L.A. Plans to Beef Up Coffers With Land Sales

Hoping to fatten its shrinking coffers, the city of Los Angeles is launching an effort to sell the one valuable asset it has in abundance: land.

From Chatsworth to the Santa Monica Mountains to Venice, the city owns more than 7,000 parcels worth upward of $2 billion--from City Hall itself, to small slivers left over after public works projects, to vacant lots seized for nonpayment of property taxes.

The idea of selling off weed-covered lots and empty buildings for cold hard cash has been pushed by Mayor Richard Riordan, who hopes the money can help fund his police expansion plan.

The city estimates that, beginning this week, it may be able to sell about 300 of the parcels, bringing in at least $30 million.

The plan is not without some controversy, however.

Some council members have already opposed the sale of valuable city property, notably lots in the Santa Monica Mountains above the San Fernando Valley.

“On the whole, we have not been supportive of selling sites in the Santa Monica Mountains,” said Howard Gantman, a deputy to Councilman Mike Feuer, who represents parts of Studio City, Sherman Oaks and the Westside.

Meanwhile, the entire council has voted to take half of the proceeds from land sales to pay for community improvement projects in each district.

Riordan has reluctantly accepted the council’s changes.

“We preferred it all go to the general fund, but it was an acceptable compromise,” said Stephanie Bradfield, Riordan’s council liaison.

As for the sale of surplus land in the Santa Monica Mountains, a Riordan spokesman said the mayor will wait for a full appraisal of all city land in the mountains before taking a position on whether some or all should be sold.

By selling excess property, the city eliminates potential legal liability and reduces its cost of maintaining land. In addition, the city collects property taxes from the new owners.

It’s an idea that has been endorsed by experts who wonder why it has taken so long to be enacted.

“The sound practice is to do it regularly and not to do it every 20 years,” said George Lefcoe, a USC land use and real estate professor.

But evaluating all 7,602 parcels to determine what land the city has available to sell is a daunting task that is expected to take up to three years.

The process is hampered because the city has only two real estate experts and a few clerks working on the effort. In addition, each parcel must be analyzed to determine whether the city would need the land in the future.

Additionally, under state law the city must execute 35 administrative steps before it can sell the land to private owners. Part of the process requires first offering the properties to transit agencies, school districts and agencies that provide low-income housing.

Despite the workload, city officials are confident they can identify plenty of land to sell.

“I have to believe that with over 7,000 parcels, we can sell some,” said Daniel Rosenfeld, who was hired last year to head the city’s Asset Management Division and oversee the land assessment plan. “We can’t afford to be pack rats.”

So far, about 70 surplus lots that may be sold have been identified. Later this week, the city will hold its first auction for 16 Venice properties, most of which have been acquired over the past 30 to 40 years from owners whose development plans fell through. Bidding for the land will begin at 80% of its assessed market value.

If all the Venice parcels are sold, the city could collect at least $1.7 million.

In addition, Rosenfeld and his unit are evaluating the 12 million square feet of office space that the city owns or leases to determine if some of it can be consolidated.

Although the city has identified half a dozen surplus parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains to be sold, Feuer has asked the Assets Management Division not to proceed with any of the sales.

He has argued that the parcels should instead be left as open space or offered at a discount to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for use as parkland.

Feuer worries that if the land does not remain open space, a developer may buy it to build a massive estate that would prompt complaints from neighbors, Gantman said.

The idea of creating 15 separate council funds to take half of the proceeds from land sales came from the Westside district of Councilwoman Ruth Galanter. For more than a decade, her district has had a special fund that takes in all the proceeds from land sales in Venice to pay for parking lots and other amenities for Venice tourists.

“We are like Disneyland without the parking lots,” Galanter said of Venice.

For Riordan, meanwhile, getting funds for more police has been a top priority since his 1993 campaign, when he pledged to expand the Los Angeles Police Department by 3,000 officers. Last month, the City Council approved funding for just 450 police recruits next year, rather than the 710 that Riordan requested.