GRAND TO LOOK LIKE A BILLION?

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Hoping to fulfill the dream of a vibrant downtown Los Angeles, officials and civic leaders will announce today an unprecedented city-county agreement to design a $1.25 billion park and residential-retail area in the heart of the city.

Most of the funding for the project will come from the private sector, the plan's backers said Tuesday. About $300 million will be needed for public infrastructure improvements and about $950 million for real estate development including a hotel, condominium homes and retail areas.

The civic center project, stretching from the Department of Water and Power building to City Hall, is expected to transform the city's government core into a pulsating nightlife scene showcasing a 16-acre park, 400-room hotel, restaurants, bookstores, shopping and entertainment venues.

``Every great city today and in world history has had a vibrant center,'' said philanthropist Eli Broad, who co-chairs the Grand Avenue Committee that pushed city and county officials to agree to a joint-powers authority to carry out the ambitious plan.

The Grand Avenue Committee, whose members are civic leaders, has been instrumental in the ongoing two-block beautification project to build wider sidewalks and outdoor dining areas along Grand Avenue in front of the Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall, which will be dedicated Oct. 20.

``Paris has its Champs-Elysees. New York has Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Central Park. Now Los Angeles will have at its center a grand boulevard and urban park, providing millions of people each year the opportunity to walk, shop and play while enjoying downtown at its best,'' Broad said.

The project's backers say it will inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy, including $809 million a year in rents and revenues. They also expect it to generate 16,400 long-term jobs with $725 million in annual payroll.

The committee said an economic impact study projects more than $85 million a year in local, county and state tax revenue from the project.

The proposal expands upon more than $1 billion in current investments on Grand Avenue, including Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, Colburn School of Performing Arts, the Museum of Modern Art and Disney Hall.

``With the Walt Disney Concert Hall as its crown jewel, Grand Avenue will become the center for performing arts, culture and education,'' Broad said. ``And, (as in) great cities around the world, rather than rushing home, now those who work downtown will have an exciting environment in which to spend quality time before and after work.''

Of the taxpayer funds required for the project, Broad said most will go to build parking facilities. They will come from various park bonds or state bond issues of the future, he said.

Broad said the committee has talked with developers who have built similar projects in other cities of the world, and they are excited about creating a parklike walking area where people can safely enjoy cafes, bars, cinema, bookstores and performances at Disney Hall or the Music Center.

``The redevelopment of Grand Avenue is projected to generate nearly $809 million in annual revenue and will create more than 24,000 full-time jobs during the construction phase alone,'' Mayor James Hahn said. ``This project is a vital step toward revitalizing downtown Los Angeles into a thriving and competitive business environment for generations to come.

``I've always felt for years that downtown had a very unfinished feel to it. I think what we really want to have is a downtown where you have this kind of synergy between the people who live here, work here and want to come here for entertainment, dining and shopping.''

The project has been the vision of Los Angeles leaders for three decades and gained momentum earlier this month when the county Board of Supervisors voted to create the Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority, a city-county joint-powers authority that will be charged with getting the project designed. The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency and City Council also approved the agreement.

Officials envision a 16-acre urban park stretching from the DWP building to City Hall - complete with a pond, fountain, seasonal trees, open space, paths and an amphitheater. Broad said the central park will provide a place downtown where people can gather for civic and cultural events, concerts, outdoor markets, or celebrations of holidays such as the Fourth of July and New Year's, or festivals like Cinco de Mayo.

``Imagine a Los Angeles counterpart to Rome's Spanish Steps - from the Music Center Plaza to the park - with its fountains, gardens and green space inviting everyone to stroll along Grand Avenue,'' he said.

Completing the park will require replacing the surface parking lot between Broadway and Spring streets and upgrading portions of the Civic Center Mall, Court of Flags and Music Center Plaza to better connect the areas, which are built on a hill and often separated by walls and parking structures that are obstacles to pedestrians.

Since the 1930s, city leaders have wanted to develop a park across from the front of City Hall as a place to stage civic events, such as celebrations of Los angeles sports championships, Hahn said.

``We still have an asphalt parking lot across the street from one of the most beautiful buildings in the world: City Hall,'' Hahn said.

The Grand Avenue makeover will turn the area into a destination in itself and encourage residents and visitors to walk between the Richard J. Riordan Central Library through the financial district to the cultural district to the north, backers predict.

The four development areas, located between the Civic Center and the financial district, provide the potential for more than 3 million square feet of space for a mix of retail, office, entertainment and residential uses. The jobs and housing would add more than 7,000 people to the area daily and create activity both day and night. In addition, new restaurants, cinema, bookstores, jazz clubs, theaters and other retail and entertainment venues would draw visitors.

``Los Angeles is a great city,'' Broad said. ``We have more theaters, more museums and more universities and colleges than New York City. And we now have great architecture. And, yet, we have not promoted cultural tourism the way other cities have. This project will help put us on the cultural tourism map, which could be a great boost to our economic future.''

Broad said naysayers predicted in the 1960s that the Music Center could not be created, in the 1990s that the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Staples Center wouldn't be built and in 1995 that Disney Hall would never be finished.

``Mark my words, this Grand district will be realized,'' Broad said. ``Walt Disney Concert Hall, the new symbol of our city, will join the Eiffel Tower, the Parliament in London and the Sydney Opera House as one of the most photographed buildings in the world.''

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- 2) An artist envisions vibrant scenes by day, above, or night, left, in a proposed $1.25 billion park and residential-retail area in the heart of Los Angeles. The project, stretching from the Department of Water and Power building to City Hall, will be designed under a city-county joint- powers authority. Civic leader Eli Broad says it will complement the Walt Disney Concert Hall that he expects to join the world's most-photographed buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower, London Parliament building and Sydney Opera House.

Map:

Proposed park

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