CRA panel eyes housing land for Convention Center Hotel; staff has site earmarked for low-income housing.

Another controversy may be brewing as city development officials again consider the long-delayed and much-studied construction of a major hotel adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The citizens' panel that oversees operations of the Community Redevelopment Agency has asked its staff to consider ways in which a piece of CRA-owned property two blocks northeast of the center could be used for construction of a hotel.

However, the CRA staff had previously recommended that the land be used for low-and moderate-income housing. The land in question is currently zoned for residential use and members of the Los Angeles City Council have specifically said they want the property used for inner-city housing.

In question is a square-block area northeast of the newly opened, expanded Convention Center, bordered by Olympic Boulevard on the north, 11th Street on the south, Flower Street on the west and Hope Street on the east. The CRA owns 2.6 acres of the undeveloped land, or roughly three-quarters.

The seven CRA board members, all of whom were appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan, have asked the CRA staff to look into whether a hotel could be built on the land, or whether it could be used in some sort of land swap with a potential hotel developer.

"We have not rejected the idea of building housing on the site," said Peggy Moore, the vice-chairman of the board, "but as a new board (appointed since Riordan took office on July 1) it is extremely important to us to understand all the dynamics of the situation and look at whatever we can terms of the whole area and its potential uses."

According to Moore, the board's focus is the possibility of trading the CRA-owned property for another piece of land closer to the Convention Center.

She said such a deal could involve the owner of a piece of property closer to the center taking over the CRA land in return for the agency taking possession of the nearer piece of real estate. The CRA would then try to get a developer to build a hotel on the newly acquired piece of nearby property, said Moore.

The incentive for a potential hotel developer would be the free use of the land, said Moore.

Other CRA officials said the board also wants to consider development of a hotel on the Olympic, 11th, Flower and Hope streets property.

Construction of a large (1,000- to 1,400-room) hotel near the Convention Center is considered important to the success of the newly expanded $500 million facility. The Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau has said that many groups will not book the facility unless there is a large, adjacent hotel.

Currently, the nearest large hotels are about a mile north of the facility in the central, downtown Los Angeles area.

Since 1988 there have been several attempts to develop a Convention Center hotel, all of which have failed for various reasons. The last serious attempt was in 1991, when three developers submitted plans. They were all rejected by the CRA because the builders asked for public subsidies ranging up to $91.6 million on proposed projects that cost between $269 million and $303 million.

The site for the projects proposed in 1991 was directly across the street from the Convention Center, at the corner of 11th and Figueroa streets. There are two other possible sites for a hotel and according to CRA officials. All of those are still potential locations for a hotel.

The other two possible sites are at Figueroa and Pico streets, and a piece of property on the grounds of the Convention Center that is known as the North Hall site.

Michael Collins, senior vice president of the bureau, said he was unaware of the latest idea for a hotel.

"I'm glad to hear that something might be going on, though, because we need a hotel. We're losing bookings right now and we're going to lose more unless there is a hotel," said Collins.

The new Convention Center, which is bordered by Figueroa, 11th, the 110 (Harbor) and 10 (Santa Monica) freeways, opened last month after a three-year construction project.

In a Dec. 2 CRA staff report to the board, the agency said the Olympic, 11th, Flower and Hope streets parcel has been designated for housing projects by the city council.

"Housing on this block also reaffirms the policy objectives of the downtown strategic plan and would support the same entertainment and retail uses that are desired to create a district to attract Convention Center visitors," the report stated.

The report also stated a large hotel on the scale of the one that has been proposed would require between 3.5 and 4 acres, which exceeds the size of the proposed new site for a hotel.

Don Spivack, the CRA's director of operations, said the agency staff would probably issue a formal report on the matter to the board by the end of the year.