Rich and Poor as Partners

When a proposal to create a billion-dollar hotel and entertainment district around Staples Center comes before the Los Angeles City Council today, its supporters will include more than the usual suspects.

Oh, there will be men in suits, all right. Make that men in impeccably tailored suits representing the L.A. Arena Land Co., the development partnership that owns Staples Center and is behind the ambitious new proposal. But there will also be community activists, environmentalists and residents who are more typically found arguing against development. That they will speak in its favor is the result of a coalition that deserves recognition by the council--and emulation.

Before bringing their plans to the council for approval, the developers took them to the community. If they were to take 30 acres of parking lots and scruffy buildings around Staples Center and put in a 45-story hotel, a 7,000-seat theater, restaurants, nightclubs, retail stores and a Convention Center expansion, what would ease community concerns?

Parks, said the coalition of activists, union leaders and residents. Public space. Jobs that pay a living wage or better, not just construction jobs but jobs in the new hotels, restaurants and shops. A local hiring and training program. And not only a promise that no residences would be lost but the construction of new affordable housing.

They got it all. Negotiations took nine months. The resulting deal, now part of the development agreement, is believed to be the most comprehensive of its kind ever achieved in the United States.

The developers initiated negotiations with the community not out of altruism but pragmatism; when they built Staples Center, they were accused of being insensitive. Community objections caused them problems and delays. They learned a lesson.

Still ahead are other hurdles, many of which Staples Center also faced, including the perennial objections to any downtown development and the question of whether and how much public subsidy would be needed for the Convention Center hotel. But that won’t be decided today. As coalition members will attest, the development agreement up for approval is more than adequate. It’s a model for future developers.