Downtown L.A. Thinks Big

The Los Angeles City Council is poised to adopt a massive redevelopment district for downtown Los Angeles that would create thousands of new homes--and possibly ease the way for construction of a stadium for a professional football team.

Local business officials and others hail the plan as key to revitalizing downtown. However, advocates for the poor are concerned that the proposal will lead to gentrification and skyrocketing housing prices.

County officials, meanwhile, complained last week that the county would be illegally deprived of $278 million in tax revenue and raised the possibility of a lawsuit to stop the plan.

The district was proposed by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. The agency’s goals are to create up to 12,900 new units of housing--a quarter of which would be affordable housing, and up to 6.7 million square feet of new commercial and industrial development. The agency also hopes the plan will attract businesses and jobs, help the city’s 11,000 homeless people and rehabilitate historic buildings in an 879-acre swath--or 180 city blocks--in downtown Los Angeles.

The agency anticipates spending nearly $2.4 billion in tax revenue and other funds to accomplish its goals over the next 30 to 45 years.

The “City Center” redevelopment area--bounded by 2nd and 3rd streets on the north; San Pedro Street, Stanford Avenue and Griffith Avenue on the east; the Santa Monica Freeway on the south, and Figueroa Street and the Harbor Freeway on the west--includes the South Park, Historic Downtown and City Markets neighborhoods.

Donald Spivack, deputy administrator of the agency, said the City Council ordered the agency to put the project on a fast track. It typically takes 18 months to create a redevelopment proposal, but the City Center plan was formulated in less than half that time, he said.

During a public hearing last week, many council members expressed enthusiasm for the plan. The council is expected to adopt it at its regular meeting Wednesday.

If approved, about 60% of future property taxes generated in the district would be given to the agency to redevelop the area. One-fifth would be set aside in a housing trust fund, and the remaining 20% would be distributed to normal tax collectors--the city, county and school district.

The agency can condemn land and displace residents and businesses, but it has to create an affordable housing unit for each one it tears down and help relocate involuntarily displaced people.

A previous redevelopment district existed in the area, but the agency hasn’t received any money from it since November 2000, when it hit a legal cap of $750 million. The plan, known as the Central Business District, led to the creation of Staples Center and more than 20 million square feet of commercial and industrial development.

“While a lot has been accomplished, a great deal still remains to be done,” Councilwoman Jan Perry said. “A new plan will generate revenues and provide the necessary tools to positively spur development in the downtown core of Los Angeles.”

Philip Anschutz, who owns Staples Center and all or part of 18 sports franchises, is heading a coalition of L.A. business leaders who want to build a football stadium in South Park, which advocates say will bring the NFL back to L.A. for the first time since the Raiders and Rams left in 1995.

City officials say the stadium was never the goal of the proposal, though it could facilitate land acquisition through the agency’s power to condemn and acquire private property. Perry emphasized that the focus of the redevelopment project is providing housing and helping the homeless.

However, advocates for the poor are worried that three-quarters of the new housing will be rented at market rate.

“This is unacceptable,” said Becky Dennison, an organizer with the L.A. Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, at a council hearing on the matter last week. “We are already severely impacted by homelessness and a lack of affordable housing.”

Jim Bonar, of the Skid Row Housing Trust, added, “The plan fails to address the needs of very-low-income people.”

Spivack countered that the plan will increase the amount of money being spent on such issues.

“Change is going to happen in these areas, and there is a need to deal with providing affordable housing, particularly very low-income housing and the needs of the homeless population,” he said. “There are no other revenue sources that are available to deal with these needs, now or in the future,” except for the redevelopment plan.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County is arguing that certain areas that were in the old redevelopment district and a 30-acre parking lot slated to be turned into a $1-billion sports and entertainment district should not be included in the redevelopment district. The county stands to lose $278 million over 45 years because it would receive a sliver of the property taxes that it currently gets, according to a memo written to county supervisors by county Chief Administrative Officer David E. Janssen.

The county filed an objection to the proposal last week, which would allow the county to sue in the future. Martin Zimmerman, an assistant division chief in the county Chief Administrative Office, declined to comment on whether a lawsuit is likely, but noted that the county has sued Los Angeles and Arcadia over prior redevelopment projects.

Spivack said he disagreed with the county’s claims. His agency will respond to the county’s concerns and those of the advocates for the poor at the meeting Wednesday.

Perry said she hoped the county doesn’t take legal action, but instead works with the city and the agency to deal with the problems of homelessness.

Business, historic and other officials say the plan--coupled with ongoing projects such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels--are key to revitalizing downtown.

“We are on the verge of such a renaissance in Los Angeles,” added Ken Bernstein, director of preservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy. “This plan is about more than downtown’s narrow interests--it’s in everyone’s interest in the city of Los Angeles.”

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Times staff writer Sam Farmer contributed to this report.