COMING TO LIFE BILLION-DOLLAR PLANS SET FOR 'TIMES SQUARE WEST' ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX PICTURED AS DOWNTOWN HUB.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

In a bold bid to brand Los Angeles as a world-class live entertainment center, the owner of Staples Center detailed plans Tuesday for a $1 billion, 5.5 million-square-foot sports-entertainment-residential complex that would be one of the largest developments in downtown history.

The LA Live development by the Anschutz Entertainment Group - scheduled to make the formal announcement Thursday at the project's groundbreaking with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city leaders in attendance - would include retail, live theater, premiere movies, restaurants and housing.

It is envisioned as becoming ``Times Square West'' and the permanent home for a variety of award shows with a Grammy museum that could include an annual ``induction'' ceremony, in addition to facilities for a major sports/entertainment broadcasting company yet to be disclosed.

``We think L.A. should be the event capital of the world,'' Timothy Leiweke, president of the company owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, said in an interview with Daily News editors and reporters.

``Award shows, tourism and content are going to be the most important industries we have. We're not going to be the steel city, we're not going to be the chip city, we're unfortunately not going to be the new technology city, because we missed that boat.''

Leiweke said LA Live - a complex with the square footage of downtown Long Beach - is envisioned to dovetail with a proposed 1,100-room, 56-story Hilton hotel adjacent to the ailing Convention Center.

The hotel has become controversial since developers Apollo Real Estate and Wolff Urban Development entered into a proposed deal with the city that includes a $16 million loan from the Community Redevelopment Agency, $4 million in fee waivers and the forfeiting of nearly a quarter-billion dollars in room taxes the hotel is projected to generate over 25 years.

Leiweke said while LA Live doesn't hinge on the hotel's development - most of the complex would be completed within the next two to three years - it would be a ``crime'' if the city passes on the private capital committed to the hotel.

The Convention Center costs the city more than $30 million a year in debt service and net operating losses, and trails even Des Moines, Iowa, in convention business.

``(The center) will never come back. This is our last, great shot at getting a private entity to put up what is going to be $400 million-plus in cash to build a hotel,'' he said, adding that the center ultimately should be privatized to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Plans for the hotel and the massive complex - which AEG hopes to use as a model for its international ventures, including London's Millennium Dome - have renewed debate over downtown development, as well as Villaraigosa's promise to bring similar economic energy to the San Fernando Valley and other underserved areas of the city.

Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom, deputy mayor of housing and economic development, said while LA Live is being focused on, 50 to 75 projects throughout the city, including the Valley, are getting just as much attention.

``We're pushing major projects throughout all the areas of Los Angeles,'' Ovrom said. ``Yes, LA Live is one of them, and they're very big, but we're equally pushing all projects in South L.A., East L.A., the Valley, Hollywood and the Westside.''

He said projects such as Valley Plaza, NoHo Commons and the Panorama Mall in the Valley, a biomedical campus at USC, and several major retail outlets in East and South Los Angeles are among the projects being pursued aggressively.

``We're putting equal if not greater effort in other areas ... it takes more to get it done. LA Live is basically doing their own thing.''

Leiweke said city leaders historically have ``failed us miserably'' in luring developments to various areas of the city and that regions such as the Valley need ``to fight back and help find these private-public partnerships.''

``Why can't we find these big projects and spread them out a little bit?'' said Leiweke, who suggested that Villaraigosa set up a panel of the city's top leaders to develop ``a master vision'' for how private-public partnerships can be used ``to get things done all over the city.''

Bruce Ackerman, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, said he agrees the Valley hasn't pursued projects on a ``grand scale,'' but cited incremental gains such as the Children's Museum at Hansen Dam, a project AEG contributed $250,000 toward and that is set to break ground next month.

Ackerman blamed NIMBYism and the absence of a central business hub for some of the Valley's difficulties.

``Where is the downtown in the Valley?'' he said. ``There isn't a single area ... you can focus attention to generate the attention downtown gets.''

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the Valley and other regions need a ``godfather'' to push projects aggressively.

Kyser said that after LA Live, the envisioned but yet unfunded $1 billion Grand Avenue development, and a project along First Street into East L.A., ``you start to run pretty thin on ideas.''

``You need leaders in the San Fernando Valley to say, 'OK, this has a lot of currency for the Valley,' and then you have to get community buy-in,'' Kyser said.

But critics including Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, continue to question the need for government help in financing the hotel.

``People make these kinds of predictions about revitalization, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't,'' Coupal said. ``Why can't (AEG) make the pitch to the hotel developers, 'I'm dropping $1 billion - why not find venture capitalists to build the hotel?'''

Acknowledging the risk in the sports/entertainment complex, Leiweke said the city stands to make $25 million to $50 million more annually in property and sales tax.

At the heart of LA Live, Leiweke said, is a ``dream'' to create an immediate impact on the image of L.A. and Southern California by interlocking a number of venues, events and attractions in the complex around Staples, including:

--The 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, aimed at capturing award shows ranging from the Emmys, Latin Grammys and ESPYs to the MTV Music and BET awards, as well as concerts, comedy shows and other events. AEG plans to spend more than $100 million on the theater.

--The Grammys Museum, which has been agreed to ``in principle'' with the Grammy organization, to honor not only winners, but also to try to secure L.A. as the permanent home of the Grammys, possibly by adding a second ``induction'' ceremony. AEG hopes the museum will attract 1 million tourists a year.

--A 3,700-seat cinema complex with 15 screens, including a 750-seat theater for movie premieres and screenings.

--Nine high-end restaurants and bars, and a smaller Club Nokia, as well as 400,000 square feet of retail space to serve tourists, USC students and downtown residents.

--Offices for AEG's headquarters, as well as some companies it does business with, including attorneys and architectural and design firms.

--Housing, including lofts and condos accounting for about half the project.

Leiweke said LA Live only works downtown because of the synergy with Staples Center and the Convention Center, but that private-public partnerships that don't put taxpayers at risk are needed throughout the region.

``Our project should be the rally cry to answer the need everywhere.''

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

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photo, map

Photo/Map:

(color) LOS ANGELES SPORTS-ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX

Photo by Gus Ruelas/Graphic by Gregg Miller