Grand Avenue Redevelopment Narrowed to Two Finalists
The job of developing more than 3.2 million square feet of real estate neighboring the Walt Disney Concert Hall into apartments, retail spaces, offices and a 16-acre public park may soon be the responsibility of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. or New York–based The Related Cos. LP.
The Grand Avenue Committee, a joint committee of officials from the city and county of Los Angeles, chose Forest City and The Related Cos. on Monday from a short list of four developers to develop the $1.2 billion project, which the committee forecasts will revitalize the civic area near City Hall and the neighboring cultural section that includes the Disney Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
James A. Thomas, chair of the committee, said commitment to building the County Mall Park, which will stretch from The Music Center to Los Angeles City Hall, was a decisive factor in choosing the top contenders.
He also maintained the committee will keep an option to award the development to one of the other two developers—the J.H. Snyder Co. and Bunker Hill LLC, both of Los Angeles—in case a deal with the finalists collapses. The committee will award the job in late July, according to Thomas.
The Related Cos. owns and manages more than $7 billion worth of retail, residential and mixed-use properties, including New York’s Time Warner Center.
Forest City Properties reported owning more than $5 billion worth of retail, residential and mixed-use property assets, including Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and the landmark Emporium Building in the Westfield San Francisco Centre. —Andrew Asch
