This Just In: Broad eyes Downtown for museum

All of Downtown has been abuzz this week after billionaire developer/philanthropist Eli Broad officially announced that a Grand Ave site is also under consideration for his $60 million art museum and foundation headquarters. Just last week, we reported that a strange site in Culver City was Broad's elusive third choice. But the President of neighboring West LA College has heard nothing from Broad's people, so that revelation may have been a distraction.

Broad obviously has very strong ties to--and friends in--Downtown, from his support of the lingering Grand Ave behemoth to his recent $30m bailout of MOCA. Impatient with developer Related Co.'s inability to get things going on Grand Ave, Councilwoman Jan Perry has expressed excitement at the prospect of Broad moving in nearby. The site under consideration is a surface parking lot on the south side of Disney Hall, sunken below street level on Grand Ave. The lot is one of the smaller parcels owned by Related Co., a developer that has been hit hard by the real estate setback, and is waiting for the capital market to rebound before plowing forward. Related would likely get an extension on their city-mandated deadline to break ground if some of the land is sold to Broad's project.

The City of Los Angeles was initially left out of consideration for the museum. In old age and frustrated by a lifetime of red tape, Broad is desperate to expedite this project as much as possible. But Santa Monica's city council isn't voting on the deal until next month - a time frame that may prove to hurt their bid. Some Santa Monicans argue however that the city is offering too many concessions to bring Broad's museum to the derelict Civic Park neighborhood (selling the land for $1, for example); they believe a much better deal can be reached via a developer who has commercial plans for the site. Meanwhile, Beverly Hills, who doesn't even own the property Broad wants, might as well kiss its chances good bye.

Source: Santa Monica Daily Press; Photo: Eric Richardson

California passes nation's first green building code

Long the pioneer of environmentally progressive policy, California became the first state to institute a "green" building code with legislation passed this week. The code, which will go into effect on January 1 of next year, is modeled closely from the US Green Building Council's LEED construction and building energy code. Cities that already enforce green building standards that are stricter than the new state requirements (San Francisco and Los Angeles), will be allowed to retain their local codes. Other cities will be able to adopt individual building codes that are stricter than the state's in the future if they choose.

Among the new building requirements are: plumbing must cut water use by 20%; half of construction waste must be recycled; low-polluting paints, carpets, and flooring must be used; separate water meters for indoor and outdoor must be installed; and building inspections must include appliance efficiency checks. The green building code is part of a state initiative to cut carbon emissions by 25% by 2020. Buildings are the biggest consumers of energy and the largest polluters, responsible for emitting more carbon than transportation and industry combined.

But some environmental groups including the Sierra Club are critical of the plan, arguing that the imposed restrictions are not harsh enough. They also say the two-tier Calgreen system, as it is called, will be confusing for builders and will allow for abuse.

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Santa Monica plans second freeway cap park

Santa Monica City Council approved a proposal to cap an additional portion of the 10 freeway on Tuesday. This second cap park would be over the freeway slot between Ocean Ave and 4th St. The decision comes just months after another park was approved over the Santa Monica Freeway between 14th and 17th Sts. But that project is still in early feasibility stages. This latest development brings the number of LA area freeway cap parks under consideration to 4 - the others over the 101 in Hollywood and Downtown.

City leaders hope a park bridge over this section of the freeway would help create a stronger pedestrian connection between the Third Street shopping area, the pier, and the newly revitalizing civic center. The freeway segment is already conveniently "cut" about 20 ft below ground, but is still exposed to the open air. At Ocean Ave, the freeway briefly tunnels below Ocean Park and the entrance to the pier, before emerging again as the Pacific Coast Highway along the beach. By extending the tunneled portion of the freeway, both parks might also benefit from larger green spaces and greater pedestrian access. The park would also be convenient to the Expo light rail station planned for Colorado Ave and 4th St.

The approval allows spending of ~$300,000 for a feasibility study and ~$3m for initial engineering. Local planning and engineering firm AECOM is charged with conducting the preliminary study and will present its findings to the council within 3 months. The park has been a pipe dream of the city's since at least 1999.

