Dealmaking Done Right.

PRODDED by the urgency of this week's city elections, the developer proposing a major entertainment/retail/hotel project adjacent to Staples Center reached an unprecedented deal with community activists and labor organizations, one that will go far in smoothing the way for one of the most important projects in recent city history to become a reality.

The Community Redevelopment Agency should signal its hearty approval when it reviews the proposal this week, and the City Council should likewise give it a green light.

Unlike the protracted and contentious debate surrounding the development of neighboring Staples Center arena, Staples II, as many have called the $1 billion proposed project, is emerging as a model of inner-city development.

Much of the credit belongs to the development partnership led by Philip Anschutz's Los Angeles Arena Land Co., which also owns Staples Center, and which took the harsh lessons of that project approval process to heart.

Unlike the last time around, when the developer shrugged off public concerns and tried to force the deal past a skeptical City Council, Los Angeles Arena Land and its partners took pains in recent months to meet with a broad coalition of community groups and labor unions. Together, they hammered out a fair arrangement that keeps the project intact while including concessions on neighborhood and employee issues. Encouragingly, all parties in the discussion proved willing to listen and adjust their expectations for the good of a project that has the potential to spread its benefits citywide.

Make no mistake, Staples II would have an immediate positive impact on the neighborhood around Staples Center while also serving as a cornerstone of the widespread improvements already taking place downtown. Aspects of the deal include a high percentage of "living wage" jobs, promises of local hiring, affordable housing, permit parking and $1 million for nearby parks, all of which promise to improve the quality of life in a neighborhood that could use the boost.

Then there's the 250,000-square-foot expansion of the Los Angeles convention Center. The surrounding amenities would make the meeting facility one of the most appealing in the country, helping Los Angeles to attract a wide variety of major business events and restore the city's place as one of the nation's premiere convention destinations. The ensuing boost in retail sales and hotel bed tax revenues would also go a long way in ratcheting down remaining controversy about a substantial public subsidy for the development's key component, a 45-story, 1,200-room hotel.

While the extent of that subsidy remains to be negotiated, the rational discussions leading to the proposed development deal have gone a long way in showing that a reasonable public subsidy may be a solid investment if the project enhances the city as a whole.

The lesson of Staples II -- for developers, neighborhood activists and politicians alike -- is that progress, particularly when public subsidies are involved, is best achieved when all of the stake holders are given a seat at the table. When developers are willing to pay more than lip service to community input, they stand a much better chance of winning public approval, and subsequently, political support for their projects.

Backed by the impressive coalition of groups that signed onto the deal, Staples II now stands an excellent chance of winding its way to final approval in the near future, an outcome that should give all Angelenos reason to celebrate. Kudos to all those involved for an important job well done.