Los Angeles city officials last week began hastily devising an incentive-laden plan in the hopes of enticing Boeing Co. to move its headquarters to the city, but the aviation giant has already torpedoed the proposal.

While city officials were hoping that executives might want to move to Los Angeles, where Boeing is already the region’s largest private-sector employer, company officials said the extensive operations here are a primary reason why the city is not on its radar screen.

Boeing announced last week that it would relocate its headquarters from Seattle to either Chicago, Denver or Dallas by this fall.

While Boeing remains the world’s largest builder of commercial aircraft, the move was seen by some analysts as a sign that the company wants to focus more attention on military aircraft, communications satellites and space-based weapons a large portion of which are made in the Los Angeles area.

That coupled with a business environment that is more friendly than a decade ago, cultural diversity, close proximity to airports, a strong labor base and accessibility to global markets makes a strong case for Boeing to move its headquarters to Los Angeles, said city officials, who late last week remained optimistic that they could persuade Boeing to change its relocation plans. The company, after all, expressed a desire to be in a more “culturally diverse” area with global market access and a pro-business environment.

“I think our chances are still good,” said Jeff Walden, director of Mayor Richard Riordan’s business team. “According to what they said they are looking for, we have.”

Riordan quickly sent a letter to Condit informing him that the city wants Boeing’s headquarters, which will number about 500 employees after half the staff is laid off, to relocate to the city, according to Walden. He added that Riordan plans to speak with top company executives by phone this week.

Boeing makes military and commercial satellites in El Segundo, Air Force cargo planes and commercial jets in Long Beach, as well as missiles and military and commercial satellites in Seal Beach.

Local officials say they are not concerned that Boeing’s relocation of headquarters is a precursor to moving any of its current Los Angeles-area operations.

“When you’re looking at a company like this, it’s (not only) the facilities but so much of it is the talent,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “Of Chicago, Dallas and Denver, none of them has the talent pool that matches Los Angeles.”

Riordan’s office already has pinpointed several locations with 200,000 to 400,000 square feet of space that officials believe would suit the needs of the 500 Boeing executives that will relocate. They include the as-yet-unbuilt Constellation Place office tower in Century City, where Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. will be the anchor tenant when construction is completed next year; the Howard Hughes Center in Westchester; as well as several downtown buildings.

But defense analyst Jon Kutler said he does not think that Los Angeles has enough to offer Boeing.

“They’d never win that battle. There’s no compelling reason,” he said. “L.A. is on the West Coast, like Seattle. It’s a higher-cost (area) than Seattle, and we have power problems.”