Developer Has Option to Buy St. Vibiana’s

Ira Yellin, the developer who restored such historic landmarks in downtown Los Angeles as the Bradbury Building and the Grand Central Market, has an exclusive option to buy beleaguered St. Vibiana’s Cathedral.

Yellin and officials of the Roman Catholic archdiocese confirmed that the Yellin Co. has an option on the 101-year-old cathedral and adjacent church-owned buildings at 2nd and Main streets. They declined to release any financial details of the agreement, which is scheduled to last until the end of 1998.

In an interview Monday, Yellin said his first choice would be to attract the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to a proposed office building that might be constructed next to the cathedral. Under that plan, the earthquake-damaged church would be repaired and used as an INS ceremonial and reception center. Another possibility is to restore the cathedral as a social center for a new housing complex.

“I’m looking for what opportunities are out there in the foreseeable future that might allow that block to go into development,” Yellin said. “It could include the hope for a significant INS facility that would celebrate the importance of immigration for our community.”

The INS has been contemplating a new Los Angeles headquarters. But a spokesman said Monday that the agency is not looking at the St. Vibiana’s site “at this time.”

Citing seismic damage, the archdiocese has been seeking to tear down the closed church for more than a year. Court victories by preservationists have so far halted demolition, but the city and archdiocese are writing a new environmental impact report for possible razing. Yellin’s option does not forbid demolition if the archdiocese decides to pursue that in the next year, according to Yellin.

The archdiocese plans to build a new cathedral a few blocks away at Hill and Temple streets.

Besides heading his own firm, Yellin is senior vice president for Southern California for the Catellus Development Corp., which is developing the Union Station area. The St. Vibiana’s option does not involve Catellus, he said.

The Rev. Msgr. Terrance Fleming, archdiocese chancellor, said Yellin was given the option because of his success with nearby historic buildings and because Yellin had worked for the archdiocese on early plans for a new cathedral. “He is a developer close to us,” Fleming said.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Conservancy sponsored an exhibit of possible schemes to save the cathedral building as part of an INS office, housing, hotels or various cultural centers. Linda Dishman, conservancy executive director, said of Yellin’s option: “We are very pleased that a developer of his caliber, who has the experience with historic buildings, is involved.”

Don Spivack, deputy director of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, said any project retaining the old church faces questionable economics. While the INS might make sense in the long run, Spivack said, “at this stage in the game, everything is still kind of iffy.”