Whiteeclipse
June 26th, 2005, 11:47 PM
Court Rejects SCI-Arc Effort to Purchase Home
School Pledges to Stay Downtown, While Developer Eases Off Plans for Mega-Towers
by Chris Coates
A superior court judge last week dealt a blow to the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), ruling that the school does not have the rights to purchase the Arts District property where it has leased space since 2000.
However, the end of the month-long trial provided another significant development when Downtown landowner and developer Richard Meruelo said he is backing off plans to build two mammoth towers near the school. Instead, he indicated a willingness to work with SCI-Arc officials on creating a project that fits the neighborhood.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix ruled June 21 that SCI-Arc never had a binding agreement to purchase the 98-year-old converted train terminal that now houses offices and classrooms for about 500 students. Bendix also ruled that the depot's owner, Dynamic Builders, has the right to sell the property to another purchaser.
"It's a bump in the road. Every road's not smooth," said SCI-Arc Director Eric Owen Moss after the ruling.
Before reading her decision, Bendix spent about 20 minutes explaining the complex chronology that covered nearly five years, dozens of exhibits and hundreds of pages of testimony. (The trial even included a day-trip for Bendix to see the disputed property.) "I must have spent two weeks reading everything over again," she told the eclectic group of architects, attorneys, SCI-Arc board members and students gathered in a third floor courtroom of Downtown's Stanley Mosk Courthouse. The reading of the verdict itself took about an hour.
The civil case of SCI-Arc versus Dynamic Builders dates to 2000, when the city persuaded the school to leave Marina del Rey for a new headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. The city used about $1.5 million in grants and loans to lure the school into the old Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad depot, a peculiar quarter-mile-long structure in a once dilapidated area just west of the Los Angeles River. The school signed a 20-year lease and transformed the industrial space into classrooms, offices and meeting areas.
In court testimony, SCI-Arc officials said Dynamic Builders had indicated that the school would be first in line to purchase the depot and several nearby parking lots. The school, which had been leasing space since its 1972 founding, was interested in creating a permanent location.
But as the school worked to secure funding, Dynamic Builders started talks with another party - Merco Group, headed by Meruelo. According to testimony, Merco Group officials thought they too would have the first crack at buying the property.
Dynamic, meanwhile, had sold three of the nearby parcels to Merco in 2003. Meruelo floated plans to turn that property - existing surface lots that SCI-Arc had been using for parking - into two 40-story residential towers. Those plans ignited controversy among residents and business owners in the Arts District.
SCI-Arc filed suit last June, alleging that Dynamic broke an agreement to sell the depot to the school. Bendix ruled, however, that SCI-Arc did "not satisfy its burden of proof."
Her ruling means Meruelo can buy the SCI-Arc depot and move ahead with plans to build on the adjacent plots he already owns. However, Meruelo said he has no set plans for the proposed residential development.
"We are going to start from scratch," he said. "Hopefully it will be a surprise to everybody."
Moss, who sat in the front row for the reading of the ruling, said SCI-Arc officials will make sure the institution stays in Downtown (its lease extends through 2019). That too is a reversal from occasional threats that Moss and others made to leave the community if SCI-Arc did not win the court case.
"I'm a great optimist," Moss said after the ruling. "We wanted to make Downtown, in a public policy sense. We will continue to push that."
But the court ruling does spell a loss for those who wanted to make SCI-Arc a vested Downtown institution.
"I had hoped that they would have had the opportunity to make a permanent investment [and] build equity in the property," said Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes the SCI-Arc depot and the disputed parcels. "But they have a long-term lease."
Perry said she talked with Moss after the ruling and pledged support to the school, whose arrival paved the way for a general upswing in the area, including new restaurants and shops. "[We will] make sure we do all we can on the city's side to retain them and make sure that they flourish as an academic institution," Perry said. "I want Downtown to be their classroom."
Meruelo said he thinks Bendix's decision will actually help the sides work together. "Our conversations don't have to get filtered anymore," he said. "Now we can put the lawyers at rest and get the architects and designers working to come up with a plan that's great for the community and the school and the developer. That's what we're going to embark on now."
