L.A. Community College Board Votes to Rent Headquarters

Struggling to eke out all the money it can in a grim financial situation, a divided Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to lease a downtown building for its district headquarters.

In voting 4 to 3 to lease most of a nine-story building at 770 Wilshire Blvd., the board followed a hotly debated action it took in January, when it signaled its intent to switch its future headquarters from another building it bought in 1990 for $12.5 million but has not yet occupied.

The switch marked yet another twist in the district’s long, ill-starred quest for a permanent home for its administrative offices, which are in cramped quarters in a rented building downtown.

Those who favored leasing the downtown building said it would save badly needed cash and help stave off further cuts in classes at the district’s nine colleges, which depend largely on the financially battered state for funding.

The 12-year lease, with an option to add another eight years, calls for the district to pay no rent in the first two years. After that, rents will rise gradually to $25 a square foot. The owner will provide free parking for 123 cars and a $3.6-million refurbishing allowance, and will foot the moving bill and all security and maintenance costs for the first five years.

The value of the district-owned building, located in the mid-Wilshire area, has dropped to about $8 million because of the recession-driven plunge in the commercial real estate market, district officials estimate. The district plans to sell the building.

Even with the 29-year payment schedule on the debt the district incurred to buy the building, officials said the lease arrangement will save $4.9 million to $6 million, depending on how much the mid-Wilshire building fetches.

Board member Lindsay Conner urged colleagues to resist a short-term gain that could be “disastrous beyond our worst nightmares” in the future. But Trustee David Lopez-Lee, who voted yes with Wallace Knox, Julia Li Wu and Kenneth Washington, said the board should do everything it can to free money for classes and other educational services.