LOS ANGELES : MWD Picks Union Station Site for Headquarters

A two-year-long search ended Tuesday as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California selected a site next to Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles for a new headquarters.

Plans call for construction to begin in 1996 on a $100-million, 14-story building to house about 1,200 MWD employees, officials said.

In December, the MWD board authorized the start of negotiations with Catellus Development Corp., which is developing an office complex around the train station. However, the owners of the California Plaza high-rise complex on Bunker Hill made a competing offer to sell the MWD office space the district now rents there. On Tuesday, MWD directors reaffirmed the Union Station site. The agency will try to sell its cramped headquarters near Dodger Stadium for housing or school uses.