Planning Board OKs Pershing Square Hotel-Office Complex

The city Planning Commission, rejecting arguments by its staff and historic preservationists, on Thursday cleared the way for a huge $300-million hotel-office complex to be constructed adjacent to Pershing Square.

After nearly three hours of debate, the commission voted unanimously to find the project, dubbed Pershing Square Centre, to be consistent with the General Plan, the city’s master development plan. The project, which has received strong support from Mayor Tom Bradley and downtown Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, now appears likely to win final approval of the City Council.

Situated on the northern edge of Pershing Square, the project would include 35- and 45-story towers that would house a 550-room hotel and 700,000 square feet of office space. There would also be more than 100,000 square feet of retail space and a parking structure, as well as rehabilitation of the Title Guarantee building, a 1920s-era Art Deco structure at 5th and Hill streets that is a city historic monument.

The Planning Department staff and the Los Angeles Conservancy, a group working to save downtown historic buildings, had argued that the 1.2-million-square-foot development--more than twice the size normally allowed in the area--was at odds with the city’s General Plan.

The Conservancy claimed the project would overwhelm the surrounding smaller-scale historic district and worsen traffic congestion. The group also questioned the legality of a deal made by the city Community Redevelopment Agency with the developer to boost the project’s size by assigning it so-called unused development rights from Pershing Square park. The planning staff and the Conservancy argued that as a public park, Pershing Square does not have development rights to give away.

Thursday’s action was the second this week that could dramatically change the Pershing Square area. On Wednesday, the area’s business representatives recommended a $11.9-million plan to revitalize the square.

The project approved Thursday was the first major downtown development to come before the commission for review under a court-ordered reform of zoning decisions. Homeowners groups sued the city last year, claiming that officials were allowing developments allegedly in violation of the General Plan. As part of a settlement approved by a Superior Court judge earlier this year, the Planning Commission must certify that projects involving large transfers of building rights are consistent with the General Plan.

Daniel Garcia, commission president and an attorney, said he was not convinced that the redevelopment agency acted illegally. He said the project, which has been seven years in discussion, conformed to adopted city policies to encourage intense development in the downtown core to make it a major commercial center for the region.

Pershing Square, while a public park, technically is zoned for commercial development, and those rights can be shifted to a nearby project, he said. He also noted that the General Plan for downtown permits large projects adjacent to mass transit stations. The project would tie into a proposed Metro Rail subway station at 5th and Hill streets.

Edward Helfeld, administrator of the redevelopment agency, argued that the higher density would generate a number of public benefits, including a contribution of up to $11.2 million by the developer to a special fund to acquire additional public open space downtown.

After the commission vote, David Houk, developer of the project and a major campaign contributor to Bradley, expressed “relief” at having cleared a crucial hurdle after years of negotiations with the city.

Ruth Ann Leherer, executive director of the Conservancy, said she was not surprised by the action, given the political support for the project. “We would have liked to have seen the project scaled down,” she said. “But the cards were stacked against us. . . . You look for positive things that come out of it.”