurt the existing clothing area nearby.

Opening the door for the creation of a new garment district in downtown Los Angeles, the City Council on Tuesday approved a proposal to convert the historic May Co. building into an industrial complex for 600 businesses and 7,000 workers.

In an acrimonious two-hour debate, the council also imposed conditions on the plan to revamp the 1-million-square-foot building at the corner of Broadway and 8th Street in an area zoned for condominiums, restaurants and retail stores.

Among other things, the owners of the nine-story building--now called the Broadway Trade Center--will be required to set aside 25,000 square feet of leasable floor space for child care and submit to annual building and safety inspections.

“The owners are not overwhelmed with the prospect of giving away 25,000 square feet of space,” said lobbyist and former Councilman Arthur K. Snyder, who was hired by the owners to persuade the council to grant the permit. “But I think this project marks the start of a new period of refurbishment at the south end of Broadway.”

The project had already won the support of dozens of building owners on Broadway, the Korean American Garment Industry Assn., which includes 470 contractors and 20,000 employees, and Miracle on Broadway, a group organized to stimulate improvements along a mile-long stretch of the “spine of downtown Los Angeles.”

“I’m gratified for what this means for Broadway--one magnificent building will come back to life,” said Estela Lopez, spokeswoman for Miracle on Broadway.

But opponents including Stanley Hirsch and Richard Gerry, two of the largest property owners and managers in downtown Los Angeles, argued that the project will choke streets with trucks and pedestrian traffic, and lure away tenants from the 2,300-acre garment district only a few blocks to the east.

“Competition has to be a concern,” said Gerry, who manages six garment district buildings. “But you’re also going to be undermining areas designated for housing and commercial uses that cannot prosper amid a huge sewing factory.”

The City Council, in a 10-5 vote, decided that the project was worth the risk and refused to discuss a host of restrictions recommended by the Board of Zoning Appeals, including that the owners buy monthly bus and train passes for everyone who works in the building.

In a heated debate, dissenting council members Joy Picus, Zev Yaroslavsky, Marvin Braude, Mike Hernandez and Joel Wachs voiced concerns that the project will increase vacancies in the garment district and unleash an avalanche of requests for similar conditional-use permits from downtown building owners.

“The more I hear, the more I am disturbed by this project,” argued Braude. “We’re just robbing one area to congest streets and start a cancer in the heart of the city.”

“Broadway needs help,” added Wachs. “But it doesn’t need help at the expense of another part of the city.”

Essentially, an investor group led by Belfor Shalomi and Amanollah Simantob want to create a mammoth garment center with cutters, sewers, warehouses, offices and showrooms in the building.

The group has spent $5 million on improvements since they purchased the building in 1988 for about $25.5 million, said Danny Partielli, executive director of the Broadway Trade Center. They intend to spend another $10 million on renovations over the next five years.

“It was a well-fought battle and we’re happy the votes came out in our favor,” Partielli said. “Our project will have a dramatic positive effect on a neighborhood that used to be full of drug addicts and winos.”