District Should Look Before It Leaps on Store

For the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is hurting for school sites, it’s the ultimate trump card.

Eminent domain, the legal authority the district has to move an immovable object, is a factor in nearly every school construction project the district undertakes, according to Ron Restivo, principal real estate agent for the district.

Most cases, however, involve small chunks of earth owned by a local concern, either a homeowner or small business.

Rarely is the site in the district’s sights as large as the 24.7-acre plot of land in North Hollywood that now houses the corporate headquarters of the Robinsons-May department store chain. Rarely is the owner part of a multibillion corporation.

Robinsons-May, for obvious reasons, does not want to move.

The district, for obvious reasons, has the legal authority to take the property through eminent domain. It’s a tool of last resort to ensure the district can get land for schools.

But both sides stress that they hope it never comes to that. And the district is a ways away from deciding if such a drastic step would be necessary.

Before that day comes, there will be studies and soil samples and research and, perhaps, a history lesson.

Searching for precedent, we asked Restivo this: When was the last time the district attempted to acquire a property this large, from a single owner of this stature, through eminent domain?

The closest example he could think of was the 23.5-acre parcel that holds the Ambassador Hotel, that storied site that faced on-again, off-again condemnation proceedings. It is now scheduled to be sold at auction next week, if the owners, a partnership that at one time included Donald Trump, cannot persuade a court to block the sale.

Think of that as the real estate version of “Scared Straight”--a tangled morass of charges and counterclaims that’s dragged on for 10 years, and racked up more than $3 million in attorney’s fees.

If nothing else, that case should be motivation for all sides to try to find common ground in North Hollywood.

“What we’ve always said is that no one wants to take it,” said LAUSD chief operating officer Howard Miller. “But if that’s the only thing left, it raises serious issues.”

Caprice Young, the Los Angeles Board of Education member who first focused her eyes on the Robinsons-May prize last year, said “no way” will the Robinsons-May debate turn into the Ambassador debacle.

“Not on my watch,” she said. “Absolutely not.”

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On Sept. 18, 1990, L.A. Unified condemned the vacant Ambassador Hotel--site of the early Oscars and the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy--to make way for a midtown high school.

Concerned about the price, the partnership that included Trump went to court, where the matter remains.

Three years after the condemnation announcement, with regional real estate in a slump, the school board dropped the Ambassador site and bought 24 acres at 1st Street and Beaudry Avenue. But the developer already had taken the funds the district had paid for the site, leading to a court fight over who owed what to whom.

The district has a $70-million judgment against Wilshire Center Marketplace, the new name for the development partnership, to cover the cost the district paid for the land plus interest.

And now, the district wants the land back; it’s one of four potential high school sites identified by Miller.

Essentially, unless a judge intervenes, the land would be sold to the district for the amount of the judgment.

That throws a big wrench into plans the developer had to convert the site into a $250-million pedestrian-oriented retail and entertainment complex complete with three levels of restaurants, theaters and retail shops.

Even to casual observers, it looks like a big ugly mess. It’s even less attractive to those with a closer view.

“Certainly, the litigation has been very ugly from our client’s point of view,” said Garrett Hanken, an attorney for the developer.

So is there a lesson here as the district eyes properties hither and yon, including Robinsons-May, where developers are interested in expanding commercial options?

How about: Think before you act (the same lesson I teach my toddler).

“The school district needs to be very clear about what it needs and then stick to it,” agreed Young, who was not on the board during the early days of the Ambassador case.

Part of that clarity will come from communication. Robinsons-May has consistently complained about the lack thereof, but steps to assign a district staff person to keep chain officials in the loop should help.

Part of that clarity will come, hopefully, through a series of assessments now underway about a variety of sites proposed for schools.

In January, district staff reviewing the Robinsons-May site completed the first phase of an environmental assessment--essentially a records search and historical overview.

It passed.

“This is a very good site, this is a clean piece of property,” said William T. Panos, director of environmental health and safety for the district.

“I wish they all looked this good. This is not something we would red flag, for sure.”

More thorough analysis would not come until the board makes a decision to proceed further.

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And no decision on eminent domain could be made until the environmental impact reports were complete.

“The soonest it could happen, we probably wouldn’t be in a position to start the eminent-domain process until probably the first of next year,” Restivo said.

That gives everyone--the chain, the district, the community--time to work together to find a solution, and to reflect on the sad saga of the Ambassador.

What’s that they say about those who ignore history?

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Valley@Work runs each Tuesday. Karen Robinson-Jacobs can be reached at Karen.Robinson@latimes.com.