SCHOOLS—School May Be Built as Part of Subway Station

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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has agreed to negotiate with the L.A. Unified School District to have a middle school built atop the Wilshire/Vermont subway station.

The board approved a 60-day exclusive negotiation period with LAUSD and ordered MTA officials to return within 30 days with a request for development proposals. While a construction timetable has not been set, a typical RFP requires responses within 60 days.

The proposal comes as the school district is desperately searching for sites to build upwards of 100 schools.

Carol Inge, director of station area management for the MTA, said a school could be a valid component of mixed-use development at the site. She said that whoever wins the development contract would also build the remaining uses whether in the form of retail, residential or office space, or a combination.

MTA’s vision is for retail space along Wilshire and Vermont with residential units built above the commercial space. The school would be on “the back” (northeast) portion of the property.

Gary Russell, executive director of the Wilshire Center Business Improvement Corp. and president of the Wilshire Center Chamber of Commerce, stressed the importance of making the most of the site’s development potential.

“It is a large property. It is our kingpin piece,” he said.

The organizations he heads and many in the area’s Korean-American business community would not be opposed to a moderate-sized school, he said, as long as it housed no more than 800 students.

Inge said the proposal guidelines allow for anywhere from a 700- to 1,300-student school.

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