County Authorizes Sale of Downtown Lot for Cathedral

Plans for a new Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Los Angeles moved forward Tuesday when the county Board of Supervisors authorized the $10.85-million sale of the proposed site, a county-owned parking lot next to the Hollywood Freeway.

The buyer actually is the city of Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency, which in turn is expected to sell the 5.8-acre parcel to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the same price later this month. Using the CRA as a middleman eliminated the need for a public auction and the possibility that another buyer might try to outbid the archdiocese, officials said.

CRA deputy administrator Don Spivack said that such a middleman role is common and that it speeds up the process.

With Cardinal Roger M. Mahony sitting in the audience, the supervisors unanimously passed a resolution that declared so-called Parking Lot 20, between Grand Avenue and Hill Street, as surplus and approved its sale to the CRA.

Mahony expressed his thanks to the county government and predicted that by Christmas the CRA will have the archdiocese’s “check in hand.” The $10.85-million price was established by the CB Commercial Real Estate Group, which conducted an appraisal for the county.