The added land, which is in the super-prime center of Santa Monica, would be more valuable than the cost of capping the freeway. Besides the obvious mitigation of the visual and aural impacts of the freeway, and the shifting of transportation priority from freeways to public transit, projects like this are significant case studies in the frontier of "land creation." As suburban sprawl has lost its appeal in the aftermath of recent economic and environmental events, developers are looking to disprove the old adage 'you can't build more land.' Freeways occupy huge expanses of our built environment, often in inefficient ways. Where freeways have been dug below ground, or where they pass through expensive land, there can be innumerable benefits from capping or reclaiming that ugly and wasteful infrastructure. Santa Monica's experiments should be watched closely by civic leaders and developers everywhere.

Source: Santa Monica Daily Press

Culver City enters running for Broad art museum site

In an interview last week, billionaire developer and philanthropist Eli Broad revealed that a 10 acre site in Culver City is also under consideration for the location of a new museum that would be endowed in his name. When Broad announced plans for the museum back in November of 2008, a site at the southeast corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire Blvds in Beverly Hills was the principle consideration. A year ago however, Broad announced that he was also looking at a 2.5 acre city-owned lot next to Santa Monica's Civic Auditorium. The Culver City site is located along Jefferson Blvd on the West LA College campus.

Broad's revelation was shocking to all, but perhaps more so to Mark Rocha, West LA College's president, who says that he hasn't heard from Broad's foundation. After reading about the competition between Santa Monica and Beverly Hills last year, Rocha wrote the foundation, asking them to consider his site as well. Unfortunately that vacant lot is currently being used as a staging area for the college's capital construction project, and will likely be in use for another 2 years.

But Broad says that at age 76, he wants the project to move fast, with as little red tape as possible. While Santa Monica already owns its site in question, the City of Beverly Hills would have to acquire the parcel that Broad has been eyeing. And whichever city gets the honor of landing Broad's museum would be asked to donate the land, contribute $1m+ in construction fees, provide parking, and pay for landscaping. It is a pricey investment that each municipality believes will be well worth the prestige and popularity of the Broad collection. While Broad has said he is not trying to pit each city against the other to generate the best deal, he is probably selecting jurisdictions based on their ability to expedite the bureaucratic process. The City of Los Angeles, notably but not surprisingly, is not on Broad's short list.

The 50,000 sf facility is to house Broad's 2000 piece art collection, his foundation, storage space, and a research component. The museum would be launched by a $200m endowment, said to sustain a $12m/year operating budget. That bequest would be the largest infusion into Southern California arts, second only to the $2.76b Getty Trust. It is estimated to cost ~$60m.

Source: LA Times

State sells 2 LA office buildings to tighten budget gap

The State of California listed 17 buildings for sale statewide last month; two are in Los Angeles. Commercial real estate brokerage firm CB Richard Ellis has been contracted with the representation of these buildings, estimated to total $2b in value. The only two buildings for sale in Southern California are located Downtown - the Ronald Reagan building and the Junipero Serra building. The State hopes to raise about $660m from the sales toward its staggering budget deficit of $21b.

The state will engage in what is known as a sale-leaseback, where it will automatically enter into a 20 year lease agreement with whoever buys the properties. This is an ideal situation for a buyer because it guarantees a favorable occupancy rate, which in the case of the LA buildings, is 100%. The Ronald Reagan State Building, which was built in 1990, is considered to be one of the largest and best-equipped Class A office buildings in Los Angeles. It is located on 3rd St. between Spring and Main Sts. The smaller Junipero Serra building on the corner of 4th St. and Broadway, is a historic building completed in 1914.

The 17 building listing is the largest real estate portfolio on the market, and is a bold move for the State of California, desperate to shorten its hopelessly deep budget deficit. Gov. Arnold Schwarzanegger made headlines last year when he proposed the possible sale of large state-owned properties like San Quentin prison in Northern California and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. While that controversial proposition never materialized, the 150 acre Orange County Fairgrounds will also be marketed for sale.