City Pressures Arden To Drop Police Chase

By DANNY KING

Staff Reporter

A unit of Arden Realty Group Inc. has pulled out as middleman in negotiations between the city and several downtown property owners on finding temporary headquarters for the police department.

Arden Municipal Ventures Inc. was looking to swing a deal to buy Chase Plaza on Grand Ave. from Shuwa Investments Corp. and flip the 447,000-square-foot building to the city for use as a temporary replacement for Parker Center.

Brooke Lauter, spokeswoman for Arden, confirmed that the company was no longer pursuing the site, but declined to comment on the process.

“We’re still evaluating our options,” said Gerry Miller, assistant chief legislative analyst for the city, who would not comment on which buildings were being considered or how soon a decision would be made.

With Arden now out, Shuwa, which bought the property in 1986, is dealing directly with the city, according to one source. Meanwhile, two other sites the 472,000-square-foot building at 1149 S. Broadway that is part of Transamerica Center and 600-650 Spring St. in the historic core, are still being considered by the Los Angeles Police Department as temporary facilities.

While Chase Plaza could trade for about $35 million, the South Broadway building, which makes up 34 percent of the 1.4 million-square-foot South Park complex that was just purchased by a joint-venture of Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund and New Pacific Realty Corp., could sell for $25 million, according to the source.