School Pledges to Stay Downtown, While Developer Eases Off Plans for Mega-Towers
by Chris Coates
A superior court judge last week dealt a blow to the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), ruling that the school does not have the rights to purchase the Arts District property where it has leased space since 2000.
However, the end of the month-long trial provided another significant development when Downtown landowner and developer Richard Meruelo said he is backing off plans to build two mammoth towers near the school. Instead, he indicated a willingness to work with SCI-Arc officials on creating a project that fits the neighborhood.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix ruled June 21 that SCI-Arc never had a binding agreement to purchase the 98-year-old converted train terminal that now houses offices and classrooms for about 500 students. Bendix also ruled that the depot's owner, Dynamic Builders, has the right to sell the property to another purchaser.
"It's a bump in the road. Every road's not smooth," said SCI-Arc Director Eric Owen Moss after the ruling.
Before reading her decision, Bendix spent about 20 minutes explaining the complex chronology that covered nearly five years, dozens of exhibits and hundreds of pages of testimony. (The trial even included a day-trip for Bendix to see the disputed property.) "I must have spent two weeks reading everything over again," she told the eclectic group of architects, attorneys, SCI-Arc board members and students gathered in a third floor courtroom of Downtown's Stanley Mosk Courthouse. The reading of the verdict itself took about an hour.
The civil case of SCI-Arc versus Dynamic Builders dates to 2000, when the city persuaded the school to leave Marina del Rey for a new headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. The city used about $1.5 million in grants and loans to lure the school into the old Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad depot, a peculiar quarter-mile-long structure in a once dilapidated area just west of the Los Angeles River. The school signed a 20-year lease and transformed the industrial space into classrooms, offices and meeting areas.
In court testimony, SCI-Arc officials said Dynamic Builders had indicated that the school would be first in line to purchase the depot and several nearby parking lots. The school, which had been leasing space since its 1972 founding, was interested in creating a permanent location.
But as the school worked to secure funding, Dynamic Builders started talks with another party - Merco Group, headed by Meruelo. According to testimony, Merco Group officials thought they too would have the first crack at buying the property.
Dynamic, meanwhile, had sold three of the nearby parcels to Merco in 2003. Meruelo floated plans to turn that property - existing surface lots that SCI-Arc had been using for parking - into two 40-story residential towers. Those plans ignited controversy among residents and business owners in the Arts District.
SCI-Arc filed suit last June, alleging that Dynamic broke an agreement to sell the depot to the school. Bendix ruled, however, that SCI-Arc did "not satisfy its burden of proof."
Her ruling means Meruelo can buy the SCI-Arc depot and move ahead with plans to build on the adjacent plots he already owns. However, Meruelo said he has no set plans for the proposed residential development.
"We are going to start from scratch," he said. "Hopefully it will be a surprise to everybody."
Moss, who sat in the front row for the reading of the ruling, said SCI-Arc officials will make sure the institution stays in Downtown (its lease extends through 2019). That too is a reversal from occasional threats that Moss and others made to leave the community if SCI-Arc did not win the court case.
"I'm a great optimist," Moss said after the ruling. "We wanted to make Downtown, in a public policy sense. We will continue to push that."
But the court ruling does spell a loss for those who wanted to make SCI-Arc a vested Downtown institution.
"I had hoped that they would have had the opportunity to make a permanent investment [and] build equity in the property," said Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes the SCI-Arc depot and the disputed parcels. "But they have a long-term lease."
Perry said she talked with Moss after the ruling and pledged support to the school, whose arrival paved the way for a general upswing in the area, including new restaurants and shops. "[We will] make sure we do all we can on the city's side to retain them and make sure that they flourish as an academic institution," Perry said. "I want Downtown to be their classroom."
Meruelo said he thinks Bendix's decision will actually help the sides work together. "Our conversations don't have to get filtered anymore," he said. "Now we can put the lawyers at rest and get the architects and designers working to come up with a plan that's great for the community and the school and the developer. That's what we're going to embark on now."