County Seeks to Block Army Auction of Site

Los Angeles County plans today to file suit in federal district court in an attempt to block the proposed June auction by the U.S. Army of a prime 10-acre parcel at Wilshire Boulevard and Federal Avenue that is now used as the West Los Angeles U.S. Army Reserve Center.

The complaint, a copy of which was provided to The Times, alleges that the Army proposed auctioning the parcel to developers without first studying other alternatives or the environmental effects of disposing of the property, as required by federal law and the military’s internal guidelines.

The suit further alleges that the Army ignored other proposed federal projects in West Los Angeles -- notably a new FBI headquarters and the redevelopment of the Veterans Affairs campus -- that probably will significantly affect traffic and density.

“They’re very vulnerable on this,” county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. “The public has been totally shut out, as have other governmental agencies.”

The Army’s desire to auction the property in what is called a “real property exchange” came to light last month.

An ad the Army placed indicated that the winning bidder would be required to build three Army Reserve centers at locations in Bell, Miramar and Riverside.

According to the suit, those facilities would cost about $100 million. Projects of such size, the suit said, require that the Army conduct an environmental review to ensure that the public can analyze the effects.

Residents of Brentwood and Westwood and elected officials, notably Yaroslavsky, derided the proposed deal. They urged that the parcel be returned to the Department of Veterans Affairs so that it could be used to serve veterans.

Los Angeles County has zoned the 10 acres for institutional uses, which could include schools, fire and police stations, hospitals or libraries.

A consultant working with the military said Tuesday that he had heard rumors that a legal challenge was brewing.

“We believe that we’ve done all the necessary due diligence to offer this property for a real property exchange,” said Tony Morales, a principal with Staubach Co., a marketing consultancy hired by the Army Corps of Engineers to handle the exchange. “We’re not selling the property; we’re exchanging the property.

“We’ve had a substantial amount of interest,” he said. But he acknowledged that “it’s never a good thing for a project to get mired in the legal process.”

The online auction is scheduled to run from June 12 to June 23.