Chatsworth Reads Trouble Into Paper’s Printing Plant Plans

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Jobs versus housing versus retail. It’s a perennial debate in Los Angeles and it is being revived now that the Los Angeles Times has closed its Chatsworth printing facility and is entertaining offers for the property.


The 26-acre site a rarity for a parcel that large in the west San Fernando Valley is on the block and there are fears by some that Tribune Co., the Times’ owner, will not be able to turn down what will likely be a lucrative offer from a residential developer rather than continue with a light-industrial use.


Residential uses could generate a sale prices as high as $70 a square foot, nearly three times the estimated $25 per square foot brought by industrial redevelopment of the land, based on recent real estate transactions in the area.


Also a concern: a conversion into retail, which would likely generate a sale price higher than a continued industrial use but lower than a residential project.


“That’s home to lots of highly paid industrial jobs and some surrounding parts have already gone retail,” said Roberto Barragan of the Valley Economic Development Center. “Both retail and residential development on that site would be a tragedy. Retail jobs pay barely over minimum wage and we would be trading out $25-an-hour jobs for $8.25-an-hour jobs.”


Also opposing any change in use is Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith, whose district includes the shuttered plant, and who would like to see the property acquired by a light industrial company offering employment.


The concerns are heightened by the financial troubles of Tribune, which has seen its stock slide about 25 percent from its 52-week high amid circulation declines at its newspapers, amid other woes. It traded last week for about $30 per share.


Tribune announced in December that it would close the printing facility in January and cut 120 printing facility jobs as a result, part of a plan to consolidate production at its remaining three facilities in Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and Irwindale.


In a recent Security and Exchange Commission filing, Chicago-based Tribune estimated the value of the asset at about $26 million, with total sales costs running about $2 million. The company appears serious about selling the asset, retaining Trammell Crow Co. to market the site.


Brokers working on the property were traveling and unavailable for comment last week, but said earlier last month that no buyer had yet been identified. Tribune officials referred calls to the Times, which could not provide timely comment.


Indeed there are some formidable barriers to be overcome in order for the land to be converted into condominiums or another residential project. The land and the 250,000-square-foot facility is currently zoned industrial, and would require a zoning change something Smith and local business leaders are openly opposing. However, a retail project would not require such a change.


Smith organized a series of meetings starting Feb. 9 to give local business community members an opportunity to discuss the issue. He also has expressed a desire to include Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and executives from large area corporations in future meetings. Further discussion is scheduled for March 30.


Some options for the land discussed at the February roundtable meeting included biotech, manufacturing and shipping facilities.

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